The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk When do you paint the cab?

Should the cab of the 46 chevy be painted before or after its mounted on the frame, or should it mounted when its primered?

It sort of depends on you and your plan. In my case I am doing all the other sheet metal and leaving the cab for the last. It is currently epoxy primed and mounted to the chassis in order to align the other body panels.
That step is now complete so all the panels are off for final primer and paint. Once they are in color they will be stored and then I can focus on the cab.
There are so many details related to the cab such as door fitting and latches, guages, steering column, stereo, HVAC, electrical, headliner, seats, sound proofing, carpet, window mechanisms, glass installation, etc that most of the assembly effort is in that area.
Most of this has to be done/installed after the final prime and paint of the cab unless you want to remove and reinstall which would be a hassle.
As to whether the cab should be mounted to the frame for the prime and paint, I would not if I had a choice to prevent overspray on the other systems especially the engine if that is already installed.

It all depends on how particular you are and I hate overspray. It is much easier to clean and paint underneath if the cab is laying on it's side, not to mention the access to painting the frame. I like to rework and assemble everything in raw state to fit it up, then I take it apart to finish and paint every part separately. Minor touchup with a tiny brush is then done if a chip or scratch occurs.

If you're going thru the effort to pull the cab off the frame, then you might as well go the full nine and clean, strip, primer, and paint the cab BEFORE you put it back on the frame.

Question Ol wise ones: In that process right now, my thinking is get everything done fixing, patching, mudding, priming ect. Then why not put the cab on the frame, install everything final fit and paint it all together as your final coat? Wouldn't we have less chance of dings and scratches?

popcorn The Truth is Out There (Good question packhorse this step has bothered me)Ben

Yes you can install everything and paint but areas such as the firewall, door jams, cab rear panel, dashboard, inner fenders, etc are not easily accessible for painting.
Ben, what you can do is paint the areas that will be out of reach once assembled, put it all together and then paint the whole shebang.

Thank you Buddy that is kinda what I was looking for. It still will be lying (the cab) on its floor roller when you get there. I have got to attack the roof and now is the time to do it while I have it on its back!!

popcorn The Truth is Out There (never thought about interior before I installed it on the frame)Ben

Houston has sound points for rust protection. I hate the ugliness of overspray but a little scratch or chip will never be seen by anyone but you, and then only right before you touch it up with a teeny tiny brush.

I am very particular and I felt really that the cab could be done, painted and set aside before mounting so i could get into all of the hard to reach places. Now do I need to wait to put the glass in the cab or does that go according to individual plan too? Is there a chance of cracking new glass while moving the cab around and mounting it?

Before you put the bed on

If you prep the cab, body parts etc and paint them before putting them back on the cab then everything looks nicer and you have a better final product that looks like you took it all apart plus you dont have to mask everything off while on the frame to keep frame wheels etc from getting overspray. You just have to be extra careful when putting the truck back together have an extra hand. Also before putting on the front clip you can install the engine trans and have less chance of scratching the fenders and hood etc.

For a show quality job the only way is before it is mounted. This goes for all the parts. Good luck.