I have seen this on the forum before, but was wondering if anybody out there had a copy of a video that shows the procedure for removal of body panels. I am completing the restoration of a 88 GT, and the car will need painting. I am going to go to classes at the local community college to learn to paint, and will therefore be painting the car one piece at a time during these classes. I wish to remove the panels, to get a better appearing paint job. Thanks in advance to all who can offer help. I have already learned more information from this and other forums than I imagined possible.

Sounds like too much trouble, and would most likely get scratched during installation.If you take the time and prep the car right,sanding all the nooks and crannies Exampe:along the edge of the hood,the edges of the headlight covers,and any thing else you may see it should come out killer (don't expect to prep the car in 1 day).You can call any top of the line Automotive paint shop and ask if they take the body panels off.The quality begins in the prep work.

If you are removing the panels and painting them one at a time (at different times), there is a very good chance that you will end up with a car having a whole lot of different coloured panels.

speaking of body panel removal if nebody has a video of how to take the body panels off an 85 i could rely use that.

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my prefferd email: bloodfiero@hotmail.com

-1985 4cy 5speed-

What they said.... generally a bad idea.

You will be very unlikely to get even close to a consistant finish. Solid colors will be bad enough but if you use candy or metalic paints forget it.

The people that do remove panels and get away with it still treat the whole thing as a single shoot. Panels have to be in the same position as on the car and all that. This has to be planned fairly carefully. Even then I don't think anyone would remove all the pannels.

Even for color changes... I would pull only the door the pannels, shoot the edges and back the new color and then once they dry put them back. Then shoot the whole car.

The door and other edges will pick up more paint when the whole car is shot so the only bit that may not match perfect would be the back where the door body doesn't quite cover and similar spots.

If you want to do flanges like the quarter/clip edge along the back of the door, you can take out the hardware and slide something under the panel to mask the jam. The pannels don't have to come off.

Besides all that...
no one in their right mind removes the roof or clip unless they really have to. It's a big job and often the roof panel breaks.

Removing the trunk or hood almost always causes people headaches and paint chips trying to line them up again.

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No good ever came from dark and spooky. Norville "Shaggy" Rogers

The Ogre's Fiero Cave (It's also at the top of every forum page...)

You know what? I did this on my car. every body panel was removed and primed and painted off the car. I even sprayed the spaceframe black. Then after it was all back together it needed a final coat. Well, the BOZO's did a piss poor job of masking it and oversprayed on everything. Under the deck, hood, everything! When they painted the final on the ground effects they just taped off the bottom of the car and sprayed! I was so bloody furious the car sat in storage for 2 years after that. All that work and time for nothing. Still havent got all the overspray off and that was 4 years ago. Now some of the white paint is peeling off below the body line. Oh and it cost me 3500 for the paint job.

Sorry for the rant. brought back bad memories. good luck.

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I think I'm with the majority here when I saying "please don't remove the panels to paint". I had the same idea for the ease factor. I was planning on working on the interior while having the body painted and since I had to replace a few cracked body panels I figured I'd call the painter and see if it would be easier for them if I brought the body down in pieces. Before I could finish my sentance the man on the phone immediately said "no". His explaination was; a) you won't get a consistant color among all of the panels, b) it's too easy to smear, chip, or crack the fresh paint especially during transport and reassembly and c) prep work is easier to perform with the panels intact since they tend to bend easily when removed.

I will agree that removing the body panels would seem easier since you don't have to mask much, if anything as well as avoiding having overspray on anything you forgot to mask or didn't mask properly. Personally I would suggest prepping and painting with the body on the car as removing everything just makes a big job even bigger. You should also keep in mind that if you are removing the panels you will also have to replace them and that includes properly aligning them which in itself takes the better part of a day or longer.

quote Originally posted by bloodfiero: speaking of body panel removal if nebody has a video of how to take the body panels off an 85 i could rely use that.

Want to see how they come apart??? Come on out to my place (Almonte), the doors and roof are still there

If you remove the panels, the paint will not match. You will **** the paint while reinstalling the panels. It will end up looking like the car was in a wreck and touched up.

If you want, take off all the panels, paint the edges, then reinstall and then paint the car. --> That way all the fasteners remain virgin (that's what your looking for, right?) and the paint job as a whole will be good.

How many times does this need to be discussed?

Cliff: Get some moderators PLEASE!

