Painting Hood Ideas

B

Bill in NJ

Well-known member
I am getting ready to paint my hood in the next couple of days and was planning on standing it up on the back edge and paint the inside and outside together. Is that a good idea or what are your suggestions. Any information would be appreciated.
 
Bill in NJ said:
I am getting ready to paint my hood in the next couple of days and was planning on standing it up on the back edge and paint the inside and outside together. Is that a good idea or what are your suggestions. Any information would be appreciated.
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It is until the pressure from the spray gun blows it over!! :mad:



My personal opinion is have the 'fitted hood' disassembled and laying upside down in 4 pieces. Tape the backside of the louvers so overspray cannot get through and practice on that side first. Then once dry, flip them over and backtape the underside. Now spray those four sides. The reason why I feel you should lay them flat when spraying is you have less chance for runs and the paint will likely flow better when it is flat. That equates to less time spent colorsanding & buffing!!

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I like to paint the hoods in 4 separate pieces the way they live on the car. If it's just black, maybe not so much but other colors can float the toners to the top if it's not painted the way it matches to the cowl. Pastels with slow solvents are good for that, so are dark blues and maroons that are toner heavy. Yeah, ya gotta bend around a bit and you need some horses and wire and some creative thinking, but it's worth it. I've lost track of how many 4pc hoods I've painted in 40yrs, but Brent gave some solid advice about it blowing over. You'd never believe it but volume + pressure, pretty stout...
 
make sure the hood pieces move with out any interference, file the hood hinges before painting if necessary, any touching of the hood hinges with the hood will peel off or chip the paint
 
I know the corect way is to take the hood apart in four pieces, but this is just a driver, I'm old, lazy and a few other things. Sorry
 
I painted my hood about a month ago. I consider my car a "nice" driver. Here's what i did. I made a quickly put together saddle horse out of scrap wood just enough to place the hood on and maintain it in somewhat of a normal operating shape. Then I took the hood off, layed it down on a table inside facing outward, primed and painted it. I didn't worry about high quality paint jobs on the inside. After it dried for a day or two,I place it o the scrap wood saddle, primed, fine sanded, and painted it. I had to do a little bit of touch up on the hood hinges when the hood was layed open , but that was easy with a cheap harbor freight airbrush and it looks looks fine. Skip
 
When I paint a hood, it's apart in 4 pieces. I paint the back side first, let it dry,( harden) for a couple if days. then I lightly sand the overspray off the front sides and mask the back. Then paint the front, several coats. I usually color sand and rub out just the tops unless there's a problem with the sides. I'm not a particularly good painter but I know how to fix my mistakes.
 
I hang all 4 pcs on a cloths line about head high(steel cable) and use coat hangers in the hood hing and make a hook out of the excess coat hanger and do that at both ends of the hood panel, then hang it on the line and do the next one but leave a couple of feet between them. After you get all four hung on the line I use a slow drying thinner to prevent over spray and take your time making sure you get everything covered with 2 coats then let it set for 1 hr and put your clear coats on 2 and sometimes 3 if it looks like it needs it. let it set for a day and re-assy. (dont forget your hood corners. -get her done......
 
LATEST UPDATE !! I went out in the garage yesterday and spent an hour or so and took the three hinge rods off. It will sure make it easier to paint and put the corner leather things on. Glad I took your advice. After doing a seven year project by myself I just wanted to get it down for this summer and was going to do it the quick but not the best way.
 
Bill....If you are painting with base clear....let your first coat dry and check you hood pcs real close to make sure you got it all covered if not you can touch it up but not so easy after you put the clear on...take your time and enjoy buddy....
 
Unfortuneatly I am painting single stage which I bought five years ago. Trying to get this done so I can take my 95 year mother out in it for the local July 4th parade. Do you put any oil or grase on the new rods before installation ?
 
Bill in NJ said:
Unfortuneatly I am painting single stage which I bought five years ago. Trying to get this done so I can take my 95 year mother out in it for the local July 4th parade. Do you put any oil or grase on the new rods before installation ?
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I haven't heard of anyone greasing the rods, but I will when I restore the car. For now I just oil them.
 
I did not have a variable speed drill so Iused a regular drill that did not work to good. After using wd 40 and letting them soak I ended up with a pair of vise grips and turned them left and right hitting with a hammer.

I would also like to correct my post # 9 I did not do this by myself but had help with fender repairs with Brent, questions asked on this site and the original Ford. Barn plus some club members help.
 
I paint the hood in 3 pieces. I assemble the top inserting the center rod while still in primer because I have found after you paint these two pieces that you will bang them up driving in the center rod.:mad: Hanging the top in one piece I spray all the edges first and then coat the entire surface. I give it three coats of Concept. I can then mount the top of the hood on the car and then install each side seperately while on the car. Of course, all pieces have been pre-fitted to the car so we know everything fits ahead of time.:) Ken
I am not a big fan of using a drill to remove the rods. I have seen the circular tabs get twisted off when doing this. I suggest you soak with rust buster of some kind and then manually get it to rotate before using a drill as you might do some damage
 
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I replace those steel rods with stanles-steel rods and never have that rust problem again. I think Br attons has them if you can buy it locally.
 
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