Options for painting gas tank?

[Thearne3]

Hi all,

Finally getting ready to paint my 68B. My understanding is that all Model As were painted with gas tank already installed. So when they painted the body, the welting was painted on the outside and the area between the tank and firewall was left in primer(?) Can anyone confirm?

I believe I will paint the doors and rear hatch off body for convenience. However, I'm looking for advice on the tank, which is in great shape and could be left in place with no restoration (rust, etc) concerns.

The body is over the frame (no fenders), but raised on saw horses (maybe 8" above the frame). The drive train makes standing in the footwell to paint challenging, but doable.

Am I better off completely moving the body off the frame and getting better access? (this would also reduce the masking/plastic over the drivetrain).

Any tips? Am I overthinking this?

Thanks!

PS I DID try to find the answer with search, but couldn't find anything...

[nkaminar]

I would move the body away from the frame for painting. I cannot answer how the gas tank was painted, but you might refer to the judging guidelines.

[Big hammer]

Painted my late 31 tank out of the body, it was scary to install, some models are different and very hard to install painted !?

[Ayers1]

I set the body on sawhorses and painted it. Also painted the tank separately and installed afterwards. Used lots of tape and paper and soft towels. Definitely doable but nerve wracking! As NKAMINAR said check judging standards for the technically correct way.

[400A]

I've always painted the gas tank separate from the body. You might try dry fitting it in place before painting just to be sure everything goes together as planned.

[Bruce of MN]

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Originally Posted by 400A

I've always painted the gas tank separate from the body. You might try dry fitting it in place before painting just to be sure everything goes together as planned.

Good advice !

[CT Jack]

I painted my tank removed and then had it pinstriped. I too thought installing the tank after painting would be tricky but it wasn't. Another benefit was the inside of the firewall and upper portions of the kick panels all got completely painted.

[CWPASADENA]

The factory painted the whole body with the gas tank in place. There was little to no paint on the back side of the tank and the very upper inside part of the firewall. If you are going to pin stripe the face of the gas tank, you may want to remove it for painting and striping. You can also paint the face underside and back of the tank outside the car and then re-install the tank and paint the top of the tank with rest of the outside of the body.

My opinion,

Chris W.

[gdmn852]

Hello , I painted and finished the inside of gas tank and then installed in car . Using to color coat and clear coat , requires a lot of masking to semi gloss tank but leaving the raised areas gross .You have to be careful also when painting rest of car to avoid overspray. When removing tank the side towards firewall was bare metal,along with inside top of inner firewall.

[Thearne3]

Thanks for all the replies! I'm now leaning toward removing the tank to paint and moving the body completely off the car. Appreciate all the input!

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Originally Posted by Thearne3

Thanks for all the replies! I'm now leaning toward removing the tank to paint and moving the body completely off the car. Appreciate all the input!

One other tidbit of advice I would give is if you are not a veteran of spraying paint, I would recommend that you paint the body in sections. When this day happens, your blood pressure will be on the rise for many reasons, -and your anxiety and emotions will be rampant. Your wrist, hands & arms will likely quickly tire causing even more stress.

Since your vehicle is a wood silled body, this next is kind-of different but some will apply. Start by painting just the bottom section of the body. Use that to figure out the technique of the gun and tweak the paint mixture ratios. After a day or so when that has dried, tape the bottom and exterior, and now paint the inside of the body. Once completed and dried, mask & cover the inside portion of the body. I prefer to paint the Reveals first followed by the Belt & Sill Mouldings. It is easier to colorsand those when dried and mask those to cover. Then spray the Cowl, Firewall, and maybe the Tank. Then do one of the Quarter panels by itself. Then do the other and maybe include the upper Body Panel. Then do the doors laying flat on stands. While this does not need to be this specifically structured, the quality of finish of the paint will be so much better, ...and you likely will save time in post-paint correction (i.e.: colorsanding, buffing, uniform mil thickness, etc.), -and generally your stress levels will be much lower throughout the entire process.

[jw hash]

I paint the tank and inside the fire wall with the tank out, have the tank pin striped, then install the tank mask up the inside of the tank along with the inside of the fire wall, then paint the rest of the body.