Painting the car

[jcsb]

Ok, so I am in the process of converting to the Smitty Toyota transmission. I've decided I would rebuild the engine while I'm at it. While I have the engine/transmission out I thought about sending the car to be painted. Any thoughts on whether this is a good stage to do this or whether I should finish and re-install the engine/transmission? I am hoping to have the car for spring/summer.

John

 

[Healey_Z]

Painting a car can make a real mess with dust and over spray, especially in the interior and engine compartment. I like to have it painted, the detail the engine compartment, then install the interior.

 

[HealeyRick]

Nice to have the engine compartment and underhood done so you can show off the freshly rebuilt motor. Do it now!

 

[mikephillips]

It's best to paint a bare shell if possible, less masking and overspray concerns. So paint while apart if possible. But you need to ask yourself how far you're going to go with it. Good paintwork means a lot of prep work for the base body ensuring there are no waves in the panels, rust, dirt and so on. This prep can take a lot of time, effort and money to do right go get a top notch finish. And if you do some parts, will you notice other bits with an older perhaps no longer as nice finish?? And what's the budget, as you can find prep and paint can quickly cost more than you thought.

 

[Hawkscoach]

John, I have asked a lot of assembly/mechanical questions on here, so this may be my opportunity to provide help. What I have done in the past on other projects and applied to my current AH project is to remove everything (document as much as you can); find and fix all the rust and/or damage (you may already have done this, however, there are always surprises and now is the time to fix them, correctly), a rotisserie helps so much to us older guys; Do all the panel fit/adjustments/welding, etc. (spend the hours here. I had panels on and off so many times I lost count); Once you are completely happy that panel fit is perfect and not until then, remove all the panels and prime/paint the scuttle; If you are sending the work out, you will have a zillion mechanical parts to clean/replace/rebuild so that once the scuttle is painted, you can start the reassembly process. Hope this helps as a summary. Books can (have) been written about this so I attempted to summarize (and I know this is obvious to many, but not to someone new to the restoration effort) fyi, my Camaro took 8 years and the AH is going on three years. The point is you have to decide how far you want to take it based upon time, skill, and most importantly, money................good luck. Doug

 

[jcsb]

Ok, so the decision has been made. I plan to finish all the mods which include (4 wheel disc brakes, tandem master cylinder, tandem brake booster, stainless brake and fuel lines, and other misc. mods) so that I will have all mounting holes done. I'm finished with about half and should have the rest finished in about 2-3 weeks. I need to machine some special mounts for the tandem brake booster and master cylinder plus finish fabricating the brake and fuel lines. Then it gets shipped to the body shop. The body is the one thing I'm not doing so when it returns I should be assembling parts and not drilling holes for mounts or making modifications.

John

 

[Keoke]

Painting a car can make a real mess with dust and over spray, especially in the interior and engine compartment. I like to have it painted, the detail the engine compartment, then install the interior.

Call the guys @ Absolutely British and have them do it for you

 

[jcsb]

I wish I could find someone local so that I could be available to answer questions and keep up with what's happening.

John

 

[Patrick67BJ8]

I wish I could find someone local so that I could be available to answer questions and keep up with what's happening.

John

There is a very active Healey club in your area. https://gulfcoasthealeyclub.com/