Sanding New Body Panels

[Chevy305]

So you know how body panels come with that black gel coating. Well what do you think is the best way to paint them?

My plan is to scuff them up and spray down some self etching primer, then throw down some color. Any problems with that or is more prep work needed?

 

[ryoken]

It's not gel coat, it's primer... Unless your talking about fiberglass panels...

Sand it thoroughly with 180 and an epoxy primer is fine... Self etching primer is really only needed on bare steel...

If you wanna be anal, the black primer can be stripped easily enough, then zinc chromate it, then epoxy prime... But that black primer makes for a decent base under a good epoxy primer.....

 

[Chevy305]

oh, I thought it was a gel coat of some type.

 

[ryoken]

99% of fiberglass panels come thru gelcoated... shoot me a pm if you have any body questions...

 

[Kartoon]

manufacturers recommend that you leave as much of their factory primer on the panels as possible. red scuff pad is all you should need.

 

[ryoken]

red scuff pad is all you should need.

Thats how we prepped in the bodyshop.. Personally, I prefer a little more bite than 400 grit...

 

[Chevy305]

So You guys know any special tricks to aligning body panels?

My patients has ran dry with this stuff.

 

[ryoken]

which panels are you having trouble with?

 

[Chevy305]

The doors and front fenders.

 

[ryoken]

well, I don't know what state the truck is in, but I'll tell you this... If your doors are out of whack and your fenders are on, take em off and start over.. Unless the hinges never got touched "to the post"..

Your doors are your starting point due to having the fixed points of your qrters and roof... It is a huge pain to adjust your hinges to the post (not the hinge to door bolts) with fenders on.. Can be done with the right tools, but it's a nuisance... just pull the fenders if your front to back gaps (bottom edge of door) are not right... now if the hinges never came off the post you should be able to leave the fenders on and just make in/out adjustments with the door to hinge bolts..

truck gaps are relative wide, usually 3/16's to 1/4"... set your door to the qrter first.. post bolts are your front/back angle. door bolts are your in/out.. both can give up some up/down... It's always best to have your post bolts pretty close first, then worry about your door in/out bolts... also the in/out adjustment can be finalized once the fender is on..

When you need to make an adjustment, loosen all except one.. You can sometimes pivot on that one to make moves.. for example, if the top of the door is out, but the bottom is ok, leave 1 bolt thru the hinge to door tight at the bottom of the bottom hinge, that way you can push in the top and snug a bolt or 2... Sometimes you'll need to loosen all..

there's ton of tricks to this... wooden paint sticks make nice spacers to maintain gaps.. a screwdriver or body spoon wrapped in a rag make good prybars between joints... sometimes its best to leave it all loose, click the door in place, adjust with wood shims, then tighten the bolts..

hope some of that gives you some reference point.. Not the most orginized post but.... anything specifac, just ask...

 

[Chevy305]

Wow I didn't realize that the door post bolts were adjustable.

Well I guess I'll take the fenders off again and set hte doors correctly. The passenger side is real close but not perfect and the driver side door is too low.

I guess I got more work than I thought. Oh well the truck goes in for paint next week. I can just let the body shop screw with setting the gaps. ​

 

[ryoken]

if the door is just down, you can get that by just adjusting the door to hinge bolts.. loosen them all except one in the top hinge and one in the bottom.. just crack those 2 loose so they are snug. have the door open about a foot at the back, take a floor jack and block of wood under the door, torwards the front and jack it up a tad.. it should slide up the hinge.. tighten those 2 bolts.. check, etc...