How to paint body

[imcamod17]

When I get my body painted, I was wondering what works best with aluminum. Should I get it powder coated. If regular paint do you paint where the tabs come together lighter. Do you just paint the outside of the body. Just curious what will last the best.  The inside of my old car was not painted.   Whats price range would a  cobalt blue shorty be with an orange stripe down the middle.  Any ideas I know price is suggestive and varies on location.  I just want a heads up if I get a quote on what is way to much or a good deal. Thanks

[Paul New]

My shorty body is painted on the outside only not sure what works best for aluminum but the body shop does. I know Earl Floyd has had a couple of his cars anodized as long as the metal work is good and does not need any filler it looks pretty good!

[dreracecar]

Unless its a million dollar show car, the use of Zinc-Chromate primer is not nessasary
Powdercoating might have issues because of the prep(blasting) of the panels causeing warpage if the opperator gets careless, I have seen some PC'd body parts come out like glass, but have seen a lot more with orange peel, so one takes their chances with the finnish and the reluctance of the shop doing the PC to do it over. Also PC adds quite a bit of thickness to the metal so some spring adjustment might be needed and make sure the holes for the Dzus buttons are at least 7/16 min. The body must be metal finnished because any filler will lift when put into the oven and scratches left in the panels will magnify.
 Easyest way is to sand the body with 60-80 grit and keep changing the disc's often, what you want is a "tooth" on the material and then spray with thin lite coats of primer to get the thin primer into the tooth. once that has been established and you have enough build, then it can be sanded and primerd and then painted like a normal. The absolute best way is to have the alu anodized first and then primer directly over the anodize, sand and paint.
Out here in the west coast we have some painters that think their work is special and want to charge over $3000 for a shorty. Paint is also very expensive out here and color choice varies in cost when dealing with custom candy colors. I spend around $150-200 to have a seat back painted locally. I tell my guy to paint it silver with whatever tone he has left over from the next shoot he does

[FEDNV]

Not to hijack but I am currently redoing my body and have used paint stripper and abrasive pads to get down to bare metal.  I have been reading on the aluminum prep and do you think something like alodine or coversion coating is needed before priming?  Can you use just any self etching primer on aluminum or do you need something specific?

thanks

[dreracecar]

Its not madatory because usually these type cars are not left out in the weather for long periods of time. Ruff it up real good and lots of thin coats (almost dusting) to get the primer to bite, then sand primer and paint as normal. My car was last painted 20 years ago with this method and yes some paint has chipped off the body but only down to the primer.

[H.G. Wells]

I was thinking about this today, glad it came up.
My last one was mill finish and I could hit it with a scotch bright pad and WD-40 if it got nicked, dirty, or stained.
Think the next one (starting on chassis after Christmas) may get a pretty paint job on the exterior, and nothing on the inside.

[msundstrom]

I painted my shorty body on both sides, robbed the look of the old Jade Grenade only that car looks good, used two different metallic greens and a pint of gold plus all of the primer, filler, paper, tape and I was in it about $600+ and way too much time. If you just had the panels shot on the outside and no stripe across adjoining panels it probably would not be real expensive but the stripes add a lot of fitting, measuring and taping(time).
Mark S

[tinbanger]

How about a rap. Would be very cheap and could be changed anytime. Not old school,  just an idea.

[ricardo1967]

Wrap sounds like a good idea... although I'm not sure if it sticks to bare aluminum?

What about Plasti Dip (https://www.dipyourcar.com/)? I may take this route sometime to experiment a different body color.

[JeffV8]

It sticks to aluminum

[masracingtd1167]

I don't think you can even buy Zink Cromate any more . If you scuff your bare panels with a Scotch Brite pad and prime with a self etching primer you will be fine . Another alternative would be to take your panels to your local Maco dealer and have them done .   

[Supercat]

Most of the paint products used at your local Maaco are not top shelf products. This is what allows the cheaper cost of work.
Most epoxy etch primes of today require a medium wet coat for correct adhesion to the substrate.
We paint all the panels with a base paint for the car being painted(customers chosen colors). We then assemble the body. Any graphics are laid out and all panels are then painted. All stencils, tapings and paint blemishes are removed. We then apply 2 coats of clear. We separate the panels while the clear is still pliable. We then wet-sand the panels and apply 2 more coats of clear to the full exterior of the panels.
We apply a thin silver decal to the back side of the exterior panels at all overlapping joints. This provides a wear/chip guard from body flex.

[14DRT]

Anodize then paint or PC. (No Primer)
Paint sticks to a freshly anodized surface like nobodies business, Then the non-painted surface is protected.
Ever handled a freshly anodized part, practically sticks to your hand ..... well so does the paint !
Not the least expensive but probably the best method. The Aerospace industry does this,
I process parts for them, that's how I know !
Keith

[ricardo1967]

I think an anodized FED body would look really nice itself. Would there be any problem of just getting anodized? Price ballpark?

[rooman]

Ricardo1967,
                    one of the problem with anodizing panels (for exterior finish) is that different grades of aluminum will come out different colors and even different batches of the same grade can do the same. In addition your body builder had better do a good job of any panel re-contouring (windshield opening etc) as what you see is what you will get. Another problem is the the color is simply a dye and most are prone to fading. Gold and Blue seem to be the best but red will bleach out very quickly in the sun. Even black fades, tending to end up with a purple hue. If you want a really glossy finish you need to polish the panels and then also have them "bright dipped" after the initial anodizing process adding more expense. Most anodizers specialize in industrial work and have racks made to hang the product. If you turn up with a bunch of body panels they will usually hang one panel per rack space so instead of doing say 100 parts in that space they can only do one and that can add to the " per unit"cost depending on how friendly your guy is.
  I am with 14DRT on the anodize and paint deal. It makes the body look good on the inside and promotes paint adhesion. A little more "spendy" than the basic prime and paint deal but definitely worth the effort if you can afford it.
  As for adding graphics and keeping the color consistent (especially with candies and pearls) the best way that i have seen (and used myself) is to make a saw horse deal that will support the panels as they sit on the frame but with them separated by an inch or so. Circus in New Jersey actually painted their stuff "backwards" (and Jesse probably still does) by putting the stripes on first and then masking them and spraying the base color. They would prime the body and then mount it on the frame to tape up the graphics before hanging the panels on the horse and extending the tape to the end of the panel (into the area that is overlapped when the body is on the car). After the stripes were done and masked over they would then put the primary colors on, again with the panels on the horse to make sure that the color was even from panel to panel. Using this method ensures that even if the panels move a little on the car there are never any bands of primer showing at the panel junctions.
   For most people the back masking of the stripes is overkill but the end result was the it takes a lot less clear to get a smooth finish without the stripes being laid on top of the base. Any slight "misses" on the taping were hidden by the pinstriping that they added to outline the stripes. A lot of work but the end result was awesome and in the late 80's/ early 90's they won more "Best Appearing" awards than any other shop in the country.

Roo