Anyone? (Insert sound of crickets...)

 

Just my 2 cents. Im not a pro but I have painted a few cars. I would tape of the car and spray the jams B&C. then when your ready to paint the rest wet sand the tape line smooth. Retape just behind the previous line inside the jams and trunk with tape and tape combo. then close the doors and trunk gently.this will seal off the area and alllow the B&C to cover with a slight over lap. then once done remove all the tape and wet sand. That is hOw i have done it in the past. I hope this helped and didnt confuse or make things worse lolololol.

 

I have removed the masking tape shortly after spraying and paint flashes but not yet hardened to leave a line that needs sanding, also i wouldn't put any clear until all color sanding is done. cant say if I am right or not I am not a professional painter

 

Ok, because the crickets have chirped in I guess I can also, Im not a painter. But I can do as much as the crickets.

Here is my chirp. Why not paint the entire car in one shoot. Door jambs and all the other jambs and the panels also. Big masking job, you will have to mask the door openings, door panels, engine compartment, trunk compartment, windows, underside, basically everything that isnt gonna get the color. The mask has to be flexible for the trunk lid, engine lid and doors so you can shoot those surfaces. Paint the jambs then close the lids to almost closed and paint the lid's tops.

I dont see any reason why you couldnt paint the jambs and outside panels all at once. It will be a long day, but you wont have any lines (from taping) to deal with.

Like I said before. The masking is the major part of the job. It might take an entire day (maybe two) to do a proper masking. Using flexible plastic for alot of it so you can move the lids and doors. And move them (the lids) so there isnt any loose plastic that will droop and touch the paint before painting just to make sure..

I would spend a good days work masking the car and prep it correctly for the next days painting.

Beats the hell out of trying to blend paint lines, specially with a metallic.

Make a really good mask. Dont forget to think outta the box. Restaurant grade saran wrap really works well for the tight areas and it flexes pretty well. Better than aluminum foil (or paper) which works good too.

Clean the entire car really well, so there isnt any dust, the tape will grab better. Tape the lines off in areas that wont be seen. Like the pinch weld on the rocker area.

I really dont see any reason why you couldnt mask an assembled car off and shoot the entire thing, jambs and all.

There will be areas that you just cant get to. Like the door hinge area and the outside of the inner fenders. The inner fenders, not as much of an issue. They are usually dark, like black anyway. But the area right around the door hinges is a big problem area. Mainly because when you open the door that area can be seen. It doesnt have to be body color for it to look nice. But to be honest, it does look like a better paint job if the area is painted body color. Not gonna happen unless you paint the car with the doors off though, no getting around that. But if you had the doors off and painted it black that might help. VS if it is a light color, like white. Its a dark area anyway, in the shadows, so black will look ok.

The hard part is picking the transion point. Where do you decide the body color ends and the black or white begins. Thats why a door off paint job looks better. You open the door and there is still body color in there, at the hinge area.. But.... Sometimes we cant do it that way. So we look for alternatives.

I am a fan of alternative car builds. Mainly cause I HAVE to go that route sometimes. Necessity does not over rule my bank account. The money comes first, then I figure out what I can do. Some folks have a bottomless account. Not this dude JR

 

the guy that painted mine,did the jambs first. when that was cured, he used a round(about 1/2 inch) self stick foam tape, like a door seal its from 3m. it lets the paint feather into the pre painted jamb area. just a slight hand buffing makes it blend in.

 

Most ordinary cars, when I do jambs, underhood, underside of decklid, I will paint these parts first (after all priming has been completed on the outer body), then assemble. Sand off the overspray that got on the exterior when you final sand the car.

