Painting the body with or without the doors on
 

I have future plans to paint a 1931 Slant Window Fordor Sedan and have a couple of questions:

-Is is preferred having the doors on or off when painting the body? Painting the doors separately and re-installing them afterward?

-Is it preferred to have the gas tank on or off when painting the body? Painting the gas tank separately and installing it afterward?

Is there any general information available about painting a Model A Body?

Just looking for a presentable paint job and not one necessarily perfect for judging.

Thanks to all who take the time to answer my questions.

Re: Painting the body with or without the doors on
 

My preference was to have doors off and gas tank out.

Re: Painting the body with or without the doors on
 

Thanks Bob for your input.

Re: Painting the body with or without the doors on
 

The main body color would be best painted with the doors off.
I would then mount the doors and paint secondary color with them on.
That gives opp to mate up continuity lines on revels, etc

Re: Painting the body with or without the doors on
 

I agree , that is the way that I did my 31 tudor and my roadster .

Re: Painting the body with or without the doors on
 

Doors, hood & deck lid need to be fitted before painting. Pin-stripping is done with the doors & hood on the car.

Re: Painting the body with or without the doors on
 

The Paint & Refinish Manual is a great resource for understanding the procedure, -however I guess if we apply your second comment above, then it really does not matter knowing how it was originally done if we have no desire to follow that protocol.


While the vehicle is yours to do as you wish and I would first recommend for you to do what suits your desire, -I would also add that it really is the same basic work to mimic something that is 'aesthetically authentic' when doing the secondary color layout. Sometimes I feel we tend to get hung-up on the dislike of adjudication, ...and thus losing the value in us learning how to replicate or recreate something as it was originally manufactured.