Customs Painting a column in a car

I'm repainting my steering wheel in the '54, and I was going to pull it because it's not on straight anyway. I'd thought about repainting my column to match better. Is it easier to paint the column in the car or take it out and paint it? It's the stock column going to a Mustang II frontend. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

I masked mine off (on a past project) and painted it with Blitz Black while in place. Turned out great.

 

i would say its ALOT easier to paint out of the car.. its hard to get to the underside and you have to mask everything just to spray it.. pull it and paint it!

 

It can be done in the car if you take your time and mask everything around it so you don't get overspray on stuff, but you will get a better paint job if you remove it, scuff it, prime it , then spray it like any other part of the car.

Don

 

Pull it out, a lot quicker and neater, plus there is no overspray over everything. Preparation is a lot easier as well.

 

out come out better

 

That depends if you are better at masking everything ( everything is quite a bit)
Or better at unbolting and bolting without scratching.

No question that the prep and paint would be easier with the column out. But that's not the whole job.

 

Hmmm, no more than 1 hour on my back pulling and reinstalling, 2-4 hours on my back masking and spraying and cleaning and detailing and not being able to see it all real well and...

 

Take it out. That's what she said...

 

I'm in the remove it camp.You'll save time in the long run and do a much better job.

 

Out works out !

 

Easier out of the car, but make sure that the paint has time to cure before you put it back in. Pretty easy to scratch new uncured paint.

 

Leave it in if you want a speckled interior!

I would remove the column to paint it. HRP

 

I guess how difficult it is, depends on how it is put in the car. Since it's the stock column connected to a Mustang II front end, the column has been cut off and modified to work with the rack and pinion, and had a mount added at the bottom to support it. We can't see how it was done, so we can't really answer your question.

 

OUT it must be...

 

if it's not an easy pull (and a lot of them aren't).....paint it in the car but..... much better results if pulled..

 

Better out of the car so you can spray it, but that can be a PITA. I've hand painted (with a fine bristle brush) columns in the car. No masking, no overspray issues, etc. Turns out great as long as you prep properly, are patient and are good with a brush.

 

pull it. prime, paint, cure it. then wrap it in newspaper. install it. tear out the newspaper. no scratches!