Tape the car up in a way so you are able to open the doors, hood ect. You can tape in a way to minimize tape lines in jambs by backtaping, or better yet backtaping along a hard edge if you have one. Scuff the new paint you applied in the jambs up to that point 3m also makes a tape that will leave a soft edge called aperture tape, and tape up the rest of the opening real well. If not a nice hard line I can backtape along, then I will tape in a ways from the edge of the jamb to allow some paint to get in from the very edge you can see with the doors closed. After each step open the doors and look how things are looking. You may want to roll the tape back some so the next goes in further. For example if you seal and don't roll back the tape before base, the base color often won't go in as far as the sealer, and won't cover all of the sealer color. With everything inside the jambs taped up well you can shoot inside there some with the door open if needed. Then apply the clear to the car and when done open and check the jambs and how the line looks, You can then shoot a little straight reducer or blending solvent if you want on the edge and a line should be virtually non existant. When you have a hard line to go to, it really usually turns out well. Also taping along the doors edges leaving a little stick past it so it closes the opening up some when the door is closed (see the sticky side in the door gap when door is closed) can block the amount of overspray that gets into the jambs, as well as not allowing to get on the backside of the door. Same goes for edge of hood and trunk lid.
Really hard to explain what I am trying to get across, if I had any pics it would be better, but unfortunately I don't. But there are tricks you learn to tape up previous painted jambs- assembled panels in a way that a line is virtually non existant and if you pull it off you can't tell where the paint from the outside ends inside the jamb, and looks like it was all painted at once. Kind think of it in same way as how a blend is done on the outside if doing a spot repair. You always blend in the base and try to clear the entire panel, but sometimes if you have a hard line across the panel to back tape along, you can pull off a pretty good repair without clearing everything, and if not you try to keep the area small, tape up so you don't leave a hard line, and then burn in the blend area by shooting reducer or blending solvent on the blend area.

 

The car's color will be changed and the plan is to epoxy prime then primer surfacer over that. Once sanding is done, the hood, doors, fenders and trunk lid are coming off to be sealed front and back. Then the jambs will be done off the car. It was at that point that I planned to paint the car-side jambs in base and clear and the side of the cowl will be painted along w/the door jambs.

How about "overtaping"? That is to put the tape about 1/4" further past the edges and partially covering the first section of the jamb. Then use the gun at an angle to create almost a shadow effect showing a small but of primer on the edge. When the car goes back together for final paint, I'd use the cushy roll tape inside the jambs and have no edge to sand.

I'm shopping around for a painter, so this is a good conversation to have here at SNS. Everyone's input is really appreciated!

 

this is the product 73ss406 is referring to: http://www.sjdiscounttools.com/3m6297.html. i use it all the time when painting. it leaves a soft edge on jambs and even body lines when you are refinishing just a portion of a panel.

that is the next best thing other than taking your doors off and doing your jambs while you paint the quarters.

if you take your time and use the aperture tape properly there will be no hard paint line at all. if anything, just a little clear build up you can scrape off with your thumbnail once the paint has fully cured.



edit:
i pretty much just reworded what ken wrote. i didn't read a couple of the longer posts.

 

Saw the foam tape on TV before and it looks cool. Since I am changing the color thus pulling fenders & doors, why not spray both body and door sides of the jambs. I'll have to speak to the guy who will eventually paint my car to see how he wants to handle things.

 

ezedger

its called back masking.leaves a soft edge and minimal polishing of edge if any.it would be like taking 2/3 of the tape and folding it in half leaving 1/3 to stick to the panel.that flap will allow the paint and clear to make a soft, workable, usually invisible edge.we use it everyday in our shop and have found it to work the best. check it out.

http://www.ezedger.com

 

body lines

why not just go ahead and do it right and pull all the sheetmetal and paint it and clear it then paint and clear the body and your done no paint lines

 

why not just go ahead and do it right and pull all the sheetmetal and paint it and clear it then paint and clear the body and your done no paint lines

Not sure what you mean. I'm going with a metallic paint BC/CC system and a color change. Have to jamb with the car apart and with metallics the car has to be together for a nice consistent base and clear.

 

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: What color ?