Getting ready to paint...

[chicagobreezz]

In the process of preparing my car for paint. Bare metal full car paint job. There isn't any rust or body repair to be concerned about fortunately. My question is what are the pros and cons of removing the front fenders for paint?

[ttweed]

My question is what are the pros and cons of removing the front fenders for paint?

Mike-
IMHO, it is necessary to remove them to do a good job. The biggest problem is the near impossibility of masking off the rubber bead perfectly between the rear of the fender and the cowl. You need to remove this bead in order for the coating to wrap around the corners of the mating surfaces properly, and removing it requires that the fender be separated at that end at least enough to get it out. If you separate the fender at all, you will compromise the seal of the terostat tape that the factory used to caulk this joint, at least partially at the rear end. Without removing the fender completely, it will be difficult to clean and prep the surfaces for paint, and replacing this caulking before you bolt it back together will be difficult, and I would be concerned about getting it all resealed perfectly again.

The fender joint is exposed to a lot of moisture intrusion from above and below--just from washing the car--even if it is never used in the rain and wet, etc. Also, until you remove the fender and clean and inspect the mating flange all along it's length, as well as the corresponding flange on the tub, you will not really know if there are any pockets of corrosion or rust damage in the joint that are working their way from the inside-out. Having just done this on my '68, I was glad I removed them, as even though this was a CA car, I found pockets of corrosion in this joint where the caulking had failed over the years. I was able to prep and paint the entire flange area with POR-15 before painting, and reassembled the fenders with a new rubber bead at the cowl and plenty of 3M strip caulk to seal the joint for the future. It was worth the extra work to remove the fenders.

YMMV,
TT

[pu911rsr]

I agree with Tom here. I have owned 911's that were repainted w/o removed the beading, never comes out right. Take the time to do it right, you'll be much happier in the end.
Phil

[tfiv]

I guarantee you will find at least heavy surface rust in the fender joining plate area, probably some soft metal. You must clean this up if you want the job to last.

Make sure your body guy fits and aligns the fenders, hood, doors, etc. before the final color goes on. It's really hard to do after the fact with perfect paint.

[LKreg]

Excellent advice. It would be a shame to invest in repainting and leave even a little rust lurking. Be sure to save and reuse those fiber washers!

[chicagobreezz]

Thank you so much. It is unanimous the fenders come off! This is what I thought but, needed that extra bit of support to make the decision. When this Aubergine beauty gets finished I'll post some pictures. Thanks again for the advice!!!

[caproader]

Is it just me or did the factory never prime or color coat fenders before hanging them on the car?
Every right or left fender that I have removed (4 73 911's, a 69 912 and a 75 911) had bare metal on the mating surface along the mating surface next to the front trunk. It looked to me like they put in a wad of putty, hung the fender and then painted the car. As a result there is always advanced rust on the mating surface that needs to be removed.

John

[ttweed]

Is it just me or did the factory never prime or color coat fenders before hanging them on the car?

That was certainly the case with my '68. After cleaning the caulking tape off, there was only bare metal left, along with pockets of corrosion, mostly in the elongated, oval "dimples" in the stamping, between the bolt holes. This fender joint forms the trough, or channel, where the hood's rubber seal sits, and most of the water that lands on the windshield or hood ends up running off into this channel to drain, not to mention all the spray from the wheels that is kicked up in the fenderwells to attack the underside of the joint. It is a very exposed joint, and very susceptible to rust. I'm sure the later cars with galvanized sheet metal stood up better, but I would still want to check if the seal had failed anywhere on them as well.

TT

[jhora]

In Jim Schrager's book on page 88 it shows a group of 911s heading to the paint booth...they all have their fenders on and it notes the bumpers were painted off the car but at the same time....doesn't tell if the body or fenders were already primed or not and the picture is black and white so you can't tell...
I agree with all the other guys take them off as noted... I have also taken off my share of fenders and everyone of them had some rust in varying stages along the joining surfaces...as said save the mounting hardware and if you don't I have some with the Ks
Good luck on the project and show us some pictures....
John

[chicagobreezz]

Well, the paint project is progressing although slowly. Glad I removed the fenders. Fund some surface rust that has been taken care of. The entire car is primed and ready for paint. I do have one question though. When finally mounting the fenders is there some kind of caulking or sealing tape to be used where the fender meets the inner wheel well? When I took them off I didn't find any. Thanks.