Paint whole or take apart

[Pawned]

I am almost ready to paint my 71 Duster. In the past I painted it whole and worked fairly nice.
Question is, should I paint the car whole, Or should I take off the front fenders, doors, hood and trunk.
Then reassemble them later?

This is the last time I intend to paint it. I think I will die before it needs it again

Thanks Ed

 

[RustyRatRod]

I guess it's up to you how good a job you want. You can paint it much more completely taking it apart, but I can easily see your dilemma. I'm thinking about how I plan to paint Vixen, too. It's an overwhelming proposition either way at least for me.

 

[Bodyperson]

Tearing them down to nothing is daunting for sure. Just asking seems to answer your question. It's a lot of work. What keeps you on the road and satisfies your appeal is up to you.

 

[Bodyperson]

I am almost ready to paint my 71 Duster. In the past I painted it whole and worked fairly nice.
Question is, should I paint the car whole, Or should I take off the front fenders, doors, hood and trunk.
Then reassemble them later?

This is the last time I intend to paint it. I think I will die before it needs it again

Thanks Ed

I'd leave the fenders on if I could

 

[Professor Fate]

It kinda depends on the paint. If it's got a metallic content, I like to do the final paint all assembled- since the metallic can lay out differently if sprayed piecemeal and it can be noticeable when assembled. Pearls can act the same way.
When the car is disassembled, I'll shoot the doorjambs, trunk, engine bay, door edges and underside of the hood and trunk lid and inside of the fenders (and bottom of the car if on a rotisserie), along with any loose parts (hood, trunk, and door hinges, for example).
Then reassemble the body, and do final paint prep.
Then shoot the entire exterior at once, hopefully ending up with a uniform finish. (that means all my watermelon stripes line up...!)
With solid colors I can get away with painting it all piecemeal and assembling it.
Just my way, and I'm far from an expert.

 

[Professor Fate]

I should have mentioned, the above is how I do a color change- if you're repainting it the same color, don't bother disassembling unless there's issues to correct.

 

[JDMopar]

If you pull it apart and paint fenders one day, doors the next, and hood and trunk lid the 3rd day......you'll have 3 different colors that came out of the same can of paint. Humidity, air pressure and gun settings might vary, which will affect the paint. If you pull it apart, do all the jams and bottoms of the hood and trunk lid and then put it back together. Back tape the jams and paint the assembled body all at once.

 

[Blind Squirrel]

I do something similar. But I jam and edge everything out in a single stage paint. Then assemble and shoot the BC/CC all at once.

 

[famous bob]

I do something similar. But I jam and edge everything out in a single stage paint. Then assemble and shoot the BC/CC all at once.

I probly cant describe this right, but the guy that actually shot my car , could mask the cracks in between the fenders -doors on the inside , from outside the car , worked fantastic, on an assembled car , never seen anyone ese do it !

 

[roccodart440]

It depends on how good of a job you want and also depends if you're choosing a new color, how the jambs look, etc.

 

[toolmanmike]

Take it apart, paint the insides and the jams and hang the sheet metal back on. Even though the paint comes out of the same can, you will often see differences in the color and metallic if the panels are painted separately.

 

[K.O. SWINGER]

My painter took off the fenders Hood and trunk but I had him leave in the glass I also did not have the engine bay done at that time because a rebuild is in my near future and did not want to paint around the motor and other parts. I think the overall condition is important and how much body and rust work needs to be done in preparation.

 

[Dartswinger70]

taking it apart may add double triple or 4 times the time it takes to mask prep and repaint. If rust repoair is in the fray id say tale it apart...id its basic prep and minimal rust repair, eh why take it all the way down...ask yourself this is it a repaint or a restoration?

 

[Pawned]

Thanks all, I imagine I will not take it apart.

 

[Red383]

Take it apart, paint the insides and the jams and hang the sheet metal back on. Even though the paint comes out of the same can, you will often see differences in the color and metallic if the panels are painted separately.

So how do you prevent overspray through all the body seams when you come back and paint the outside of the car?
If you mask off the door jams, inside the doors/trunk/engine compartment, don't you gat a hard tape line?

 

[Dartswinger70]

There are ways to do it, look up "My Friend Pete" on youtube, but be warned he cusses and swears sometimes but he's a good body man that puts up how to videos.

I saw one where he uses a foam tape system to mask off the interior of the car at the door jambs. I have used paper folded over and stuffed into the door gaps when shooting primer etc. you can get creative...I am already thinking that i will mask off the wheel wells when i shoot my final 2k primer etc. Its alot of taping but it can be done. in my situation I decided to start assembling the car in between stages of body work. I am in a home garage and time wise cant wait until the whole car is painted to start assembly.

 

[roccodart440]

So how do you prevent overspray through all the body seams when you come back and paint the outside of the car?
If you mask off the door jams, inside the doors/trunk/engine compartment, don't you gat a hard tape line?

Foam (soft edge) tape is how you do it.

 

[Pawned]

I took off one of the front fenders because I hit one of the poles on the door, backing it out. I am amazed how bad the body work was on the fender when I put it on the work bench.
So I am doing a lot more body work on the fender, even after I popped out the dent.
I am now thinking I need to go over the car again and recheck he body work that was done on the car. I did the body work, so I have no one else to blame. I have taken the fenders off before, but this time it was a pain in the butt. I forgot 5 or 6 of the hidden bolts that holds it on.

It is a ***** getting old. The legs just do not want to hold me up anymore

 

[Bodyperson]

Foam (soft edge) tape is how you do it.

The foam leaves a fuzzy edge. I prefer fine line tape just inside the crown of the aperture. It will almost disappear with a wipe of a hand and totally disappear with a buffer. Plus it is easier and cheaper.

 

[Blind Squirrel]

I am now thinking I need to go over the car again and recheck he body work that was done on the car.

As they say, don't think, DO! As I'm sure you are well aware. Paint hides nothing. The best job done is all in the prep work, and you wont even need good luck to pull off a fantastic job. Post up some pictures so we can all have a look see, and good luck anyway.

 

[Pawned]

Here are the second paint jobs I did on the car. I found somethings that bothered me, so I stripped it down and started again.
This time I hope to have it look like this again

 

[Dartswinger70]

Here are the second paint jobs I did on the car. I found somethings that bothered me, so I stripped it down and started again.
This time I hope to have it look like this again
View attachment 1715798081

View attachment 1715798083

That doesnt look bad. if you painted it dont feel too bad. remember there is driver quality and show quality. A show quality paint job will quickly become driver quality once it gets driven regularly.

 

[volaredon]

I am almost ready to paint my 71 Duster. In the past I painted it whole and worked fairly nice.
Question is, should I paint the car whole, Or should I take off the front fenders, doors, hood and trunk.
Then reassemble them later?

This is the last time I intend to paint it. I think I will die before it needs it again

Thanks Ed

I was just talking to a bodyman I know about the same subject, only it was regarding an 85 D150.