The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Painting fenders

Trying to get my truck back on the road after many years. It has been sitting in the garage over 25 years in pieces. I just want to get it going. I want to put the front cap back on. Is it okay to paint the fenders while they are on the truck?

Sure.... All depends on how much work you want to do. If it has been sitting for 25 years I say spend as little time as you can to put it back on the road and make a list of the things you want to do to it. Break that down to what you can do in a day and what will take longer. Then when you have a day to spare you can get a little something done while still driving it.

I too have had vehicles apart for way to long and really wish that I would have done a little at a time while still driving them!

Thanks. My fenders are solid but have a lots of dings. Will take some skilled bondo work, which would be easier for me with them on the truck, not to mention getting the truck back together.

If you want all surfaces painted so that you never have to worry about rust through, do it off the truck. Sometimes, things look harder than they really are. You can paint the inside on a table, or whatever, flip it over and do the other side. KNOWING you dont have any surfaces that could rust because you didnt address them.

I feel your pain. I even went to the trouble of making a jig to hold the door, fender, hood, etc. If you look at some of the TV shows or even youtube, you will see they use foldup fender frames alot. Its because you just cant get to alot of the fender if its bolted on the truck. To do it right? NO.

You should try bolting the fenders to a full size piece of plywood. You can get most of it done quickly that way.

Good luck

http://s1006.photobucket.com/user/r...646_zps6bbbedb1.jpg.html?sort=3&o=12

You can see in that photo that I have the fender sitting on a stand. It is sitting in a manor that allows me to spray the inside lip that mounts against the inner fender liner as well as the under side of the lip. Mounting the fender to a piece of plywood would not allow you to paint all the way around it....

There is certainly a 100% correct way that takes a lot of time and some money. Then there is the way that will look decent and get you back on the road sooner than later. The surest way to slow down or even halt any restoration or just general maintenance... "While I was there"

Its an old truck. Make it run and drive again, then fix little things on it until you want or need to pull it apart for a nice paint job.

Guess I should clarify. Mounting the fender to a piece of plywood allows you do most of your bodywork to the fender in a short amount of time. This is presuming you have some sort of epoxy primer on the underside as well as the outside as a base coat for your putty.

As Randy said " Make it run and drive again, then fix little things on it until you want or need to pull it apart for a nice paint job." Many times I wish I would have done that( eleven years now). Also I like the fold up stands shown in Randy's shop. Nice looking shop by the way. I used a heavy duty trash can on a table when I did mine. Some pictures here. Have fun and good luck

We also use these when working on panels/fenders.

Fenders/parts get hung under this for painting (using heavy electrical wire).

The ladder now has a rainbow of colors.

^Thanks for all the info and tips.

Since posting this I have decided to pull the cab off the frame and do it right, So I will be painting the fenders off the cab. I like the idea of using plywood and the harbor Freight stands.

Removing the Cab

Removing the Cab