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Some of you may have seen my build thread. If not, I've just primed all my cab and body panels, which are strung all over my shop. Going forward, I'm trying to figure out the most logical way to finish paint (color / clear coat) the truck. Several options I was thinking about are listed below:
Paint Step 1 - Paint (color / clear) the firewall of the cab, the inside of the cab, inside of fenders, underside of hood.
Install the cab on the frame and install the doors.
Assemble the truck, minus the truck bed.
Separately, assemble fenders and tailgate on truck bed.
Paint Step 2 - Paint (color / clear) the assembled truck and truck bed.
Install truck bed on frame.
I'm leaning towards option 2, as it seems much easier to paint an assembled truck rather than parts on a bench or strung from the ceiling. It also prevents me from dinging finished parts during the assembly process.
For the folks on here that have gone through this process, what has worked for you?
Apart and then assemble after paint.
You will need to assemble prior to paint to make sure everything “fits” then tear it all apart for paint then reassemble carefully
this will give you the best results
You do have to consider a few variables in the mix (literally), too. How much space you have is important, not everyone has a paint booth or screened off space big enough to paint a whole truck at once. If you do paint it in pieces, are you going to paint everything at the same time, or work some parts, like hood and fender, then paint them and set them aside, then do the doors, etc? If you do that, then the kind of paint you use might matter, and how it's mixed and the temp and humidity changes from day to day can impact the color and appearance of the finish. In some cases, even the direction you paint the panels can make a difference in the way it appears. Under certain light, they might not match very well. I agree that if you can keep everything consistent that painting the big parts off the truck will be best for you, the edges and backsides of panels will get a much better finish.
Do you think you can paint a whole truck without any mistakes? Are you that good if not painting a fender twice is easy. The cab is harder (sprayer angles) to paint than a fender or even the bed practice on the places that are not as visible first.
hang the parts as if they are mounted on the truck like hang the doors on something not laying flat on a table
The paint type-color you are going to use definitely has a bearing on how you do it . Colors with allot of metalic or pearl can change dramatically with air pressure , angle , temp , humidity and small differences in mix ratios . It is difficult for even an experienced painter to get consistency over many different parts and days . That being said doing it piece by piece it is definitely better for coverage , masking ,edges and overall ease of not having to get a good flow of paint on a big area . Any combination will work , and each has it's drawbacks and advantages . Lastly is your expectation of the finished product . Decent daily driver - show or somewhere in the middle ?
Thank you all for your comments. I see the pros and cons in painting the truck almost whole or in pieces.
In answer to a couple questions.........I'm going with a non-metallic base coat in the original Aquatone Blue color. This truck will basically be a daily driver, but I want it to look decent. As for my experience level, this is the first vehicle I have ever painted. So there will be mistakes regardless if it's painted whole or in pieces.
I painted my truck in pieces, then assembled the finished parts.
In order to keep everything organized and not take up all of my shop space, I made various carts to hold parts during paint and initial cut and buff. For fenders, I primed inside and out, did all of my bodywork to each on the bench, then shot a final coat of primer. I masked off the exterior of each fender and shot the inside with Raptor bedliner; if I were to paint them, I would do it the same way. When the Raptor was dry, I unmasked the exterior, masked the inside of the fenders, then mounted them to a special cart I had made. This held them securely and kept them from flexing as I did my final blocking, additional primer, bodywork, etc, then paint and cut and buff. Fenders Mounted to Cart. Fenders Mounted to Cart. Fenders Mounted to Cart.
I did the same for the doors.
Doors Mounted to Stand. Doors Mounted to Stand.
The cab was mounted to my rotisserie, but could have been put on a custom stand.
Cab Mounted to Rotisserie. Cab Mounted to Rotisserie.
It made life a lot easier, as well as protecting the parts from damage that could easily occur if they weren't secured. It just took a little bit of thought and planning on my part.
I painted mine in pieces and here are the reasons.
I did alot of metal work and the paint was gloss red. I dont use body filler so i had to see if it would look wavy after painted.
I couldnt get a body shop to paint it unless it was driving and all intact and then it was going to be a fortune.Not even Maaco..
I dont have the room to do all at once so i painted it then will assemble it and spray more clear.
I have a follow-up question related to my original question:
Do most folks paint the inside of your front and rear fenders with body color paint or with undercoat?
Thanks again!
I have a follow-up question related to my original question:
Do most folks paint the inside of your front and rear fenders with body color paint or with undercoat?
Thanks again!
I would say it depends on how detailed you're going with your restoration. If you're building a high end show truck, then everything needs to be painted and detailed to the max. If it's more of a really nice driver, and seeing how much paint costs, I wouldn't waste base-clear inside fenders, and then cover it all with undercoat. Paint will seal better than primer, even epoxy, but you could compromise and get some inexpensive black enamel to paint the insides of the fenders, then undercoat that. Just make sure it's fully cured before undercoating or you risk failure. A good 30 day dry time would be recommended for enamel. My 2c.
I have a follow-up question related to my original question:
Do most folks paint the inside of your front and rear fenders with body color paint or with undercoat?
Thanks again!
I used a product called KBS then bed liner over that, I masked at the sheet metal connections too prevent them from being to wide or thick from the bed liner
