Painting question, should i paint parts separate or together...?

[tripleblack]

I was wondering if i should put my truck together and then paint it or should i take each part to the paint shop and then bolt them together. I am going to weld on my rollpan so my bed has to be put together before i paint that so but as far as the doors and front fenders, hood, cab and everything else besides the bed, what should i do. Maybe if someone on the board has been through welding a rollpan and could give me some suggestions from experience. By the way, the reason i have no problem painting all the parts separate is because my whole truck is appart and have preatty much all new reproduction sheetmetal. Thanks.

[muddpile]

I'm actually in the same situation as you, but again don't know which to do. Hopefully someone here knows.

[mrjs80]

I had all my parts painted individually and the color was not the same on some of the panels! It was painted yellow so i'm sure that didn't help. If I had to do it again I would paint all the jams and the inside of the cab, then reasemble and paint the whole exterior in one shot.

[rage'nrat638]

make sure you have enough paint to do the whole job..
if you have different cans, mix them to keep color the same
make sure the same color primer/sealer is used on all parts

and yes if the same number of coats are not used or method is used on each part...the color will be different...also orange peel will look different.
the best way is to color coat the in sides of each fender or part and reinstall.
nobody say's it's easy....there ton's of taping and masking off.
if your doing a two tone?? this really makes it fun.

to sum it up:
best color and same orange peel on complete car or truck can be had by painting complete.

if your painting method is always the same, and have had lots of pratice.
painting each piece is ok..

[chevyboy55]

Also have you test fitted the sheet metal to make sure it does not need any massaging before painting?

[OhioChevy]

Here is the way I am going to paint my truck. I will paint the inner fenders,
inside of the fenders, inside of doors, interior of cab, door jams, under the
hood, cowl and bottom of truck. Put everything together and then paint
the outside of truck. Like someone else has stated buy ALL of the paint that
you will need to paint the truck. I will paint the bed separate and then put
onto truck. Hope this helps.

[rodnok1]

I agree with OhioChevy, paint the inners then assemble, then paint truck. I like to put extra paint on the edges that way also. You can compensate for paint on edges(gaps) and if you get a nick no biggy. You will get some overspray, most areas you can mask off.

[pound41]

I have never done one this way. But I paid $6000 to have my 69 RS/SS Camaro by the guy who has painted the Oakley sunglasses funny car and hungreds of others. I think it come down to like rat said. Boxing your paint which means mixing multiple gallons to insure enough. Exact measurements of everything. Anyway they painted the body. The doors, hood etc painted off the car. Taped off door jamb where the 2 painted edges met in a seam. Sprayed and cleared it all. Let it sit for a while put it back together. Sanded with 2000grit. Buffed the whole car. Uniformed and glass. I am thinking of trying it on my blazer. I watched most of the work done on my camaro at night. All the others I have sprayed myself were with all the panels on the car.

[tripleblack]

thanks a lot for all that info. I will let yall know what i end up doing. Most likely will paint the inside first, put together, and do the outside in one shot.

[northcountry67]

I found that jamming everything, then putting it together for final paint allowed me to align everything before paint. It would be very hard to match the color in pieces because any difference in weather (humidity, barometric pressure) can cause a difference in color. Also, it is hard to keep from scratching the parts as you reassemble them after paint. I am going to paint my bed seperately, but that is because it isn't ready yet.

[bs25j]

I am getting close to putting some color down also and have been debating on which route to take. If you are doing a BC/CC paint job and painting jambs first is there a chance of having the paint or clear start to peel at the seams..IF not what are the cons to painting the jambs first.

[72CSTC5]

I would suggest or recommed if you can, paint your pieces off of the vehicle. Be very careful reassembling after painting. Before you paint align all of your body panels and you can drill 1/8" holes in the hinges so you can realin everything to the way it was before. Buff panels off of vehicle and then clean up buff compound front and back, tape off edges and then install your panels. Good luck, the only way I wouldnt do this is either a pearl paint job or candy colors.

[wibilly]

72cst5 this is excatly how i plan to do mine.it will be two tone. i will paint the inside of cab let dry well maskit off on inside of weatherstrip area then paint white on roof and sides then green all at one time then clear coat.after color is down how much time do i have before i must clear it? i'm using acrylic urathaine. can i let it dry and color sand to remove any dust or orange peal if any before clearing or between color coats if nessary i'm looking for a very high quality finish

[northcountry67]

If you will read the product information sheet for your paint, it will tell you how much time you have to apply the clear. It is normally not more than 15-20 minutes. Most of the jobs I've done have a single stage available to paint the jams with and a bc/cc for the outside. They seem to match very well. The advantage to jamming first is that you can do it with the parts off the truck and will not have to stand on your head to get the tight spots.