another post about paint

[WillBilly53]

okay, so now i'm confused.

what is the difference between epoxy sealer and 2 part epoxy primer?

will the epoxy primer seal the bare metal?

as i get closer and closer to having the car down to clean, bare metal, what should i first shoot? epoxy sealer, epoxy primer?

then the base coat, then clear, right?

thanks in advance!

[Guest]

Don't be confused WillBilly. As I stated before I'm an Auto Body Instructor. First, the only difference is; the sealer is the same, only(THINNED or REDUCED) more to make it smooth for final coating. Follow these steps for a long lasting paint job:

1. Remove all rust and imperfections, ex. (sand blast, strip, etc.)

2. Do all dents, dings, etc. in ALL METAL, (you already know about that).

3. Use a good, 2-part epoxy primer, (PPG- dp-40) PPG has 2types in stock. Whats nice about that is it comes in colors. You want to pick the color closest to you the color of the vehicle. Reason is twofold; it covers with less paint, and if you get a chip, it won't show as bad.

4.Use a urethane primer surfacer(tintable to color of your paint), usually 2-3 coats to hide any scratches or imperfections left in the metal or bodywork, block sand smooth, and add the epoxy sealer. It's the same as the epoxy primer, but thinned out a little more, so you can paint over it with basecoat/clearcoat. After you apply the basecoat, the clearcoat must be applied with-in a specified amount of time. For a street rod finish, Apply 2-coats of clear, let dry, block sand with 1,000 grit paper (wet), then apply two more coats with the second thinned out about 10% more so it will level out better(reduce orange peel). Let it dry, block sand with 1500 grit (wet) to remove all imperfections & orange peel, and Buff out to a high gloss look. The most important thing to remember is to use ALL the same paint products (system). In otherwords, either all PPG, or all dupont, etc. This will ensure that all the different layers are compatible. Also those manufacturers will warrant their products.

Make sure to READ all paint product instuctions and cautions carefully. Make sure to wear the proper respirator and safety equipment.

Finally, if the area you live in has a local Vo-tech school or community college that offers adult evening classes, it may pay to take a course there, and you could use their facility for you hobby. I hope this helped, BMD.

[NTX5467]

Great reply, BMD67! I concur with the local vocational college classes, too, as some of that stuff you need to have "hands on" experience with and that's a good way to do it.

One thing not mentioned might be to, when any bare metal is exposed from the sanding/blasting/stripping/cleaning operations, "metal prep" the newly exposed bare metal prior to the application of the first primers? Especially if there will be some time lapse between the exposure of the metal, the primer, and then the final finish coats?

Years ago, we sandblasted a car and then shot some primer on it. We didn't put any color coats on it right then. About two weeks of sitting out, rust started popping through the primer. Not sure if we had too rough of a blasted finish (although we used finer sand) or if the primer didn't properly penetrate the surface texture to adhere, letting moisture from condensation inside of the "pockets" in the metal set up and start the process.

At that time, I'd read the paint literature that recommended metal prep on bare metal prior to primer, but the local paint supply people said it was not necessary and I'd not known of too many body shops that did it anyway. But the body shops got the work done and painted soon and it was all done inside the shop (with a somewhat controlled environment, temperature and humidity wise), whereas ours was outside.

I might add that using the plastic or glass bead media to blast with would be preferable to sand, from what I've seen. Some people like baking soda and I even know of one high end painter that uses razor blades to strip the old paint off. I think that using a safe chemical stripper would be the best way, but probably the messiest, but then you don't have to chase sand or media dust all over the shop too. In the case of smaller parts that can fit into a blast cabinet, that can be the best way to do them.

Just some thoughts . . .

Best of luck with your projects!

NTX5467

[WillBilly53]

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!

both for the clarification and tips. greatly appreciated!