Alright, I know I'm overthinking this but it's driving me crazy. I need to reinstall my front trunk reinforcement on my rustoration build soon and originally planned to spray the backs of the reinforcement brackets and the area under the headlight buckets with 2K primer while everything was open and accessible. Then I would spray color in there as best I can when I do the rest of the chassis which won't be for several months. The primer needs to be top-coated within two weeks without having to scuff sand, but once the pieces are welded in, sanding in there won't be possible. So what do you all think is the best way to proceed for best long term rust protection and being able to get color in that recess so it looks factory correct? Maybe just spray the backs of the reinforcement brackets now and save the rest for later even though it is a PITA to get paint in there?

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Prime the whole thing. Spray color on the parts you won't be able to get to and weld in.. Then scuff and spray when you get to that point with the car. Just what I would do.

if you can't see the parts without color, why even worry about it?

if it bugs you that much, paint it like stated above, or get a flexible paint wand

Thanks guys. I wasn't planning to buy color and clear until I got closer to ready to paint (with luck, this fall) so hadn't considered the option of spraying color now. But will think about it.

There is an older thread about spraying this difficult area with a good pic illustrating my delima. The only area that can't be seen is the surface on the back side of the two-holed brace. The rest of the area is hard to see, but you'll be able to tell if there's color in the right light or if you crane your neck enough. Since I'm hoping to get as close to a "factory fresh" look as my limited skills will allow, it would bug me.

As long as I knew I could get good coverage in there after parts are welded in, I wouldn't worry. Anyone have a recommendation on a reasonably placed wand that might help?

Go with a single stage on the inside pieces, no reason to clear the inside you can get single and base clears in matching colors. Singles make it so much easier to work with on interior sections.

Also you will get burn off and the paint can burn around your weld so keep the heat down, you will want to take your time, weld in the open air, and still wear a respirator. Have a good leather glove you can use to crush any flare ups that might come up.