Painting Question

The last time I painted my old CJ was 20 years ago so she's ready for new paint and two new front fenders. I see many builders painting their tubs and fenders separately then attaching the fenders after everything is dry. My concern is a unsightly gap between the tub and fender on that vertical seam where the fenders attaches to the tub. I used Seam Sealer in there last time and painted over it eliminating any gap. Are you painters experiencing any ugly gaps between tub and fenders or is the space very slight and acceptable?

 

The gap should be minimal if the fenders are installed correctly and is part of the design. If you want a factory look leave out the seam sealer. You can paint with everything together if you prefer, just paint firewall and edge of fender first, when dry, assemble and paint all together. I prefer to paint apart then assemble.

 

Yep, I painted mine fully disassembled.

 

That's a very good point, if the factory didn't use Seam Sealer there's no real reason to use it on the re-paint. Being able to remove the fenders for repairs would also be pretty slick. Thanks for your replies.

 

By painting everything separately, you can get into all the nooks and crannies better too. I prefer to paint the hidden, hard to reach areas first, then other non-visible areas next, and save the surfaces that need to be smoothest, shiniest and prettiest for last.