Door Jam Painting

[lalkie01]

I am in the process of painting my 65 Corsa Convertible and was wondering how other owners removed the paint where the door hinges attached and under the front grill.
Looking at something to soften the paint then wash it off with water pressure.
Anyone try this? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Larry

[66vairguy]

I am in the process of painting my 65 Corsa Convertible and was wondering how other owners removed the paint where the door hinges attached and under the front grill.
Looking at something to soften the paint then wash it off with water pressure.
Anyone try this? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Larry

This is a tough question to answer. If the car is apart and interior removed, then media blasting will take the jamb area down to bare metal. If you are painting an assembled car then it gets complicated. Even at the factory they had issues getting paint to all the jamb surfaces. I removed the doors (an be warned re-installing doors and aligning them is tedious work usually requiring two people) removed the trim around the door opening, sanded down the door jambs, sealed the surface with a two part epoxy primer. Then sanded the primer smooth and touched up the primer. After a couple days for the primer to fully shrink (cure) I applied the base/clear coat.

HOWEVER --- the car I did had good paint in the jambs and no rust. If the jamb paint is a mess, or has been repainted poorly, or if there is rust --- then you have to go down to bare metal.

The "front grille" which I assume is the air inlet in front of the windshield is the same. I remove the trunk lid, wiper mechanism (which usually needs work and lubricating), and check the sealer and re-do it as needed. I DO NOT like to use original body color as the factory did. I paint everything in this area satin black - just me.

I NEVER USE WATER TO CLEAN UP AREAS. Once water gets into sheet metal seams it can take months for it to dry out and meanwhile it activates rust!!!! Even when I use paint stripper, I use a non-water solvent to clean up.

I'll add I DO NOT paint over a 60's (or 70's) car original exterior body panels paint. Usually the paint is too far gone and there is at least one respray. I remove all old paint and filler down to bare metal. Then block panels using a fill primer, seal with epoxy primer, THEN paint. New exterior paint is only as good as the foundation.

[lalkie01]

I have stripped the car of about everything and plan on sanding the areas I can get to except where the door hinges attach and where the front grill covers. I don't want to take off the doors. I have sandblasted cars before and have trouble getting rid of the sand in the cracks. I appreciate the response. Thanks Larry

[66vairguy]

I have stripped the car of about everything and plan on sanding the areas I can get to except where the door hinges attach and where the front grill covers. I don't want to take off the doors. I have sandblasted cars before and have trouble getting rid of the sand in the cracks. I appreciate the response. Thanks Larry

Yes getting rid of the sand is an issue.

I used to avoid removing the doors, but folks convinced me if I used a 1/8" drill at the hinge to body to make a hole it made remounting the doors much easier. It works, at least to get you very close. Keep in mind the factory door alignment wasn't the best so sometime I have to loosen hinges to get a better fit. Tedious work.

Be warned, sometimes the hinge bolts are badly rusted (back east) and they can break off during removal. So I understand your reluctance to remove the doors.

[RexJohnson]

The factory seemed to paint the jams with the doors bolted on. I have removed hinges from a door to find bare metal.

[66vairguy]

The factory seemed to paint the jams with the doors bolted on. I have removed hinges from a door to find bare metal.

CORRECT! At least on the West Coast Corvairs. This is why I remove the doors since some jamb areas have little to no factory paint.