Too Paint before or after??

[lexxman]

Hey all.I need a little help(well I need more then a little but that's another story)
I've been talking to a couple of people and I'm not sure witch way to go. One Mopar guy Restoration I was talking too said just too paint the under side and inside first then assemble the car, after the interior ,glass etc is install then do the final paint.
It made since,then that way you don't scratch the paint when your working on it.What would be the pro's and con's of it?Should I paint the whole car first then assemble (like most do) or would it be better if I did it his way?I'm still a couple of months away from it,but I'm trying to plan ahead.

[elitecustombody]

Most shops with higher quality standards would paint underside and interior first, then mask off and paint the rest of the body and that's the way I'd recomend painting any car, and whatever you do, do not assemble the car and then paint it,

[Belgium R/T -68]

I made a stupid mistake by painting my car in pieces. First of all the fitting is too late to do then plus the risc of damages is huge.
Next car will be painted under and interior first, then assembly of doors, fenders, hood and trunklid and then paint the exterior.

Per

[DC_1]

IMO, paint under the car, inside engine compartment, inside trunk and all the inside of the door jambs and doors off the car. then put the doors fenders, trunk lid and even hood, pretty much all the body panels back on the car.Then mask up the window opening and everything else. Use 1/4 foam tape on the gaps to prevent overspray into the door jambs and other pre-sprayed areas. mask off below the rockers to prevent over spray on the under side. Spray the exterior.

I've painted cars the other way where the caris apart and your painteing panels off the car then put them together which is fine for things like hoods and trunk lids. But when your trying to hang and align doors and fenders it is more difficult and more likely you may damage the new paint.

Again, just my opinion

[FLG]

Yep paint it all on the car.

Aligning panels is much easier to do when there not painted. You dont risk scratching them and Per (Belgium) had some issues with the trunk lid for example being lined up. These cars sometimes require some "finesse" to get things where there supposed to be, so you could also risk cracking the paint in the process.

[lexxman]

Hey,ya I 'll be doing lots of test fitting of all the part as I go and before It gets painted. I think what I'll be doing it painting the under side and interior myself and then getting the body shop to paint the rest. I will be putting undercoat on,the car is going to be driven and with the roads around here it would get lots of chips on the bottom.I hope to have it in the shop some time in May.