To Jam or not to Jam, that is the question!

[bksvo]

Call me crazy, but I've decided to paint my car, on my own. My son talked me into it, he has a bit of experience (and I mean a bit), but he is out for the summer, so its a great father son project. I have a shop with appropriate space for a DIY booth, and there are few things I've ever shied away from learning and getting good at. I've got no false expectations about how much work its going to be. I'll be spraying base/clear.

Unfortunately, the car had to spend about 5 years outside, in the mountains, and the sun killed the already crappy factory paint. I have almost completely disassemble the car, and I'm at a crossroads. The original paint in the door jams and interior of the doors is gorgeous, but I do need to paint at least to the first bend (and around the corner of the door) to take care of the oxidized paint. In the Engine bay, I plan on painting the top ledge, or for sure the factory outline from painting with the fenders on will never be right. I am planning on removing the hatch, because I don't see how I could get the top seam done with it on.

I'll admit I'm intimidated at removing the doors. The thought of taking off the wire harness and feeding it through the door seems fraught with peril.

So, I know advice is easy with other people's time and money. should I mask off the good parts of the jams and doors and shoot the rest, or bite the bullet and pull the doors and do the whole thing?

Thanks!

[brsvo]

Never did any paint work but mismatched body and door jambs look tacky OMHO. Chipped my paint pulling the doors to replace the bushings so be cautious if you do it. But your going to paint it anyway so go for it.

[Chalky]

Having just gone through this here's my advice, go all in!!! Coupla tips, if you're gonna replace you door hinge pins and bushes, do it pre-paint and align your door before removing the hinge pins and leave the hinges bolted to the body. The door openings just need to be scuffed and then wet sanded unless you need to go all the way to bare metal, which will take a coupla days. Why skimp on it if you have the time and space available. I can guarantee if you skimp and try blend it, you'll see the colour miss match everytime and kick yourself for it!!
Fishing the wiring through the door opening is only intimidating the first time you do it