Hello and welcome. I enjoyed going through your pics. I noticed you painted most (all?) of the jambs before you painted the main body. Can you talk a little about the thought process?
I am considering doing the same with mine, and have considered and reconsidered the pro and cons; I am interested to hear how you arrived at you decision, and would you do it again?
Any particular techniques used when prepping/masking/spraying the main body you had to do different?
Thanks... I used to do autobody/paint for a living a long time ago... I knew that in order for the finished product to look decent, I wanted the jambs all done so they all looked fresh. I did them individually for a couple reasons -
1 - space - for the first few years I was working on the car (when I did the engine compartment and inside the trunk), I was living in a condo that had a 1 car garage - I had about 1.5 feet on each side of the car, and about 10 feet of extra "length" to work with in the garage.. so I had to do things one at a time
2 - corrosion - I didn't want to leave too much bare metal while working on things.. and since this was being done while I was still working a day job and having a 'life', I knew that it may be a while between phases..so I did one jamb at a time when I was able to.
This way, with all the jambs done by the time we got to the exterior, we don't have to worry about trying to open the doors/trunk to get paint coverage while painting the exterior..
as far as prep work..
removed all parts, clips, nuts, bolts etc as necessary in the area you're working.
thoroughly clean the area you're working on with damp rag to remove loose dirt/grime
then, use a professional grade wax and grease remover to degrease the old paint surface
strip the paint down to bare metal using DA sander and MANY 3M stripping wheels (
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/3M...e Wheels-_-2EXZ5&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=2EXZ5)
When the surface was paint-free, I blew it all off with compressed air and wiped it down with wax and grease remover to clean the surface
mask off the area (don't touch bare metal with your bare hands)
using a professional grade metal-etch primer, put a couple light coats on the bare surface
when that's dry, put a couple coats of professional grade urethane filler primer on the surface
When that has dried, prep it appropriately (sanding, filling any spots, etc)... and use wax/grease remover to prep surface for paint... mask, and then paint.
I use ONLY professional grade products purchased from the local auto-body supply store.. stuff's not cheap... DON'T use the crap you can get at O'Reilly's, Napa, etc... the ONLY spray can product I used was the metal etch primer.. other than that, it's all stuff that needed to be mixed and sprayed through a paint gun.