CHILL!!!!!!!!

quote Originally posted by FieroBUZZ: If you are removing the panels and painting them one at a time (at different times), there is a very good chance that you will end up with a car having a whole lot of different coloured panels.

yep, VERY GOOD CHANCE. No problem if its black though. Ive painted 2 body panels on 2 diff days on a car out of the same can and they didnt match each other. (especially metallics)

So many ney sayers.

I want to disagree. My car was done with all the panels removed except the rear clip and windshield frame. It was sprayed by a professional body shop. I was charged for 32 seperate pieces. The pieces were spayed over several weeks. I would stop by and pick up parts that were done and go home and install them. I have had many compliments on the paint. I believe it comes down to whether you have a good painter available. The edges is what removing the panels is all about. You can remove any panel and the edges are perfect. Around the inside edges of the trunk or even under the windshild trim. Sorry but I honestly believe without doing the panels off you can tell. I am sure you all looked a car over and realized it had been repainted by looking carefully at the edges.

After the orginal painting many panels have been repainted due to constant body modifications. First a new trunk lid was painted to add window and grill. The quarter surrounds were also repainted. Hood was replaced with a modified one. Nose was repainted twice. First to fix a peeling area inside the nose then repainted again to blend with the new hood. New front fenders were repainted for the new vents. This year the passenger door panel and rear bumper were repainted. The hood was also repainted to fix a crack. No panel blending being done ever on any panel. At the 20th hundreds looked my car over and loved the paint job. It rated a 10 by the judges.

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Red 88 GT T-Top 3800 INTERCOOLED SUPERCHARGED
White 88 GT Stock
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History of Skitimes Car UPDATED 8-11-03

Thanks for the responses. I did not expect to incite an arguement here! There were some useful suggestions, thanks.

Ski.... I know a good thorough panel off paint job will be nice, but....

The original question was to remove the panels and paint them at different times over a course schedule. That would mean several batches of mixing and/or thinning, increasing the chance of odd colour matches.

I just finished painting my 86 S/E a month or so ago, EVERY panel off the car 'cept the rear clip and roof. Came out great, in fact received some rave reviews from members here.

However... It is BLACK... black is black is black no matter what paint manufacturer or type of paint. It always matches.

If you are doing a solid color you might be ok, if you are doing a metallic I doubt very much that the panels will match, mainly due to the difference in the way the metallic will lay down on each panel.

The only color that I'd attempt panel removal is black, any other color I may remove the panels to prep them but when I shot the final basecoat and clear the car would be close to final assembly.

Just my .02

Glenn

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Plastic's Fantastic...

quote Originally posted by mikereednv: Thanks for the responses. I did not expect to incite an arguement here! There were some useful suggestions, thanks.

No arugment here. There is certainly more than one way to do anything.

quote Originally posted by FieroBUZZ: Ski.... I know a good thorough panel off paint job will be nice, but.... The original question was to remove the panels and paint them at different times over a course schedule. That would mean several batches of mixing and/or thinning, increasing the chance of odd colour matches.

Mine was done at different times and different years. I would agree that there is more risk on mismatching paint colors. We had the the paint color matched to existing painted panels. It is also more work to do it this way. But done carefully the results are hard to argue with.

I've painted several Fieros and have removed everything except the roof and rear clip. I sprayed those first, then moved the car out of the garage. I sprayed all of the other body panels over a period of about a week, and after each was done and dry, re-installed them on the car. A good poly-urethane paint will hold up very well to the installation process, since Fiero body panels are much easier to install than regular steel sheet metal (there are no sharp edges). I've done 3 show Fieros and several drivers and done several colors. I have never had a color problem doing it this way, and yes, I am aware of the possibility of a color difference. You can never be sure that you spray exactly the same way each time, but the Fiero is a very unique vehicle. Just by design, this is the only car that I've ever painted that I would take apart to paint. For those of you that are not painters, your speculation about the proper way to do things certainly gives the wrong impression. I've been painting for almost 25 years, 14 of those professionally, and I do a lot of custom work. I think I have a little knowledge in the painting department, and the 'speculators' don't do the industry justice.

Mark the paint guy

[This message has been edited by Firefox (edited 08-28-2003).]

quote Originally posted by Firefox: Mark the paint guy

Thank you for your comment.

