Paint question

[06Daytona]

I'm getting a little bored waiting for all my sheet metal to get here and have decided to paint a few of the parts that don't need welding like the hood and the deck lid when it gets here.
My question is do I need to put anything over the black that the panels came in, like an epoxy, or can I get away with a good primer and then color? I have a Dupont store close to the house and a PPG store a little farther away and I haven't painted in quite a few years. The last paint job I did was when PPG Deltron was new on the market. I plan on doing a little practicing on my old deck lid before I attack the new parts and I'm not afraid to do the paint myself.

My plan is to have fenders, header panel, hood and decklid all in color when the new sheet metal is finished to reduce the amount of time I'll be Cudaless

[ksierens]

Did you already have all the sheet metal installed and lined up?  There is no way it will all just fit together without a lot of fine tunning first.  It took me a very long time to get all the panels close enough before using body filler to get them straight from panel to panel, and that is with the original doors, NOS fenders and an original hood (off another car).

Anyways, as to your question, I would go over the panels with 80 grit, then use a good etching primer, then filling primer.

Just my two cents.

[06Daytona]

I'm just thinking the hood and the truck for the time being. I'm going to test fit the fenders before painting them to make sure everything lines up. I had the hood on and it lines up really well with the existing fenders. I'm still thinking about re-skinning the doors but I'm going to wait until all the layers of paint is off before deciding.

[dutch]

I agree with Kurt on this one.  I`m pretty sure you will regret painting parts before having everything installed and adjusted.  If you want to paint anyway, paint the insides...
Also, I`m a big fan of painting the outside of the car with all bodypanels on. That way you will not have a different shine on the panels.
And yes, 80 grit, epoxy, high build. 

[FY1Cuda]

You'll probably find that the trunk lid will be a little lower than the quarters in some places and a little higher in other places.  You'll be block sanding to get them them even, so having paint on them won't work out.  You will be surprised how much banging, trimming and grinding you'll be doing to get the pieces to all fit together.

[Cuda Cody]

I WOULD NOT PAINT THOSE PARTS!  You will need to make them fit before you paint.  Lots of these parts will need some fitting to make them work.  Sheet metal IS NOT legos and they will need to be fitted first.

[73Chally]

Same as above, but you will also not get a color match if you paint the body panels at separate times.  You want to shoot everything at one time with the same batch of mixed paint.

[Todd Smith]

I understand having an itchy trigger finger for paint. I'm dieing to shoot some color.

But  with all the above. Paint is really temp. / humidity sencitive  .  Hang tough and do everything together.
Like you, I hadn't painted in a while. I got some junkyard panels and practiced up then took on my sons 2001 Stratus in black metal flake.

Kinda like putting a band-aid on a broken arm, but it did scratch the itch some.

[06Daytona]

I have a 72 Charger that I've been putting off painting and I can always throw a little Sassy Grass on the old deck lid to see what it looks like.
Looks like I'll be holding off on the Cuda until it's all together though.