When to Paint?

[Merv and Sharon]

It seems that most of you have had your car painted after the engine and all running gear was fitted. Correct? I have had some others say that they painted the car first and then fitted the motor/g.box. I am considering this point. I am not keen to fit the motor twice-before painting and then remove it with all the other fittings for painting. I can see pros and cons both ways but wonder what suggestions you might offer?

Many thanks,

Merv

[WildBill3]

if your going to paint with it in the car be shure to get the engine bay sealed well or the paint dust will find its way into any exposed holes in the cover its a mess to clean up it takes longer to clean up than to put the engine in the same goes for the suspenion components your have pait daust on everything if its not sealed..just a thoughtWB3

[sharpe 1]

Get all of the fitting done first, then dissamble and paint.

[BMK]

I painted after having the Cobra on the road for about six months. It took a little extra time to mask and tape everything up.

The body had had some time out in the elements.

I was told it was good also to let in cure in the sun. Don't know about that though.

My gallery has some early photos in the white gel coat.

I sprayed black stripes on one night for a finished look.

[400TT]

Merv, with your monocoque body/chassis, you can paint it after it is completed without pulling it all apart.

There are advantages to pulling it completely apart, but I can understand wanting to save the time & effort. There are also advantages to not pulling it apart for paint, so it works both ways.

We got our first Cobra painted while it as full assembled. It worked out very well.

Just make sure you paint the engine bay first.

Then when the car is completed and you want to get it painted, you just need to remove the body fittings and then send off for paint. (make sure all body fittings have been test mounted before paint)

I'm not a big fan of getting the body painted first as you want to give the body as much time as possible to settle before paint. You also do not have to worry about damaging the paint during the build process either if the body is not painted first.

Just make sure you heat cycle that body before paint. One of the easiest methods is to use black plastic over the body and roll it out in the sun for quite a few days. I just use elcheapo black garbage bags cut open and stuck onto the body.

[Merv and Sharon]

Thanks again guys, useful and sensible suggestions all round. I have been rolling mine into the hot sun each day and also I spoke with three DRB owners at the Sunshine Coast that had their cars done at a Maroochydore painter. He suggests a good body bake as well and then fully body prep, painting of underbonnet area around motor and then motor/g'box fitting. Then removal of all external bits before final painting. An interesting compromise. The ones done here said that there were no major overspray probs that way.

[Rob. Smith]

G'Day,
I am about to paint the engine bay and underneath the body soon. I have once again fitted the body to assure of a good fit. ( about four fits and removals ) I keep doing modifications
The body will then be fitted to the chassis and once sorted the exterior will be prepped and painted.
I keep asking different painters about prepping and painting fibreglass bodies and one thing I have noticed that has been a common conclusion is... Don't cook the body after painting. It makes the glass move around and leaves a "wobbly" finish. I am going to paint mine myself so I don't have an oven. I won't be able to prove the "don't cook" theory. The body is quite old so it has settled considerably so it should be pretty stable.
I would like to hear any other opinions on this theory.

[Rebel1]

I am an advocate for weathering not cooking. Weathering is exactly as Craig mentioned....cooking was a process used some years back to help erupt air bubbles under gelcoat. Excessive cooking led to unequal stresses (different thickness of layup) causing severe shrinkage of some panels.

I am also an advocate for letting any repair/fill settle/cure before final finishing.

This last step is important....How often do we see a newly painted cobra and it looks beautiful. Three months later we see the fill regions and imperfections starting to show?.

Get it nice and fair...seal the filled areas..and let it sit as long as you can...then resand, reprime and paint..

[400TT]

Les is right on the money. Painting is definitely not something you want to rush.

It's also not a bad idea to make a frame up that will support the body in exactly the same way as the chassis does. This will help stop and drooping/movement while the body is not attached to the chassis.

I've certainly heard of more than a few small disasters with bodies being away from chassis while being painted and not being able to be fitted back onto the chassis without causing stress cracks etc due to filler & paint being applied while the body was out of shape. Sometimes these stress cracks do not appear immediately.

[Merv and Sharon]

I can see that a settling period for the body before painting is well supported. How long should one leave it to settle (in Quuensland I hasten to add where summers can be hot)?

[400TT]

Merv, it's the heat cycling that's important. In my experience the white gel coat does not get hot enough. Put some black plastic on it etc and the amount of heat the body absorbs in many times greater.

The areas that usually cause the greatest area of concern is anywhere where the chassis is bonded to your fibreglass body and also anywhere where an inside panel is bonded to an outside panel. e.g. outer rim of boot, bonnet, doors etc. These will settle with heat cycling.

We did this with our first Cobra and the final body work and painting was done by a painter familiar with our brand of Cobra. He was amazed at how out of shape it was compared to other fresh bodies he had painted. That's how much settling had occurred. That Cobra is now 10 years old and it's still a pretty straight body.

Air pockets between the gelcoat and fibreglass are relatively common as well...unfortunately. The heat cycling will bring these out. You can also go around and put pressure on the body by either whacking it(in a safe manner)or role a round pole over it to crack out any air pockets.

[Merv and Sharon]

OK I will be buying some black sheet plastic. That should make it rain in S-E Qld. This fibreglass is a pain!

[Rebel1]

Merv, the worst cases I have seen have been the rush jobs. Ie. new body or newly filled and then painted body.

It's difficult to advise a time frame but usually a body is left to the end of the build process to paint....By that time it is properly cured.

However, by that time panels need filling as they have shrunk and the painter will apply a polyester based filler (bog) which also needs time to fully cure.

cheers

[Merv and Sharon]

Thanks guys. My body is 6 months now and will be 12 by the time that I have it ready for painting I guess. That really should do it! Will use the heat cycling over Christmas and have some of the prep done in the engine bay just after that.

Cheers,

Merv