Hey guys,

My car is going into the booth on Monday for a coat of dark gunmetal grey (with alot of flake) and a single black wide center center stripe.

Question is, do I paint the car with the headlight buckets and rear caps on or off? Heres my dillemma:

ON - No worries about chipping during installation but the fit is nice and tight as it is and the paint will bridge the gap...then over time it will crack. (I'm getting a thick clear coat...really thick).

OFF - No worries about the paint bridgeing the gap and cracking but I'm concerned that the paint pay chip through normal wear and tear of the fender shifting against the bucket.

Actualy while typing this I may have just given myself the answer. Paint it seperate and then sand down the edges (where the fender meets the buckets).

Anyway, I'm still open to any advise on the proper way of going about it.

Thank you

 

I removed everything and I painted them separate. You dont want to sand edges of clearcoat because if you get to the base coat, you will need to repaint base and clear.

You will have less headaches if you need to remove a part by painting separate as you said. Tape the corners and edges if you are worried about chips but just go slow and be careful and you will have no problem

 

If changing color, and/or you are doing at least a "good" paint job, take them off.

The painter should know to keep the edges from getting too thick in the prep process.

All in all depending on what you want it might be best for the painter to do some of the blocking with the buckets and caps in place, then remove them.

 

paint separately.

do you have the rubber seal?

have you considered adding shims and/or filing the fender extension edges to ensure a gap after paint?

 

Cinder blocks scare me....

 

wood scares me.

the shell probably weighed 600 lbs. it was temporary.

 

I have done all of the body work, all the painter is doing is the paint. I have sanded and blocked with them in place. I think I'm just going to space them out a bit with washers for the painting and then tuck them back in.

I dont have the rubber anymore, guess I should probibly go get a set.

Thanks guys for the help!

 

i'm pretty sure those pieces of rubber were installed to prevent your very concern (that the paint may chip through normal wear and tear of the fender shifting against the bucket.)