Mark Snyder

I have done a fair amount of body work on C2 and C3 cars including complete panel replacements and full paint. In every case the body was set back on the chassis and painted in place. This allowed me to align all the panels perfect, sand/fit/adjust without any scary parts. Taping the chassis off takes all day!!!

BUT I am working a '60 which the body is currently on a simple body jig. The question I have is what is everyone's experience with painting these cars on a jig versus the chassis? I can see the door gaps change while I am working on the body on the jig when I lean inside. Not what I would call a solid foundation. My worst fear is to paint it on the jig and have crappy panel alignment or funky waves that show up when it is bolted on the chassis.

I have seen a lot of photos of guys who have the painted body on a jig then assemble them the same as the factory. Do you then shim the body or adjust all the panels with the car fully painted?

My thought was to put the body back on the chassis (in non restored form) and finish the prep work and paint it. Then remove the body, restore the chassis and put it back together again. Of course this means moving the painted body around twice.

Another option is weld up a fixture out of box tube that replicates the factory chassis. I could grab all the dimensions from the frame diagram in the service manual.

Opinions from experts? I am not the first person to ponder this I am sure.

Thanks!

Joel 67

Align the panels and then remove it to paint on the jig

67L36Driver

IIWM (if it were me)
Wrap the frame/chassis with stretch wrap and paint it on the frame. Avoid damage during 'body drop'.

Watch out for Murphy's Law.

Kensmith

Never seems like the gaps stay the same when you remove parts and re-install after painting. Also big risk of chipping. If you can paint it on the frame, do it! If not, use tape to protect other panels when re-installing.

BarryK

seems different people and different painters have different preferences.
The painter I used on my '65, who have been specializing in older Vettes for years prefers to paint while the body is on the chassis. Avoids possible damage that could occur during a body drop back onto the chassis.
He will paint bodies on dollys when required by customer but prefers to do it on the chassis.

I don't thinks it's so much a question of which way is "better" rather than what your preference or circumstances may be

Mark Snyder

I have used the shrink wrap method before and it works great except for the brakes and stuff that needs to move. Also getting it off from under the body mounts can really suck!

I agree that nothing matches as good as when you hang the panels and fit them on the frame.

zim64

I say paint it on the frame it will be mounted to permanently. Do all your work and paint after mounting and torquing all the body mount bolts. The body can contort differently when torqued down. Of course you have all the shims correctly placed right?

SolidAxle

We have done it both ways. There are pros and cons to each. We are currently getting ready to squirt my '58 and have decided to do so on the frame. Major pros are door and panel gaps are perfect before and after paint, no worry about damage from body drop, and best of all there is better paint consistency especially with metallics. You will have to spend a bit more time masking to insure that you don't get any inappropriate overspray but in the end we elected this approach. My '54 was done the same way. My '60, '61, '63, and '64 were done on a paint dolly without incident. Whatever you chose just be careful.

67vetteal

PPG makes a protectant that you spray on the chassis prior to installing the body. Paint the car and then wash off the overspray and dust with the protectant. Al W.