What do I do with metal tabs/door sills before epoxy/paint?

[67 Sunroof]

Hard to explain:
The metal "teeth clips" that run down the door pillar and the bottom "sill?"....
What do I do with these before we epoxy the car? Should I open them up a bit in order to spray the epoxy? Is the epoxy somewhat flexible and would it crack once the base and clear is sprayed on? Like, once I have the paint/clear done and I'm putting in the interior, would the paint/clear crack when I go to bend the tabs over?
Just trying to think long term before we start.

Anything else I should consider before we spray? We should get started tomorrow or Friday.
Oh yeah, the exterior has been da'ed with 80 grit and we are spraying SPI epoxy primer. I hand sanded the dash with 80 grit, but can we spray the rest of the interior without sanding? (It is pretty rough from being sandblasted)
I would think it will grab pretty well and it will be under the carpet anyway!? What do you guys think?

[esde]

80 grit with epoxy over it is going to be rough. Epoxy over fresh sandblasted metal might look like the surface of the moon. I would at least knock it down to 120, the metal sands nicely, the epoxy sands like mud. I have a lot of my bus bare from sandblasting, and am taking it as far as I can before epoxy. I've made the mistake before, and wasted a lot of sandpaper trying to knock down the epoxy.

The metal clips, I would open far enough to get the headliner under them. That way they're only getting bent once: closed.

[marklaken]

Whenever I have bent painted metal, some of the paint chips. I usually just do touchup painting at the end of assembly to fix any small chips that occur during reassembly. I am no pro, so there may be some tricks to doing it better.

Follow epoxy with 2k primer (probably highbuild) in the "recoat window" and you don't need to worry about sanding the epoxy.

Just remember anything you 2k primer should be block sanded, so you are going to end up sanding the whole body one way or the other (sand 2k, sand metal, or sand epoxy - your call).

Sanding 2k primer (high build or regular) is easier than sanding metal. Sanding metal is easier than sanding epoxy primer.

Depending on your goals, you can get away with topcoating epoxy primer and avoiding sanding on the hidden areas if you recoat in the recoat window with topcoat. I would still block sand any areas that are exposed metal - especially the dash.
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Wish List:
1967 Wesfalia SO-42 Parts Needed: Kitchenette, Cot Poles

'65 rear left beetle fender

15" Bus Wheels in fair condition

Mark Laken
Fort Collins, CO

[eyetzr]

To eliminate the paint chipping, I would epoxy prime the interior & mask off the clip. 2K or whatever filler prime & before painting remask the clip, before last coat remove tape, spray over. try to keep the paint thickness to a minimum. That will keep the paint from chipping. Best of luck
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I think he meant "rare", as in "not well-done"

[67 Sunroof]

Lol...wow, thanks guys!
I bent the tabs up just a tad and will use a rubber mallet to lightly tap them over once the rubber is in. Wish me luck!