I had all of my panels off the car for various reasons during my rebuild. I had all of them painted off the car then reinstalled them after they were painted. First my car is blackso that probably helped. Second you will have to paint the panels as they sit on the car, hood flat, fenders hanging, etc. then be very carful on reinstalling so you don't scratch things up. then do final buffing on the car.

I will be doing an off panel paint job when I get around to spraying. I just can't stand paint lines and overspray from where a panel was masked off. It bugs the hell out of me.
I'll be using a professional paint booth that can be heated if it is needed. Should only be a few days of spraying color, so I'm not worried about the paint not matching.

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Ive been doing it since 1964. I still believe in an average job to leave it together. Ski, yours is awsome, so there are always exceptions. Ive painted very few cars apart and they paid big money for that (in the $4,000 range). I did them apart, but all at the same time, same day. The Diablo will be painted all together, except for the rear bumper and wing. There will be no overspray, no tape lines and Im doing all the jams and underhoods. Lots more than Fiero jams have. I paint the outside and jams in this case all at the same time. No interior yet, no windshield and plastic wrap on engine bay. I tape and wrap everything so that all the doors open. Spray 1 coat on all outside, then go around and do jams. Follow with same proceedure on each additional coat of color and clear. Thats just what works for me.

I'm going to get my car painted this winter, all panels off except roof and rear clip. The painter said that if you want the real thing it should be done panels off and then placed like they're on the car (I'm going deep silver metallic with LOTS of clearcoat).
I'm doing the panels off and some engine masking labour and he will do the sanding/priming/paint/buffing.

But what about the molding thing around the windshield? Can it be removed and reinstalled without destroying the paint? Must be a PITA to mask that off?

I don't have any doubts about the painters skills because he's normally painting the Koenigsegg supersportscars beeing made just a few miles from here.

Didn't want to hijack the thread but I think that's a problem many will encounter.

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J. Larsson, Supporting Member

quote Originally posted by Intel: But what about the molding thing around the windshield? Can it be removed and reinstalled without destroying the paint? Must be a PITA to mask that off?

The windshield frame can be painted on the car. Remove the black shield at the bottom of the windshield. Then the piece can be taped and painted in place.

Okay, thanks Skitime... that's what I thought, just wanted to make sure.
My windshield and frame was replaced by my insurance company and I don't want to pull anything that might break or be difficult to put back on.
Have seen some frames that are painted and some that are not.... tough decision...hmmm

What was the cost of your paint job, Skitime?

2k

quote Originally posted by Intel: I'm going to get my car painted this winter, all panels off except roof and rear clip. The painter said that if you want the real thing it should be done panels off and then placed like they're on the car (I'm going deep silver metallic with LOTS of clearcoat). I'm doing the panels off and some engine masking labour and he will do the sanding/priming/paint/buffing. But what about the molding thing around the windshield? Can it be removed and reinstalled without destroying the paint? Must be a PITA to mask that off? I don't have any doubts about the painters skills because he's normally painting the Koenigsegg supersportscars beeing made just a few miles from here. Didn't want to hijack the thread but I think that's a problem many will encounter.

I never recommend more than 3 clearcoats. You only see the top one, and more will be succeptable to cracking.

Best to take out the molding around windshield, its very hard to mask right. The biggest drawback is the windshield has to come out to replace the molding correctly. It has a tiny lip thats supposed to wrap around the backside of the glass to hold it in. Some people just glue it back, but Ive had problems with them pulling loose at the corners outside in the sun. Most cases, i just tape them off as carefully as I can.

(....if someone could set me straight on this) Didn't Pontiac paint the Fiero body panels off the frame? I seem to remember seeing a pic of the body panels being painted (via automated assembly line) with the panels mounted on a frame which held them in their appropriate places (ie, as they would be mounted of the space frame). Anyone remember this/has pics/got info?

Thanks Roger!
I just looked at the molding and decided I'm gonna mask it of carefully. Looks like a heck of a job to remove the windshield on my own and the "window-guys" charges as much to just put in an existing window as to do a completely new one ($290).

I just had mine painted about two months ago, all I took off was the wing, all center molding and ground effect moldings that could come off and sunroof seal since I needed a new one anyways and sail panels since I wanted the frames the same color. The paint guy said it is a good idea to take off front and rear bumpers to but because mine was in a little accident it was so hard toget the front end to match up we decided to leave them on. I thank it turned out really good and had lots of compliments around town.