Paint after drop or before?

[James H.]

What is the best way to go in regard to Painting.
Should you Drop the Body on and then Paint or Paint it First and then Drop it on the Chassis?
Are there many reasons why one way is better then the other?
What do you think?

[Dan H.]

Re: Paint after drop or before?

Paint first, before body drop, it eliminates problems and creates the correct oversprays etc. Have all doors, hood etc installed as they really were, won't chip or mismatch later. No other way to do it and realize an original paint scheme.
Dan

[Dick W.]

Re: Paint after drop or before?

We always painted the body off the car. That way you can be working on the chassis and the body at the same time. We made a wooden body dolly from plans in an older Corvette Restorer magazine. Actually transported one body over 300 miles round trip on one of those dollies.

[Russ S.]

Re: Paint after drop or before?

I have always painted the body off the chassis with no issues.

[Jack H.]

Re: Paint after drop or before?

I guess I walk to the beat of a different drummer...

I say do the body/paint work FIRST (before you pull the body) then go do the frame and mechanical work. Why?

(1) Body & paint is the most labor intensive portion of restoration. Invest early in the project (lowest labor rate in a generally inflating market) and inventory the finished product allowing the paint to fully dry/cure.

(2) You don't need a body dolly as the existing frame is there & intact.

(3) You don't need to mask as you'll be re-doing and/or replacing the chassis/mechanical components that are susceptible to collecting overspray.

Now, all bets are off if the frame is 'dogged' (badly rusted, deformed or collision damaged)... You do NOT want to commit body repair work and then paint over the repairs if the body isn't atop a straight/true supporting platform!

[Dick W.]

Re: Paint after drop or before?

Jack, tried it before we removed the body, with the body off, and after we sat the body back down. Body off the frame made it a lot easier to work with. We usually did all the repairs, primed with DP (number depending on the color) came back with primer surfacer K-36, did all the sanding and blocking, then rolled the car out of the way and let every thing cure out. Would paint the body a week or so before we were ready to drop it back on. We have let them cure as long as a year, depending on the owner's pocket book. No money, no workee.

[Russ S.]

Re: Paint after drop or before?

A big advantage of doing the body off the frame is that if you have extensive repair to do(broken glass) and you have a rotisserie it is far easier to get at the inside or bottom side to do those repairs. I do as much repair on the inside as I do on the outside.