Hey Dub and anyone else with experience painting C3s,

When you paint a C3, how apart or together do you have the parts?

Doors- off or on?

Hood- off or on?

Convertible Deck- off or on

Headlight doors- off or on

Let's say it will be a metallic color.

Thanks, Craig

 

I took the hood, doors, headlights and the rear panel off on my 65. Now I'm doing the same for my 72.

Bob K.

 

I'm not a "pro" by any stretch but from what I've read, IF you paint the parts off the car AND use metalic paint, make sure the parts are oriented the same way they will be on the car. for instance, paint the doors with them hanging just like they would be on the car, don't lay them down like on saw horses or on the ground. when you paint the hood, deck lid, lights they need to be laying down and NOT hanging.

it all has to do with the way the metalics "lay out" when they are sprayed.

I'm doing the body work on my '81 now, when I paint it (metalic), I plan on painting the door jambs and bottom of the hood first, then put the parts back on the car and then paint the entire car in and assemble condition. this accomplishes a couple things. first, it lets me get a good coat of paint in the hard to reach areas, then it helps reduce any possible paint damage to the exterior finish coat of paint.

 

My '71 was all apart for painting. solid color, though. Afterwards the painter said that if he'd known he'd have 20 separate pieces to paint he would have charged more.

 

WOW...this might take a while. I know I might/will get blasted by "those people" who are REALLY, REALLY original, factory spec minded. I (unless getting paid to do a "factory job")do it in a way that I want it to look.

I do this process REGARDLESS if it is a solid color OR a metallic/pearl color. AND...this is important...I shoot all parts the same day. NOW...to contradict myself...I would shoot and clear the underside of a convertible deck hatch...and clear it so it can be masked off so the exterior surface can be shot when I am shooting the car.

OFF,ON,OFF

I shoot (basecoat)the jambs...and also the doors COMPLETELY ( inside and outside). I make sure that I have enough paint on these areas ( by shooting a "color evaluation card") and finding how many coats it takes to achieve TOTAL COVERAGE. I am also shooting the cars exterior BUT I stop when I know I ONLY need 1 coat if not 1 coat and a final mist coat to make sure the metallic's are correct. Then...knowing I ONLY need to apply that final coat+...I then mount the doors which have been COMPLETELY disassembled...and adjust the door "good enough" so it can be opened and closed without hitting any of my paint . I am not worrying if it COMPLETELY closes...but it need to be very close.

Then I remove the doors when the color is CORRECT...hang my doors because I have eyelets in the roof of my paint booth that allow me to re-hang them and clear coat them completely.

Proper masking of the jamb is important ( in my opinion) so I do not have paper contact issues with wet paint or paper in the way of me being able to shoot the jamb correctly and getting it covered and slick.

OFF,ON,OFF

I do the hood the same as the doors. Shoot the exterior and underside where paint needs to be applied. I have already applied the semigloss black and masked it off so the area on the underside that needs paint will get painted and cleared.

The hood "gutter" area in the top hood surround has been painted. If it a wiper door car. The wiper door assembly has been removed, the door and grille removed from the mechanism and prepped for paint.

I have the engine compartment masked off and BEFORE I begin any painting of the hood with body color. I set up spacers so I can set the hood in place and have it fit well so the final 1+ coat can be applied. Hood hinges have been removed so the top hood surround can be painted to my liking.

Once it has been painted...I remove the hood CAREFULLY and set it on a support stand and clear it on the topside and underside. When I have finished clearing it...I remove the tape on the underside so it will not leave a sharp edge. When masking off the underside of the hood with paper...make sure you get the paper to lay flat... because if you mask it tight...the chances that the paper will pop or tear is likely due to air space between the hood and the paper.

OFF,ON,OFF
Basic same procedure as the hood EXPECT I paint and clear the deck lid hinges...let them dry and when I am masking the area off. I use steel plates and compress the hinge and keep it down during any future painting operations. We can talk on the phone about this if you want. PM me and I will PM you with my phone #

OFF,ON

I trim them out BEFORE I install them. I get them coated along with the area around the headlight doors on the top hood surround. CAREFULLY install them and get them adjusted. Once they are PERFECT!!!...I mask off the gap area so no paint gets blown through the headlight opening area. The back area is a bit touchy..so I use paper to try to stop

It can take me solid 8+ hours of taping and getting a 68-72 masked and set up in the booth for painting. Not taking into account painting the underside on hatch lid...and semigloss back on underside of hood. I also will shoot the semigloss black on the underside of the hood AFTER I have painted and cleared it....BUT...I give it time to cure so when i have it on a padded stand and masking it off so i can shoot the black...I do not damage to leave any impressions in the clear while doing this.

OOOPs...I also shoot the door hinges in body color BEFORE I re-install them after I modify them (which is done during the bodywork stage)so I do not have to worry about getting them covered.

Hope this helped...if not PM me and we can talk

DUB

 

Thank you all for the input. I know there are many different ways to go about it.

I now have to decide which way will work best for my situation.

I will be painting my 68 in my garage so I don't have the best conditions but not that bad either. I would have to make up some hook arrangements to hang parts to clear them off of the car, but that is not a bad idea.

Craig

 

Setting up all of the parts in my booth is a chore. I just have to take a deep breath and take it one part at a time.

DUB

 

I should have read this post before I posted my question. I was going to rent a booth because I was concerned that the garage I was doing body work in would be to dusty regardless of how well I clean. The second concern is the logistics of trying to position everything with the limited space of a 1/4 filled 2 car garage.

CF6873 when are you planning to paint? I want to know how it works out.

 

Like I mentioned in your post...the logistics of getting everything in my booth...and making it so I can get around everything without hitting it is FUN to say the least. I use every available area ...even the paper that I apply to the windshield is available space for upper fender trim moldings, wiper door. I have built jigs just to hold and secure items so they can be painted and moved easily....and yet still allow the part to be completely painted.

DUB

 

When I paint a sizable job in my garage I do a very good cleaning and then hang plastic sheeting all over the walls. I have been offered booths to use but the logistics of hauling the car and all of the parts makes it too much to deal with. I will just deal with the dirt in the paint and sand and buff it out.

I probably won't be ready to paint for another month or so. I have two bays to use so I actually have alot of room to hang the doors and other parts.

 

Now that's clever!

 

MAN...I wish my paint booth was two-bays wide...or at least another 5 feet longer. Glad to read you have a a lot of room. It does make it a bit easier.

DUB

 

I know what you mean DUB - I was in a facility last week that builds hi-performance offshore boats, including the radical paint jobs. They had a booth that had to be 30x80 feet! All I could think of was man it would be nice to paint my Vette in here!