Is it better to paint the whole truck as an assembly, or to paint individual panels and reassemble when they are dry?

My thoughts are as follows:

I'm thinking I'll paint the insides of the fenders, doorjambs, under the hood, dash, etc., then reassemble them onto the truck to shoot the "outside" in one shot. I think it would be easier to set panel gaps and line up doors, etc. without worrying about scratching fresh paint. Additionally, I'm concerned about not getting uniform coverage if I did it in individual panels.

Any thoughts?

we painted my buddies 84 ford last week...we tore it completly down to a bare cab...so there are no tape lines in the door jams...we sprayed the cab and doors(hanging so we sprayed inside and outside) and wiper cowl one night and sprayed the bed and hood the next night and it all turned out even but we made sure we sprayed sealer and then the exact same number of coats of paint on all of it...we also pulled all teh windows out and he has all new glass for it...turned out great so far...maybe we can get it back together tomorrow scratch free

heres what it looked like coming out the paint booth(homemade paint booth might i add) except we had already reinstalled the grille,bumper, ect

it depends a lot on the color and kinda your going to be using man, if its a pearl or a candy then yes i would normally do it like you said, its possible to do it in pieces but unless you've been painting a long time i dont suggest it. hanging the parts as they are on the truck will help a lot, in other words dont paint the doors flat layin on a stand, hang them up from the top of the window frame, same as the front fenders, dont lay um down hang them. all pearls and metallic's will flop a bit, that means viewed for certain angles they will reflect light differently. If its a a tri coat or some thing like that the only way is to do it like you said, jam the whole truck, hang every thing and shoot the out side all together. If its just single stage black or some other fairly heavy solid color, no sweat, paint the pieces and keep in mind the number of coats, air temp, and air pressure at the gun so thats always the same and it should match pretty damn good

We are in the process of painting my Dually right now... in a driveway, no booth, not even a garage. And Campy knows what the weather has been like the last few months... rain every week... BUT.. like stated above my painter has been doing it a long time...

Campy, as you said, you want to paint the jams, then reassemble and spray truck... You will have a high probability of getting overspray on your freshly painted jams if you do this. We pulled all the panels and doors, sprayed jams and cab, sprayed doors, fenders, hood off the truck. Just remember how many coats of color you put on, and coats of clear, and definitely use color from the same gallon (Dont use different quarts, color may vary)

I had to get my paint from out of state (Calif no longer sells solvent base), and my paint had to be shipped in Quarts. So we made sure to mix it all together in a gallon bucket first...

Right on, Guys. Thanks.

Disassemble, paint, and reassemble.

Resurrecting an old ass thread. Finally landed on a color. Hopefully I'll be spraying in the not too distant future. Two more questions:

1. Single stage or BC/CC?

2. Acrylic or urethane?

hell yea..cant wait to see. it kinda boils down to what kind of look you want as in finish and ect and what budget you wanna follow? im by no means a painter lol but its like everything. buy good products. no shortcuts

I've seen single stage look amazing it will look even better with clear coat on top , but if u want a deep paint job go base/clear

What about acrylic vs urethane?

I've heard urethane is a pretty durable paint.

Acrylic is pretty tough but yeah urethane is more durable but little harder lo lay down

I'll try not to write a short novel on this, but bear with me bro ...

There are acrylic and urethane single stages as well as acrylic and urethane basecoats. Your choice is going to depend on several factors and their order of importance. Cost, ease of application, expected finish, color, longevity, etc. If you are shooting a solid color then single stage could be used. Generally, an acrylic urethane will hold out (depending on color) anywhere from one year to 5 or more ... depends on the color, level of care and maintenance, and if it is garage kept or not. A polyurethane (catalyzed) should last at least 5 years or longer also depending on the above conditions.

If you are shooting a metallic/pearl, then base clear is the way to go, but that doesnt mean it has to be expensive. I am assuming that you are going to want to go base clear, and if you do then there will be no option for you to use anything other than a polyurethane clearcoat. If someone tells you they have an acrylic clear, lacquer clear, or the latest and greatest thing but it isnt urethane, then RUN AWAY.

You can get a cost effective base clear job with the right products as well as prep. If you are going to spray a solid then by all means, you can use a single stage urethane ... as long as the truck is prepped right and the product is applied right it will look like base clear. I painted my 95 XCSB with single stage and when I sold it 4 years later everyone still swore I sprayed base/clear on it and it was just as shiny as when I painted it. And it sat outside everyday, and I drove it like I stole it.

I work for a manufacturer, but would be more than willing to help point you in the right direction with other products as well ... not trying to steer you in any one direction. Hope this helps.

agree w/above as long as a non metallic/pearl color such as black,white,red,yellow etc,then single stage urethane is great.i won dallas autorama 5 yrs with yellow single stage urethane.the key to shine and depth is colorsanding & buffing especially if not shooting in perfect conditions.(ie downdraft booth)1200 & 1500 grit wet paper,meguiars red cutting pad,3m #1 perfectit cutting compound. expensive compound but very effective in one step.(purple bottle)

i like to paint both ways, with parts on and with parts off. for me just takin off hood and front fenders is enough. but to each their own.. it's really up to the painter and how he likes to do things. i have had several magazine features and SEMA display vehicles. here is such a vehicle, painted in a garage, bedliner sprayed in the garage and all in 5 days start to finsh.. (picture heavy) paint: sherwin williams "cheap" dimension base clear