Paint with the hood installed?

[superfragl]

I am in the process of doing body work. The engine compartment and the back side of the hood are painted. Ideally I should install the hood and paint the whole car but then I will have to remove the hood in order to drop the motor in, which is a pain in the neck since I don`t have any help (the motor is still apart). Will the motor go in with the hood installed? Or should I paint the hood separate from the car?
A couple pics...

 

[300rag]

I don't have an answer for you, but I love the colour. My guess though, would be to leave the hood off until the engine is in.

 

[superfragl]

Thanks.
The camera does not show 100% of the color. It looks much better than in the pictures.

 

[Fratzog]

My vote is leave the hood off until engine is in place. That way you have only half a chance of dropping it on the fresh paint.

 

[Big_John]

Hood off. That's the way the restoration shops do it.

 

[superfragl]

Thanks folks! I will leave the hood off. I hope when I paint it separately the color/metallic flake will look the same.

 

[thrashingcows]

I re/re'd my 440 in my 68 T/C wagon with the hood on....





It's tight, but doable....;)

 

[superfragl]

Now that`s something!! Thanks for the pictures.
It should not be any different for my Fury.

 

[CanCritter]

hood off..paint separately but at same time so you don't have a color diffrence

 

[live4theking]

I showed up at the body shop a number of years back just in time to help put the motor and tranny in a freshly done 'Cuda. The car had the rear axle under it and the front was on stands. The motor was bolted to the K Frame. I (and I'm no muscleman) picked the front of the car up (easily) while the shop owner and one other guy slide it underneath, and lined it up to be bolted in place. When i asked why he did it that way he said because he'd scuffed one to many engine bays and had to repaint them.

Just food for thought.

 

[commando1]

If my car looked like that I'd have to stop right there. The thought of scraping the paint is too much.

 

[commando1]

I re/re'd my 440 in my 68 T/C wagon with the hood on....





It's tight, but doable....;)

And you never once touch the paint....

 

[78Brougham]

When I took my NYB to be painted they took the hood, doors and deck lid off the car and painted them along with the main body so all were done at the same time. That way, every nook and cranny got the new color. Turned out awesome! They detailed the engine bay like factory original, with the inner fenders in black satin and the fire wall in a satin body color along with the rad support. I'm an original kind of guy, but I have to admit your engine bay looks GREAT in your body color. I guess it all depends on what kind resto you're looking for. I can't wait to see the rest of your car and good luck with it!

 

[300rag]

When I took my NYB to be painted they took the hood, doors and deck lid off the car and painted them along with the main body so all were done at the same time. That way, every nook and cranny got the new color. Turned out awesome! They detailed the engine bay like factory original, with the inner fenders in black satin and the fire wall in a satin body color along with the rad support. I'm an original kind of guy, but I have to admit your engine bay looks GREAT in your body color. I guess it all depends on what kind resto you're looking for. I can't wait to see the rest of your car and good luck with it!

Black inner fenders did not start until 1969. Body colour previous to that.

 

[saforwardlook]

My paint & body guy leaves the doors, decklid, fenders and hood on the car and does all the alignment before he embarks on a paint job. Otherwise, when trying to put them back on and doing the panel fit and alignment, you will leave marks/gouges in the fresh paint, and all of that will show when done. If you are not concerned about a real show quality job, you can put the hood on after the paint job, but it will be obvious. He prefers to install the engine with the hood on and then mount the transmission from underneath. He is very careful about making the car look like a continuous piece with even gaps and flush alignments everywhere, and wants no alignment marks when done. Your car looks nice enough to consider the more clean approach.

 

[Wildaugust]

Personally, I would prefer to have the hood off when removing or installing an engine. I removed my hood when I pulled the engine out of my truck to rebuild it. When I helped a buddy remove and then re-install the engine in his '69 Galaxie, we not only removed the hood, but also removed the fenders, grille, rad support and inner fenders. I'm not suggesting you do that, but it sure was nice having all of that room to work.

So, the whole car has already been painted except for the hood? The paint in the pics looks very nice.

 

[butchr66]

It's always best to paint the exterior of the car when it's assembled so the paint flows together with no breaks and so the edges have the same contours etc. Especially with metallics/pearls/candies. It sucks but it's definitely with the extra work.

 

[superfragl]

So, the whole car has already been painted except for the hood? The paint in the pics looks very nice.

The whole car is not painted yet. Door jambs, hood (back side) and the engine compartment only. Trunk lid is next.

My main concern is hood alignment after the paint is done and color/metallic particles on the hood looking same as the rest of the car. However, having enough room to work in the engine bay and install the motor is important.

By looking at the hood, doors, trunk lid I can tell that at the factory all parts were installed and aligned first and then painted all together. Not sure at what point the engine was installed though... I would assume after the car was painted.
Still not sure what to do.. I did install the hood before painting the engine compartment - to make sure everything lines up properly (a lot of welding done on wheel wells and fenders...) and that was not easy to do for one person...

 

[Wildaugust]

OK, now I get it. ops: I should've re-read your first post before I responded!

Could you assemble and install the engine, install the hood and then finish painting the car? You could wrap the engine with plastic to keep any overspray off of it.

 

[azblackhemi]

I always paint a car in pieces. You get better coverage in the hard to reach places and you avoid tape lines that way. Color match shouldn't be a problem even with metallic colors as long as you use the same air pressure, reduction, number of coats etc. Make sure the hood is laying flat just like the top of the fenders and the doors hanging vertical just like the quarter panels are.