Painting cab on or off the frame

[Ricos54]

Which do you prefer having your cab painted

On the frame?

Off the frame?

[Richs'55]

I am the lone "On the Cab" as of now.

Which is why i am replying. I paint all the backsides of fenders, cab interior and door jambs, under hood and inside of door panels. Then assemble whole car/truck and then paint vehicle as a whole. saves a lot of nicks and scratches during assembly and gives the whole vehicle an even finish. I don't have a big enough shop to paint everything un-assembled.

[BIGglaSS]

I voted for "on". Also not enough space , and don't want to scratch it while putting it back on the frame.

[ptc]

I agree with Richs55 philosophy.... just seems to 'flow' better for everything during final assembly. If your chassis is completed before everything else.

[_Ogre]

i mixed it up a bit. i did all the body work and primer off the frame
had bed liner spayed on the bottom, painted the firewall and dash body color off the frame
installed the core support and cab on frame, then got truk 75% wired and running
steering installed, dash wired, ac installed, interior 80% finished or mocked up, stereo installed and wired
then i finished painting the cab, interior first

[Stepside Jim]

I didn't vote due to many different variables.

Space certainly is an issue, scratching during assembly is and issue ect.

On mine I did two tone along with painted pin stripes. Assembly was necessary to line up all the lines before taping.

But I didn't want to have red, then silver, then black, then clear all blown into the door jambs with all the spraying, so once the taping was done I disassembled and hung and painted everything individually.


Getting the red pinstripes aligned was the key.


With the cab on the frame I was able to use the frame for mock up assembly.

[DransportGarage]

It would be cool if someone would show the masking that they did for painting after assembly. That could convince me to try it. I've always painted before assembly and never had to repaint a panel due to mismatch or damage during assembly. It's just a really long day to paint all of the parts at once.

[Richs'55]

Ok, I will try to explain how I tape off the panel joints so paint/overspray doesn't get in the door jambs/ hood seems.
Pictures are of the Firebird I did last year.

I will paint under hood, inside door jambs and interior door edges first and then reassemble car.



I will then sand down paint and clear coat down to the sealer on outside of car. See below.


Then I will open door/trunk lid/hood and tape jambs with a "1 wide piece of tape hanging half off the edge of the car, fold it back along the edge of the car so it provides a sticky flap. Do the same on the door/ trunk lid/ hood itself and fold back to provide another sticky flap of tape. When this is done all along both mating surfaces, close the door so the gap is sealed at the edges.

Here you can see the truck lid on the Firebird. Not the best picture of what took place, but (1) tape the lid all around with a folded back flap, (2) taped the trunk opening with matching flap, and slammed the lid down.
Any tape that sticks out, just use a screwdriver to push back in until you are happy with the edge. Tape should be slightly below the edge of the openings so any paint edge will be right on the edge of the panel.


Here's another shot along the hood seem.


Hope that is clear enough for you. A video would be better but I didn't take any of those. And my '55 I am currently working on is no where near paint yet.

Oh BTW, It came out pretty good, huh?

[Richs'55]

Stepside Jim, I gotta say, "That is one sharp looking color combination."

I love the two tone with the accent color. Very nice.

[DransportGarage]

Richs'55, very nice explanation and super job! Thanks for taking the time to post it. Can this be done with basecoat/clearcoat without a tape line in the seam?

[Richs'55]

Originally Posted by DransportGarage

Richs'55, very nice explanation and super job! Thanks for taking the time to post it. Can this be done with basecoat/clearcoat without a tape line in the seam?

Yes. That is most of my paint jobs. I put a coat or two of sealer on everything. Paint the panels with base coat and clear coat. Assemble the vehicle. Then sand down the base coat and clear coat that shows outside the panels so I am ready again for base coat/clear coat.

After masking the car, spray base coat/clear coat, I wait a day and clean up all the tape.

I usually will find a few paint edges on the door edges/ hood edges. The clear coat is pretty soft yet so I can sand (1500 grit) away any edge and smooth out any rough edges before final wet sanding and polishing. Even if there is an edge or line on the seem, it is pretty minimal and is usually on the backside of the door edge. That's why I said to push the tape slightly below the plane of the door panels.

I have never done a pinstripe like Jims truck this way, but it might be possible to tape off the egde first to stop overspray into the seem. I really like the way Jim did it though.

[DransportGarage]

Originally Posted by Richs'55

Yes. That is most of my paint jobs. I put a coat or two of sealer on everything. Paint the panels with base coat and clear coat. Assemble the vehicle. Then sand down the base coat and clear coat that shows outside the panels so I am ready again for base coat/clear coat.

After masking the car, spray base coat/clear coat, I wait a day and clean up all the tape.

I usually will find a few paint edges on the door edges/ hood edges. The clear coat is pretty soft yet so I can sand (1500 grit) away any edge and smooth out any rough edges before final wet sanding and polishing. Even if there is an edge or line on the seem, it is pretty minimal and is usually on the backside of the door edge. That's why I said to push the tape slightly below the plane of the door panels.

I have never done a pinstripe like Jims truck this way, but it might be possible to tape off the egde first to stop overspray into the seem. I really like the way Jim did it though.

Thanks again, Rich! I may give it a try.

[Old Crow]

You know, they make a round sticky foam masking material for those door and hood gaps.
That being said, we paint the trucks in pieces, the cars we paint the interior and jambs, then put them together and paint the outside all at once.

[DransportGarage]

Originally Posted by Old Crow

You know, they make a round sticky foam masking material for those door and hood gaps.
That being said, we paint the trucks in pieces, the cars we paint the interior and jambs, then put them together and paint the outside all at once.

You're "remembering" me, Old Crow. We used to call it Dart tape. I have a box of it in the garage.

[Stepside Jim]

Originally Posted by Richs'55

Stepside Jim, I gotta say, "That is one sharp looking color combination."

I love the two tone with the accent color. Very nice.

I just wanted to say..... Thanks Richs'55....

[strider621]

I decided to paint the cab on the frame. I stripped everything else to paint but I didnt have a good way to take the cab off. I am block sanding the cab now and hope to have it painted in a couple of weeks.