N00b paint question

[chimpboy]

I am embarrassed asking this question, but I just want to know what the usual go is. I've got a car pretty much ready to paint, wet-sanded back and primed and looking very nice in its acrylic undercoat. Next is colour (metallic silver) and then clear.

Currently I have the bonnet, boot, and doors off. Now what is the usual go - should I do the inside bits, door jambs etc, and then put the bonnet, boot, doors back on before doing the outside with it all fully assembled? Or should I paint everything with it still in pieces?

Obviously it's a lot easier if I do it with it all put back together, but would I have issues with the small amount of overspray that would go into the door gaps etc?

Would I clear coat the door jambs as well, before assembly, or just get clear in where I can when I am doing the final clear coat? What's the usual go here?

Cheers,

Jason

[nerida67]

Paint all the door jambs ect first
Under the doors ,under bonnet ect
Then bolt all back together for the external top coat

[chimpboy]

Thanks! I thought so but, you know it's so much fricking work getting it ready you want to be sure you're not stuffing up the last bit!

[want33s]

As above... paint the insides of everything and reassemble then mask with 3M Soft edge foam tape... Amazing stuff..

Link to video... http://shows.implex.tv/3MTV/router.aspx?WebcastID=2854" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
You'll need to sign up to view it.

[chimpboy]

As above... paint the insides of everything and reassemble then mask with 3M Soft edge foam tape... Amazing stuff..

Link to video... http://shows.implex.tv/3MTV/router.aspx?WebcastID=2854" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
You'll need to sign up to view it.

Good vid. If it's like other 3M stuff I doubt I'll be willing to pay for the soft masking tape, but the vid was still good for making it obvious how to do the job. It is pretty obvious in retrospect but I had to ask. Cheers.

[nerida67]

No harm in asking

The old adage
"Better to ask a dumb question than do a dumb thing"

[deano86]

if u dont wanna use the soft edge tape just back tape the edges which can be done by roling ur tape into a circle if ya know what i mean ha ha

[MrGrim]

dont forget to wipe every thing off with a tack rag before you start spraying especialy silver met as its dust can cause issues to the finsh

tack rags are worth bout $3 use once throw away

[chimpboy]

Thanks guys.

Tack rags... I have them thanks to some previous advice.

[purplebus]

when we paint/painted the bus(3 times now) and our work vehicles. if you have the room the easiest way we found was to basically strip everything out of the truck and the doors including screens,rubbers etc. grab 2 cheap plastic drop sheets from bunnings and tape that over the dash and one over the engine bay. paint everything while it is apart but you have to do it at the same time as drying conditions need to be the same. paint inside and out of the doors, you can get overspay on the inners as the cards cover them. inside the jams no probs the pinch mould go over the little lip and the rest is covered by carpet vinyl. and yes good preperation make a good finish. good luck and dont forget the pics.

[fester2au]

Actually I'm in the middle of this too. The cruiser in factory metalic silver. Just did the inside of the engine bay - radiator support, inner guards and firewall. What a prick of a job sanding the inner guards and rad support with all the his and lows in all the pressings for mounting points and strengthening ribs. However I'm doing it in 2 pac.

Watch some of those drop sheets from Bunnings, I got some too however my cousin told me not long after I bough mine that he used them and found they hae small pin hole breather holes all over them and in some places he used his he got spray through.

I am actually thinking for mine it may be easier to do all the hanging panels off the car as I was concerned about getting a good even flow and coverage along the entire length of the vehicle. I have to do in the door jambs and sills etc as I am deleting the factory two tone burgundy and going to solid silver over the whole thing. However I didn't think about rehanging the panels and then masking off all the completed jambs etc. Maybe that will be easier. If you leave the panels on the car do you haveto run down the entire side one end to the other in a single stroke or can you make you way down with shortr strokes overlapping as you go. That's why I thought having the hanging panels off was easier to break up the size. I do know they must all be done at same time in same directions and laid out as they hang on the car eg bonnet flat, doors propped upright etc.

