Painting Underside of Shrouds

[Jerry]

I am getting to the paint time on the shrouds. I can't find any evidence that they were painted before. Nor on my other car. Do you paint yours?

Installed part of the exhaust system yesterday. Makes me want to start the engine. Soon, just need the carbs, radiator, exhaust, and a few other things finished. Starting to look like a car!

Jerry

 

[Healey Nut]

Yes I painted the inside of mine , why would you not paint them ?

 

[John Turney]

I had the underside of mine painted, as well as the backside of the fenders, doors, etc.

 

[Keoke]

Yes:

On my BJ8 cars the entire body sheet metal was painted body color on the inside.

 

[JoeCA]

On my BT7, the shroud showed original paint at the front of the shroud, but minimal/no coverage at the rear. The complete under side was painted for the restoration.

Here's a few photos.

 

[Jerry]

I was going to paint the underside, I just thought it strange I did not see evidence of paint like on your pictures above.
Jerry

 

[Marvin Gruber]

Mine are painted underneath

 

[Michael Oritt]

Jerry--

My bet is that they were originally painted, if poorly.

 

[Jerry]

Well, I have the primer and paint. I am waiting for a warmer, drier day to paint. And I keep getting diverted by work that is more fun. Got the exhaust system on today. Fit well and no problems. Left the back a little loose for future installation of the rear shroud.

 

[Jake]

Prime at least, if for no other reason than galvanic corrosion protection. In the aerospace aluminum stuff I design, I specify an anodize with a primer top coat, both of which help the aluminum be electrically isolated from surrounding CFRP or CRES.
We're dealing with aluminum and steel in the Healey, which make a decent battery together as long as there is electrical conductivity (touching parts, bolts holding things together, etc) and an electrolyte for ion migration (water generally works).
The only places you'll really need it are where there are dissimilar conductive materials in contact. Flanges, attachment points, etc.
You might even want to go as far as to use a light coating of sealant to keep the conductivity down. We use a fuel resistant polysulfide, conforms to AMS-S-8802. I wouldn't put this in a joint wet where you'll want to disassemble it in the future. You can, however, brush it on the aluminum and let it dry, then assemble.
Good luck!

 

[Jerry]

2 coats of primer sanded and waiting for color. Needs to warm up around here first.
Jerry

 

[Jerry]

And the color coat.

 

[dougie]

And the color coat.
View attachment 67466

Tent rental company very happy to get their product back with red over spray and smelling of solvent ....haha

 

[Jerry]

I used to paint in my garage with plastic walls put up. But there just was not enough room. The tent is 20 x 32 and we started using it with my friends 1962 Thunderbird. The car is so large, I needed room to get around it and place loose pieces. The air flow and filters work better also. A small investment to get the painting done. By the way, we had 3 bids to paint the Thunderbird, $18K and up@! We did pay a guy to do some of the body work and with that and paint, we are into the paint job about $5K. Looks pretty good. So I would recommend a tent if you plan on doing work yourself. I already have people in our club wanting it when I am done.
Jerry