queston for painters

Posted By: cjs69mope

queston for painters - 01/28/11 05:23 PM

what is the best way to keep from chipping up the paint on all your nice and clean painted up Fender bolts , Door hindge bolts. When you have to intall them and adjust multple times to get the right fit and gaps any tips ?The wrench will chip the paint and then it looks like crap

i have been using the masktape under the socket trick but still the paint is somtimes damaged. what other things help with this ? Thanks in advance for the help!

Posted By: RemCharger

Re: queston for painters - 01/28/11 05:41 PM

I've used kleenex, and it helps. Make sure you use a six point, the 12 pt will want to dig in. In the end, you just have to touch some of them up once they're fully installed. Do a good job of that and you won't see anything.
Thats my

Posted By: thehemikid

Re: queston for painters - 01/28/11 05:47 PM

...Didn't someone make some plastic socket/wrench inserts for that, where you go up a size or two then put in the insert?

Posted By: cjs69mope

Re: queston for painters - 01/28/11 05:56 PM

That would be sweet!

Posted By: sixpackbee

Re: queston for painters - 01/28/11 07:03 PM

I did a design of those. Made some prototypes but it still would chip paint off. If you got the insert soft enough not to do damage the inserts were weak enough they did not last. If you do have to do adjustments use an old hankerchief over the bolt and a 6 point socket/wrench. If you have access to an airbrush do touch ups with that.

Posted By: hemi70se

Re: queston for painters - 01/28/11 07:11 PM

Paint your car with the fenders and doors bolted on and adjusted already just like the factory did. It's not any harder to paint and your going to have to bolt all those parts on anyway. It has benefits too as to showing fitment problems BEFORE everything is color coated. Things like the hood and decklid I paint off the car. I bolt them on with "temporary bolts" with tape UNDER the washer for adjusting, then when it's all lined up I swap out the bolts one by one for a "colored correct" bolt.

Posted By: screamindriver

Re: queston for painters - 01/30/11 09:44 PM

A piece of plastic from one of the many baggies used for parts will work well also...Better than paper IMO...

Posted By: PLUM BAD

Re: queston for painters - 01/31/11 03:34 AM

I use old bolts with nylon washers under them to protect the paint. After the adjustments are done I replace them one at a time with the painted ones.

Posted By: FC7AARcuda

Re: queston for painters - 01/31/11 03:56 AM

A trick I found that works fairly well is to take a piece of electrical tape and line the inside of a six point socket with it. Leave enough tape sticking out that you can bend it over and cover the end of the socket so that no exposed metal from the socket touches the bolt. Replace the tape every few bolts. Not perfect but definitely minimizes any paint chips.

Posted By: 70_FJ6_RR

Re: queston for painters - 01/31/11 03:57 AM

It all comes down to the proper paint thickness and adhesion on the bolt. Rubber coated sockets help, as well as electrical taped wrenches, and as stated above, nylon washers for assembly alignment.

Posted By: FJ5_Fish

Re: queston for painters - 01/31/11 04:41 AM

Quote:

Paint your car with the fenders and doors bolted on and adjusted already just like the factory did. It's not any harder to paint and your going to have to bolt all those parts on anyway. It has benefits too as to showing fitment problems BEFORE everything is color coated. Things like the hood and decklid I paint off the car. I bolt them on with "temporary bolts" with tape UNDER the washer for adjusting, then when it's all lined up I swap out the bolts one by one for a "colored correct" bolt.

Posted By: GETX

Re: queston for painters - 01/31/11 08:38 AM

For a professional show appearance, I just wire wheel my bolts to bare metal then make all adjustments and tighten bolts. Wipe bolt heads with wax & grease remover. place a piece of wide masking tape across the back of a socket that would be the approx. diameter of the bolt/washer that you want to paint and strike the tape with a hammer around the edge of the socket to make a perfect hole in the tape. Place tape with hole in it over the bolt/washer that you want to paint. Using masking paper or plastic drop cloths to protect surrounding areas from over spray, apply adhesion promoter (i.e. Bulldog)to the bolt heads and let dry for a couple minutes. Now you can paint all your bolts with rattle cans if you like or I just use my airbrush @ 25-30 PSI with either single stage paint or base coat/clear coat. The final product looks FANTASTIC!!

Just my

Posted By: Eagleone1983

Re: queston for painters - 01/31/11 08:49 PM

Quote:

...Didn't someone make some plastic socket/wrench inserts for that, where you go up a size or two then put in the insert?

Someone did...Eastwood just released something like this. I saw it in my catalog they send from time to time. Not sure if they actually work or not though.