I removed the old door panels from the door, and I will be replacing them with new repro ones, but my question is about painting that hard shell that covers the inside of the door.

With the door panels off, it'll be very easy just to paint that - but it's like a camera case finish, and doesn't look like something I can just spray paint!

If anyone has done this before, and knows what I should use and how I can do it I would appreciate your knowledge.

Thanks
-Brad

I took my car in to have an estimate done on it, and was told that it has to be taken down to the bare metal, primered and then painted, otherwise you "fill in" some of the camera case finish.

Robert

Wow, I didn't know it was that intensive of a job. I guess I'll just leave it as is..It's not THAT bad, I'm just picky about the few little spots that are no longer black.

Guess it is just cheaper to leave it this way, I was thinking there would be an easier alternative.

Thanks
-Brad

I was just as surprised as you... I have a lot of little door nicks where the seatbelt button was pushed, and the wearer didn't "ride the belt" back to the receiver and "clanged" the door. This is a back burner project for me now.

Robert

Same with me, the bottom of the door (un noticeable when closed) is just beat up from the flying back of the seat belt. I suppose that is normal wear and tear of the vehicle, and because I'm going to be driving people around I'm not going to pay for the paint job just to watch my passengers bang it up again.

Thanks for getting back so quickly, I appreciate it!

-Brad

It's not that hard of a job. I would say that it's a good sat and sun project. I had a 67 coupe that I refurbished the interior. What I did was use paint remover and lightly sanded off the debris. If you sand too much you will sand off the finish. It was suppose to resemble vinyl. (At least that was what I was told.) Then I primered the door. Make sure you tape off everything good. Primer it then shot the paint even. The primer will help alot. Trust me, the result will make you make you feel that the work was worth it. It made a difference when I sold the car. Working on these cars is not hard. It just seems like it. That 67 tought me a lot. There is a first for everything. Good luck.

The correct terminolgy for the 'camera case finish' is grain. Unless you are painting with tar or use hundreds of layers, it would be near impossible to fill in that grain pattern. Paint will dry uniformly over the surface and when dry, one layer of paint is about 1 mil thick (1 mil is about the thickness of the cellophane wrapper on a pack of cigarettes). Clean the surface well, mask off what you don't want covered, prep with p.o.r or oxisolve if there is rust, prime, then paint. There are numerous black colors commonly available that are close to what was used at the factory. The user forums at vintage-mustang.com have some real knowledgeable restorers who can tell you what to use. My CalSpec will be receiving the above listed procedure next year.