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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
   
Location: bishop, ca | Here's a good one, that I don't think has been previously addressed.
In the current Hemmings Classic Cars, there is a typical write up regarding a frame-off
convertible restoration.
The article (typically, it seems) has the top being installed AFTER the body panels are aligned and the
body assembly is finish-painted.
Knowing how persnickety our cars' bodies/openings and window/top adjustments are, why
wouldn't we want to align and adjust the bodies' openings/panels, before painting (which we DO do...)
But, then, install the top and adjust the windows' operation and alignments/fittings to the INSTALLED top
before any final body painting is done?
Yeah, it might be a PITA to mask off the top and the retracted windows, but wouldn't that be preferable
to trusting/hoping that there would be no unpleasant surprises when the top is later attached to the roof
mechanisms and the window adjustments are made, and the top's operation is finally tested, under load?
Edited by d500neil 2012-03-24 6:33 PM
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Location: Jamaica Plain, MA | Plus, it's real easy to scratch a new paint job when installing a big hydraulic roof. |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | That's my point; I'd rather be assured that the top installation is flawless and that the top operates and that the windows all
fit perfectly to/with the top....before the body is painted.
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Expert 5K+
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Location: Big pimpin' | You use two terms that shouldn't EVER be used when talking bout cars Neil. "Perfect" and "Flawless"...Neither is possible. Never happen. I know why people wait to install the top. It's because no matter how well you THINK you masked it off, over spray WILL GET ON IT. Therefore, when this "Crotchy" person takes it to a shop, he can try and blame the shop when his windows, top,mechanism,etc. doesn't work "Perfectly"..I say "Try" because once the shop knows what type of person they are dealing with, they usually tell them go screw off and never come back...
Edited by dukeboy 2012-03-30 7:12 AM
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Location: Chestertown, NY ( near Lake George) | Our cars and all their components were far from perfect when new. LOL |
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Location: NY & VT | '57s in particular were so thrown together it's amazing they could be driven out of the showroom! Most needed extensive dealer massaging before they could be delivered. They were notorious for poor panel fits, leaks, rattles, and soon enough, rust. |
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Location: Hay Lakes, Alberta, Canada | I now know, from experience with taking the windows out of the doors and rear quarter, that I WILL have them installed after priming, but before paint!!! I did note that the window crank mechanisms and inner door hardware were installed in the doors before painting at the factory. |
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Location: Lordstown, Ohio | When I was in the collison industry I would load all panels prior to paint, except anything that needed masked IE handles, side trim emblems. Tops were a negotable item |
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Location: Jamaica Plain, MA | My DeSoto has bad gaps and leaks like an seive. Pretty sure it was always like this. The Plymouth really does have better fit and finish. Not a longitudinal research study, but concurrent with brand-specific mythology. |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Interesting comments, so far.
Agree with Chaney about overspray getting onto things, like tops.
Overspray can be removed from windows with Enamel Reducer--stuff works like magic.
Maybe the best thing would be to prime the entire car before the windows are installed, and then to get the windows and doors
and hood/trunk and the convertible top mechanism properly aligned and working, before the body is painted (masking off the windows),
and then HOPE that the vinyl-top installation does not screw up its mechanism's/bows/rails operation and alignment.
The top-vinyl will probably stretch, over time, but the tightness of the new top will hopefully be something that a pro shop can be
able to account for, in the installation.
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | About that crotchety customer, though: if the shop has a reputation for perfection (or quality work), and/or tells the customer
that his work product will be free of defects, then the shop should be held to a high standard.
If the shop is a back-yard facility, and/or without a reputation for quality work, then, the customer gets what he pays for.
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | This last is a bit off-topic, but, there is a two way street on restoration work: the customer has to be able to pay for the
(quality) work on a timely basis.
The shop's big monetary risk is to do more work than the customer can (or wants-to) pay-for, during the restoration.
The customer's monetary risk is that the shop will take his restoration money and use it to pay for other-old projects,
and then have no money to do/finish the customer's job (on a timely basis).
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | This is the sort of problem that I would want to have be resolved, before the car is painted.
In the Olde car hobby, surprises are rarely enjoyable.
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restoration protocols.....
