Painting a pickup bed

sprint_9

Rookie
Looking for more advice. I have been working on the box for my truck, Im hoping to be base/clearing in around a week. Currently everything is apart, but I originally planned on assembling and then sealing and painting. Problem is the more I think about it the more Im not sure how that will work with regards to actually being able to spray it. I dont have to do a floor so that is a benefit.

As of right now Im thinking of assembling the two sides, front panel, and rear cross sill. Then do the tail gate and inner fenders seperate and assemble those after paint. My thoughts are I can support the assembly on the front panel an rear cross sill and crawl underneath to the inside and have room to work.

Wondering if you guys have any thoughts?
 
I pulled the front panel on this '62 Chevy.
This allowed me to paint it separate but also gave me room to reach the insides of the bed.
Bed Front Inside.JPG


You can see here that I supported the rear of the bed on saw horses while the front is resting on the frame.
Bed Rear Right.JPG


Bedside Left.JPG


I was able to lean in the front side far enough to paint what I couldn't reach from the back side.

Similar on this '55 but I didn't have to paint the inside of the bed.

IMGP0006.JPG
 
The 62 you did looks similar to what Im kind of planning on.

One question for you, on the 62 it looks like you did the inner fenders separate and then assembled after paint. Did you have any issues with that? I dont know why but for some reason this really concerns me and I dont think it should really be a big deal.
 
Wow I hope mine come out that good.

I think Im going to leave them off like you did. That will save me the hassle of trying to paint it with them in the way.

Seeing your pictures really gets me excited to get mine done, I haven't base cleared for 8 months so I think I'll practice on my fenders first, something small to get my feet wet again.

Thanks for the help.
 
I painted my dad's 64 the same way, but with the front panel bolted to the sides and it worked well because I was able to crawl inside the bed to spray. I painted the tubs separate.

IMG_4897[1].JPG
 
Last one I did, I stood it on it's end with the header panel on a blanket, and painted the inside. Then set it on sawhorses, masked the inside, and painted the outside. But, mine had a steel floor to paint. If you have a wood floor, I'd follow MD's method.
 
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