Topic: Reproduction Door Painting Questions

[SFM6S0000]

I have a new pair of 1965-66 reproduction doors I recently bought from a reputable supplier on this forum. Getting ready to start prepping them for paint. They came with what I assume is a black E-coat. It looks OK, but I was wondering how suitable this is to paint over, and if it offers a reasonable amount of adhesion and rust protection? I plan to spray them with a suitable primer/sealer, then will probably go with a single stage paint (both inside the door and out. I'm not putting any sort of sound deadener inside the doors, as the car is an old SCCA A/Sedan hardtop race car that I'm restoring. It won't be perfect, but I want it to be fairly nice and presentable.

Also, with respect to the grained surface in the interior side of the doors, does anyone have some sort of procedure that works well on the E-coat? I was thinking about just scuffing the surface with a medium grade Scotchbrite pad, spraying a really light coat of self etch primer (light gray, so I can see where I'm painting the topcoat), then a coat or two of black semi-gloss lacquer. My goal is to not fill in the grain, but I do want enough paint on it to seal the surface. Even though it's an old race car, I still want a nice detailed appearance.

Thanks,
Dave

[jwc66k]

Dave,
I normally just lightly sand (120-240 grit) a fresh surface before priming and painting, like on NOS sheet metal. On the interior grained surface, I use a paint remover (Jasco is my preferred brand), to get down to bare metal, no abrasives at all. It's messy, but masking any areas you don't want the remover and paint crud to go is a good idea.
Jim

[SFM6S0000]

Jim,
   Appreciate the info, won't be as much prep to the outside of the door as I thought there would, but it really appears there is no way around stripping the e-coat off of the interior grain. Thanks for the response.

Dave

[ruppstang]

The worst concours aspect of the reproduction at least the last time I saw one was the interior grain is reversed, in other words what was high on the original now is low on the reproduction. I thought it looked weird. One other issues was the holes for the door ID tag were too large to hold the rivets and that was a real pain to discover after paint. IMHO there is nothing better than a Ford part. 

[mjd 65]

The worst concours aspect of the reproduction at least the last time I saw one was the interior grain is reversed, in other words what was high on the original now is low on the reproduction. I thought it looked weird. One other issues was the holes for the door ID tag were too large to hold the rivets and that was a real pain to discover after paint. IMHO there is nothing better than a Ford part.

I wondered about the same thing.  Here's the earlier thread discussing the incorrect grain on the repop doors.

http://www.concoursmustang.com/forum/index.php?topic=4196.0

[cobrajetchris]

If you have not done this already, I would wipe down the "E-Coat" with lacquer thinner to make sure it's in fact E coat and not just some black primer to get it out the door that has no corrosion protection. I have seen this before with reproduction sheet metal. If it's truly E coat lacquer thinner will not touch it.

[SFM6S0000]

Hey, guys, appreciate the heads up and advice. Sorry I didn't reply sooner; I don't get on here too often. I had a look at the grain on mine, much closer to the original doors than the first photos in the door grain thread, look real good, although not quite perfect. Definitely can live with them for what I'm doing, though. I'll have to put a backer inside the door with the right hole size for the tag rivets to grab a hold of if my holes are too large.

I'll check my doors- the front valence I just had modified with the Shelby Group II opening was definitely e-coat, and has the same texture/finish as the door, but don't want to take chances since the doors are so prone to rust.

Thanks!
Dave