MGB & GT Forum

I am ready to go to paint with my MGB GT. Do I tell the painter to paint it with the fenders on or off. I have seen hundreds of photos during painting with the fenders off. But looking at Andrew Ditlev Clausager's book "Original MGB", all the photos of the engine compartment, the fender bolts are painted body color which leads me to believe the fenders were painted in place. Same question with the front valence?

I would go for painting with the fenders and valance on.
And the grill test fit.

I wasn’t there when mine was painted. I know that the wings, boot lid, and bonnet were painted removed from the car. I can’t find them now but, I have photos that I took after they were sprayed.
I have not thought about this until this thread. But the bolts are painted. So my body man painted them after he fitted the wings 13 years ago.

It depends on what paint/colour you're using . My Mk1 in Tartan Red with all removable panels painted off body. The GT with Jaguar Storm (and clear over the top) is with panels on - if panels were off there's every chance of a mismatch so best done as a whole.

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Mk1: CKD 11/66 first registered 8/5/67; owned since 3/77. 18GB +40 balanced. Peter Burgess BVFR head. Piper 285. 123. FidanzaFW. 4synch c/r box. Lots more as I did a nut and bolt rebuild; finished 2015. Tartan Red.

GT: December '78. VW Golf guards, flush fit front and rear valances. Torana XU1 vents, frenched indicators & Mk1 rear lights. 'Worked' Rover V8 with Monsoon ECU for EFI. GM4L60E, Lokar tiptronic & Quick4 controller. Vintage Air A/C. FC IFS. CCE 4 link rear. Salisbury with Quaife. Jaguar Storm.

That's a very good suggestion to test fit the grille to the wings AND bonnet BEFORE painting.

Hopefully your paint expert will know best.

The way to paint is to first build the front end whilst the wings and bonnet are in primer. Not high build primer, but the first coat. Then disassemble, lay down 4-6 coats of high build, sand that off until the parts are straight and flat, recoat as needed, sand again, then two coats of seal coat/undercoat. Seal coat can be tinted to match the final color or even use a very thin coat of the final. Then the parts can be color coated while apart. That allows the painter to get into all the areas behind the outer skins while "jambing", which is the process of painting all the areas that aren't really seen when all the doors and bonnet are closed. At this point, if you are doing clear coat, that will be applied. After a couple days for the paint to set, the wings can be preassembled with the lamps, and placed on the body.
I guess it all depends on the level of quality you are paying for. If you are not going all out, then the paint shop will just shoot it the best they can with all the panels in place. There will of course be thin spots and overspray. But to the original question, no, you cannot properly paint with all the body panels in place they must be done off the vehicle. What you can ask is whether is is better to do all the jambing with the panels off, then assemble the front clip and do the exterior in one go. Some painters like to do it that way. For me, it makes more sense to paint each component separately so that they're evenly coated to include the edges which can get a bit thin. The challenge is to get the paint laid down evenly as it tends to make a slightly thicker coating along the bottom edges. If you have the panels off, and can manipulate them so that they are horizontal when being sprayed, that edge droop tends to be much less.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024-04-17 08:18 AM by TikiCricket.

@#6 - are you a professional painter? I ask because some of your comments clash with mine in #4 which are from my professional painter.

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Mk1: CKD 11/66 first registered 8/5/67; owned since 3/77. 18GB +40 balanced. Peter Burgess BVFR head. Piper 285. 123. FidanzaFW. 4synch c/r box. Lots more as I did a nut and bolt rebuild; finished 2015. Tartan Red.

GT: December '78. VW Golf guards, flush fit front and rear valances. Torana XU1 vents, frenched indicators & Mk1 rear lights. 'Worked' Rover V8 with Monsoon ECU for EFI. GM4L60E, Lokar tiptronic & Quick4 controller. Vintage Air A/C. FC IFS. CCE 4 link rear. Salisbury with Quaife. Jaguar Storm.

Barry, I have had two restoration paintings. One was a total frame off restoration and everything was painted separately. The other was not frame off and was painted with body intact. The frame off looked like factory job, the other good but not factory. It comes down to how much one wants to pay.

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1974 MGB
“I’m not arguing…I’m just explaining why I’m right.”
“A man should not allow his ambition to exceed his overall worth.”
Price is what you pay. Value is what you get." - Warren Buffett
It's never paid to bet against America. We come through things, but it's not always a smooth ride." - Warren Buffett

The factory painted them with everything attached for what that’s worth…I guess it depends whether you want a factory quality job or a Picasso.

Barry there are always a couple of right ways to do these jobs.
I work by myself and anyone who comes to help me has to take a ferry.
Personally I would cut it in and install the fender first.
In a real shop where you could grab a qualified helper I might do it different.

If you are doing the spraying at your home, it would seem that painting the panels off the car would be advantageous. If left on the car, when you spray near the ground , even if wet, there is a larger chance for dust and dirt becoming airborne and landing on your wet paint. Also, there would be less chance of runs since the panels are horizontal and not vertical. Also, you can take your time, not having to shoot the car all at once.

I contemplating doing this, as my 71, as it has the stupid fender mirror on it, and I hate that useless POS. I think I will paint just the upper section of the right front fender to get rid of the holes for that silly fender mirror. I will probably remove the fender chrome trim, so I can make the paint like there, and it be covered by the trim when done. I will be doing this with the fender on.

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Hap Waldrop
Acme Speed Shop
864-370-3000
Website: www.acmespeedshop.com
hapwaldrop@acmespeedshop.com

I’ve mislead with my use of the word “factory.” The one vehicle was my 1959 Chevy truck, it was probably painted attached too.
For what it’s worth I have posted two pictures of painted parts of the truck.

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1974 MGB
“I’m not arguing…I’m just explaining why I’m right.”
“A man should not allow his ambition to exceed his overall worth.”
Price is what you pay. Value is what you get." - Warren Buffett
It's never paid to bet against America. We come through things, but it's not always a smooth ride." - Warren Buffett

I don't think any of us worked in the MG factory, however, any metal part of any car that includes an overlap or joint line has to be primed and sealed prior to assembly or the unpainted metal will rust. Whether the color coat on the MG was applied after some degree of assembly, I can't say, but my assumption is that the body was primed in pieces, bolted together, then color coated.

But that is the assembly of a new car with new parts. A repaint can be done either way, but if you don't know the condition of the metal at the join lines, take it apart. Body panels prepped and painted off the car are going to look better than a car painted assembled and masked.

A body shop is going to charge more if they have to disassemble parts in order to paint. How much you want to spend is up to you. But if there is a lot of rust correction needed prior to painting, it will have to come apart anyway to some extent.

Do you have to take things apart in order to paint? No. Earl Scheib used to paint cars for $19.95. Cars were masked on the driveway and painted while you waited. If that's okay with you, fine. It all depends on how you want your project to look when done.

GMc

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Wait for me at the gate Tuffy, because without you they're never gonna let me in.

SDCH WTCH-X Twin Oaks Tuff Nutt
2008 - 2022

My wife and I have an arrangement. I tell her what I want, and then she does whatever she wants.
Painters are like that.