0Rick@Moroso Performance

I am a little worried about trying to reinstall the body with new paint. You know, flexing cracks, rubs, the doors hitting the rear quarters before we get it shimmed right.

I am also worried about getting over spray on everything if I did do it on the chassis. Obviously, I would tape and bag everything, but it always seems to get through somewhere!

Which way have you guys done it?

Thanks for your help!

Rick

munday

if the body is in good shap i see no reason to take it off to paint it, it's not like your going for a factory resto..... I am getting ready to paint mine on the car.. now if i wanted to do a full resto i would take it off so i could get to the frame and everything easier to replace/resto. :shocked:

GDaina

You are in for a ton of work if you paint with the body on....you won't be able to mask the entire frame...count on overspary....what's the difference if you paint it and then put it on the frame vs. putting the body on and then paint it? Use the lift to lower the body on the frame....the new paint will be fine and no over spray to clean up.

MikeC

I just ran into this in the past week. This is what I decided to do

My body is off and I just replaced the windshield frame and door pillars. The doors do not line up perfectly anymore.... I don't know why so I have decided much to put it in primer until I can get it back on the frame later this summer. I can then fit the doors perfectly and get the seams correct and have NO chance of the seams getting screwed up when I mount it on the body and shim it correctly.

Just My opinion. I think if no major structural work has been done to he body, by all means paint it off of the body, it makes for a much easier cleanup.

IF you are worried about fitment issues after you get it on the body, like me, take the extra time to mask off everything you can and then spray it. You'll only have minor overspray issues.

rponfick

I'm doing the sanding and body work with the body on a dolly. The frame and motor are restored and sitting to the side of the garage. I've done paint jobs before with the body on and have always been disappointed in getting the frame and engine compartment messed up with the painting process. It's not just the overspray. If you color sand the wet sanding goo runs everywhere, regardless of how careful you are. It all depends on what result you want. I take the doors off and built door braces out of 3/4 inch conduit, so you don't have to worry about door chips during body install flexing, so you still have the support, especially with a roadster. Just my .02 cents worth.

70BBvert

Every restoration shop I have been to paints the body off the car. The car is stripped, the body removed for frame inspection & repair if any. Then the body goes back on for body work, panel replacements, alignment of the body to the frame, etc. Then the body comes back off for the final body work & paint. While the body is being prepped & painted the chassis gets painted & re-assembled, engine & tranny installed.

Then after as much as possible is on the chassis the body is re-installed. Most of the shops use a four post lift and place the arms under the body at the corners of the birdcage.

Simple :D :lolg:

Jim

78Vette-SA

Off, off, off... or messy messy messy....

That @#$% gets into everything. IF the bodywork (blocking/sanding) is done on the car. Expect a big mess and cleaning it up for a long time to come. Also, overspray no matter what you do.

Ask me how I know!

red79c3

If you paint the body on the Vette then make sure that you back tape and cover EVERYTHING. Or else!!!!!!!

Good luck! :jester

Paul L

Paint it with the body on. The expense of taking the body off along with the possibility of "mistakes" putting it back on does not make sense to me. That will double the price. As to overspray, a $5.00 bottle of John Deere Blitz Black and some masking tape will take care of that in short order.

CF6873

[QUOTE]Every restoration shop I have been to paints the body off the car. The car is stripped, the body removed for frame inspection & repair if any. Then the body goes back on for body work, panel replacements, alignment of the body to the frame, etc. Then the body comes back off for the final body work & paint. While the body is being prepped & painted the chassis gets painted & re-assembled, engine & tranny installed.

this is exactly how I did mine and it certainly makes a nice job, but it really depends on how particular you are. If you don't need the frame to be show quality it is a little less stressfull to paint it on the frame. Craig

GDaina

Paul, the body is already off the frame, so it makes no sense putting the body on, spraying, then masking the body to touch up the frame....

0Rick@Moroso Performance

I guess I should have mentioned that I already have the body off. I am going to powder coat the frame and suspension.

I am just afraid of hurting the body putting it back on. I will most definitely take the doors off and bolt in some supports for the reinstall either way.

Thanks for all the tips!

Rick

Solid LT1

Rick, you can cover the frame and suspension with thin plastic sheeting and then re-drop the body. The sheeting can be torn away after all the spraying has been completed. You must be working on the C3 race car, good luck!

GDaina

How would you hurt it?

I wouldn't do that...the doors will give the body rigid support and prevent the body from flexing. If you do take the doors off to paint the car, install the doors, then use the lift to drop the body on the frame.

One problem with plastic sheeting...overspray will accumulate, and then peel off in small pieces, fly all over the place, and who knows where it will land...use newspaper if you're going to put the body on and then paint.

sray454

I'm in the same spot. I've decided that getting the doors aligned, headlights installed, and hood properly aligned after painting is not for me. So I put my body back on. I figure that masking everything off is easier than fixing the inevitable paint scratches and chips that I'd get from reattaching doors, and headlights, and hood.

I'd rather clean off overspray than doing spot repainting.

Fevre

Now that is a damn good idea.

70BBvert

Paint the door jambs, the inside of the doors, bottom of hood, basically all the removeable parts. Then put them back on & paint the entire car together, especially the doors. If the doors are painted horizontally the paint will lay differently & there is a good chance it will appear to be a different shade.

While it is more work it will result in a better job.

James

I really think that if it can be done the best results you are going to get is to paint the body while its off the frame. The only thing that concerns me is how very very carefull you are going to have to be when the body gets laid back onto the frame after painting. I just get these bad visions of putting just a little to much stress in one spot or the other when you you go to do it and putting some stress cracks in your nice new paint job. Just like some one mentioned above I have seen people cover the entire frame with some plastic sheeting and lower the body onto the frame to protect it from overspay and then peal it away once all painted. Good luck.

kaiserbud

Its been a long time for me - but I say paint with the body on.

If the body is off now - ok - but the downside to body off is supporting the fiberglass, esepcially the heavy front end (especially with headlamps in). The doors can be taken off with a body on re-paint and there is no flex to the cowl area. But with an off body you should make steel supports for the door openings.

If you do a good tape job, which is very attainable, the body on is much less risk/work.

Paul L

Thanks George. I missed something in the original post. My bad!