Paint and Assembly Process Advice

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Ozyduster

Ozyduster

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So my car is all but ready for paint. Whats the best process for doing this to get the best finish and limit damage. Currently the car is a rolling shell. So there is a lot of assembly as everything has been removed.
Entire car has been bare metalled, sand blasted etc and all in primer. Basically entire car needs colour.
Its also getting a 6.4 hemi so a little more work there as well.
Are people doing in stages to limit damage or just spraying the entire car etc and protecting it during build assembly etc?

I was thinking i would do in this order:
1. Paint the under side, engine bay, interior and trunk
2. Install all running gear and suspension, run all the wiring and install engine
3. Then spray the outer panels of car
4. Finish assembly such as interior etc etc
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I do drop the car over Engine, trans., suspension, manifolds or headers as an assembly. Much easier in my opinion.

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Murray said:
Hemi may require firewall mods. Confirm that first before paint.
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Yep i am using the holley brackets that bring the motor forward slightly so no touching the fire wall thankfully. But yes i really should do a dry run with the motor first also to see what holes to weld up
 
On another day , I sprayed the hood latch support , door hinges , bolts etc.

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Finally , I painted everything else. My employer has two paint booths , so I had the shell in one booth and the sheetmetal in another.

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forphorty said:
Finally , I painted everything else. My employer has two paint booths , so I had the shell in one booth and the sheetmetal in another.

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O very nice!! Just thinking weather i am best just getting all the underside, engine bay, trunk and interior sprayed. Then reassemble all the driveline and most of interior so i dont risk damage in putting it back together?
 
Ozyduster said:
O very nice!! Just thinking weather i am best just getting all the underside, engine bay, trunk and interior sprayed. Then reassemble all the driveline and most of interior so i dont risk damage in putting it back together?
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I installed engine/trans on k member , then lowered the body on it. Installed suspension and brake lines , then sheetmetal . Put tape on edges to protect. Then it was wiring ,fuel system ,interior etc. Last was glass. If someone wants to paint their car in pieces , I think the key things are : paint all the outer panels the same day, orient the panels in the way that they will be attached to the car and make sure you have plenty of coverage.

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Expect that there will be a couple of chips by the time you get it all together.

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What color are you painting it? The reason I ask is that if you are painting a non-metallic color (or a color with little metallic in it) I would Spray the shell to include the engine compartment, door jams, interior, trunk area, etc. I would paint the doors, hood, trunk lid and front valances separately (off the car). Then I would assemble it carefully. (Basically like @forphorty did in his pictures) If you are painting a color with a high metallic content, it might be best to jam the car, assemble the car, and then paint it to help eliminate the chance of slight color variances that can be caused by painting the parts separately and then assembling. I have painted several cars that were metallic colors disassembled without any problems, but that is up to you.
 
forphorty said:
Expect that there will be a couple of chips by the time you get it all together.

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Looks amazing mate love the wheel choice, i probably didnt make sense. Paint underside, engine bay, trunk, door jambs etc then pre assemble as much as i can, wiring, engine running gear etc. Spray back of all the panels like fenders, doors etc.
Resemble the panels than paint the remainder of car so minimal work to happen.

Maybe i over thinking it lol
 
I prefer to paint the jams, engine compartment including the bottom of the hood, floor pans and roof interior, trunk including bottom of decklid, and the bottom of the car along with the front wheel wells and back sides of the fenders. Then assemble the body and mask off anything you've already painted to prevent overspray when you spray the shell. There are good places in every jam to tape to in order to minimize color sanding to blend after paint. Paint the assembled shell all at the same time, on the same day so it will all be the same color. It matters the most to do metallic colors this way, but I just like mine to get the exterior all painted on the same day under the same atmospheric conditions. Best of luck to you. I'm sure it will turn out great!

:thumbsup:
 
harrisonm said:
What color are you painting it? The reason I ask is that if you are painting a non-metallic color (or a color with little metallic in it) I would Spray the shell to include the engine compartment, door jams, interior, trunk area, etc. I would paint the doors, hood, trunk lid and front valances separately (off the car). Then I would assemble it carefully. (Basically like @forphorty did in his pictures) If you are painting a color with a high metallic content, it might be best to jam the car, assemble the car, and then paint it to help eliminate the chance of slight color variances that can be caused by painting the parts separately and then assembling. I have painted several cars that were metallic colors disassembled without any problems, but that is up to you.
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Not sure on colour as i cant pick yet as thats another issue i dont know what colour i want something that snaps necks lol I was thinking a Candy Purple or opposite end of the spectrum a Battle ship grey type colour i am going for a pro street look, duck tail, 6.4 hemi twin scoop, black bonnet etc etc
 
If your careful don't touch car unless well rested you can paint whole car then assemble and not get any chips scratches. But it is very stressful, slow, and high risk but it can be done. Benefit is zero dust or over spray on anything cause car is stripped for entire paint. With partial assembly then paint dust and maybe some over spray can get on stuff. Pros/cons.
 
340sFastback said:
If your careful don't touch car unless well rested you can paint whole car then assemble and not get any chips scratches. But it is very stressful, slow, and high risk but it can be done. Benefit is zero dust or over spray on anything cause car is stripped for entire paint. With partial assembly then paint dust and maybe some over spray can get on stuff. Pros/cons.
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I guess i could also have the guards removed when i install the engine and engine bay wiring so not leaning on fenders etc Ill defiantly paint the underside first so can get all the running gear in. As thats dont trust them around paint haha
 
I’m basically going with the OPs plan. I’m a little concerned about hiding the door cut in lines but I don’t want to fool around mounting panels after it’s painted.
 
like forphorty we always paint all the bolt on panels separately and install them after the rest of the car is painted. You get a better wrap around of paint on the edges and I've never found a way to paint the shell assembled with all the underhood stuff installed and not have paint get around the edges of the hood and doors and end up as overspray under hood and in the jambs.

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Ozyduster said:
Is your motor out as well obviously, will you just protect fenders when installing or remove alltogether?
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Engine goes in from the bottom... Generally I have all the wiring & brakes installed with the brakes bled & the bulk of the electrical tested before the engine, K member & lower control arms are installed..... The engine will have everything already attached including the engine wiring which simply plugs into the bulkhead connector....

When I do these generally I have everything finalized before installing the engine because once the engine goes in I can't move the car without help... So when I install the engine I have the car running within a couple hours at most in the past the next day it would be trailered to the muffler shop and alignment shop.... From there forward it was driven, no more trailering...

These days with TTI & Accurate it doesn't even need trailering for exhaust... And I can get the alignment close enough I'll drive it to my buddy's shop for an alignment...

I've done enough it becomes pretty easy...
 
Y
str12-340 said:
like forphorty we always paint all the bolt on panels separately and install them after the rest of the car is painted. You get a better wrap around of paint on the edges and I've never found a way to paint the shell assembled with all the underhood stuff installed and not have paint get around the edges of the hood and doors and end up as overspray under hood and in the jambs.

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Like your style mate, agree with the finish as to not end up with tape lines etc
 
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