To mask off the engine I bought a few of the biggest and reasonably cheap (not cheapest) garbage bags I could find, cut them open to sheets and taped them up over the engine, I found they were stronger than the drop sheets or paper so that if you bumped them or pulled them a little they didn't tear as easily on brackets or bolts etc. Just have to turn them over or replace after priming or the oversprayed paint which dries on them can then be blown off as chips when top coating.

Oh sorry to hijack Chimp but the timing of your questions are so relevent to me as well.

[chimpboy]

Oh sorry to hijack Chimp but the timing of your questions are so relevent to me as well.

No worries I would do the same to you

[fester2au]

Not painting the HSE are you. I never got one, got cold feet at lasst minute. Or maybe that should be cold wallet.

[chimpboy]

Not the Rangie, that is already silver. The stag, which has been a painting-in-progress deal for about two years now

Thanks to the advice above, I put down some silver in the relevant spots earlier, as the sun has been out a bit and the panels aren't all icy cold. It feels good!!!!!

[fester2au]

I started with engine bay as it looked crap (even worse than original) and I figured it would be hard to do a worse job than the factory finish which is normally a matt greyish colour (for silver) or at best an uncleared body colour.

Anyway I reckon first time is a bit scarey as it looked like I could have done the same with a $2 spray can, that is till the clear goes on, then brilliant (for an amateur)

Did you decide to go with doing the jambs etc then rehang the door etc a dn do the whole lot in one hit or are you doing it with doors still off. I'm not sure which will be the easiest to get around given the size of the cruiser.

[chimpboy]

I have done the jambs today (bonnet and boot jambs) as well as the inside of the boot and bonnet, will do door jambs as well then put the doors, bonnet, and boot back on. There are several reasons but to be honest a big one is that I have too many bits of car all over the place, it will just be easier for me to manage the space I have available if I have the car basically in one piece.

The advice makes sense to me as well, I will mask inside as necessary and if I have to sand a bit to clean up where I have masked it is no big deal.

But we are talking about a much smaller amount of car than a cruiser. I don't even have to do the roof (removable hard top but I am doing that in a different colour).

I did the engine bay first as well but I have some regrets, I did it in black even though the car was silver because at that point I was planning to get a respray done elsewhere and wanted to focus on the mechanical stuff. Then again I don't care that much, it was an absolute basket case before I started.

Same deal here I felt like I had stuffed up until I put some clear on, now it is almost good enough for me straight off the gun.

[fester2au]

I think that is the difference with 2 pak, it is good enough straight off the gun even with me at the trigger. The only issue I had with the engine bay was it was a bastard to sand with all the pressings and ribs and such. Couple of spots I was a bit lazy and where the primer went on in a deep hollow in a bit of an overspray pattern it was very hard to sand out properly and I just smoothed it as best as possible and didn't reprime as I was over it and it's just an engine bay. Having said that I also know that once everything is back in you won;t even see those few spots. They cover well still just look a bit rough textured under the clear. The outside in comparison should actually be a lot easier as all the panels are moderately flat, no major depressions etc. I feel for you with the black engine bay as that is exactly why I attacked mine. It had been sprayed in what looked like cheap black enamel and looked cheap and dirty ( I hate non matching engine bays, every car I've had painted has been engine out and coloured). Fiddly job trying to spray and sand around the back of the motor though.

Not sure with acrylic and whether it's a bit of a cheat with 2 pack as the paint shop guy said he wouldn't bother to do it but based on my cousins work I put the clear on straight away after appropriate tack off time just like it was another couple of coats of colour. Theory is that it will meld into the colour coat a little and sort of absorb some minor inconsistencies of the colour coat. Seemed to work out pretty well and across the firewall, 2 inner guards (both sides) and radiator support panel, I got 2 small runs. One on each inner guard and believe it or not each in near on the exact same spot on each guard.

Yeah I'm still in 2 minds about how to attack the cruiser due to size. Definately roof and "A" pillars first I think and if I make some easel type stands I'm still temped to do the hanging panels off just to break up the size. Not sure yet may do it same as you and drop the wheels off and sit it on blocks to make it a bit easier to get around. Definately gunna pull the glass though unlike my dodgy cousin.