Primer - Finish paint opinion request

[Slotts]

Well, I have finally arranged to have the rolling chassis media blasted and have a couple of questions. The person doing the work does not do primer. I'm planning on a rotisserie restoration including painting the undercarriage the body color.

A couple of the questions I have are:

1. A recommendation on the type of primer base coat to use, self etching, epoxy or something else?

2. Second and or third coat of primer type?

3. Does the manufacture of the primers need to match the finish coat?

4. A recommendation for the paint manufacture, PPG is what I was thing of. I body color will be FY1 and clear coat(s).

Thank you in advance for your help.

Slotts

[Moparal]

I dont have paint skills to answer your post, but didnt want you to think that knowbody wasnt reading it

[ntstlgl1970]

You could do epoxy, depending on your timeline for bodywork that might be the safest method -prevents rust etc. while it is being worked on. You can spray over PPG DP epoxy with hi build or regular primer. Will you be doing the bodywork or??

http://autobodystore.com/ has a great forum area and helpful people that can answer your questions

[70_challenger]

1. A recommendation on the type of primer base coat to use, self etching, epoxy or something else?

I have very little knowledge of this, but my car was media blasted, and then covered immediately in PPG DP-90 epoxy primer (DP is a series of epoxy primers - the '90' just means it is black.  Lower numbers are lighter colored).  It covers really nicely, and the bodywork can be done right over the primer.  After all the metalwork was done, they put another light coat of it on, and then primed/painted.  That DP series epoxy primer can stay right on there as a base surface, and is stable for a long period of time (if you're not going to do the bodywork right away, as was the case for me).

2. Second and or third coat of primer type?

Sorry - I don't understand the question.

3. Does the manufacture of the primers need to match the finish coat?

Opinions vary.  I think most people would tell you that it's a good idea to have the same manufacturers.  If anything goes wrong during the process, you can rule out incompatibility.

4. A recommendation for the paint manufacture, PPG is what I was thing of. I body color will be FY1 and clear coat(s).

PPG is a good choice.  Most of the big names are good (Sikkens, PPG, Dupont...).  People will have their own preferences, based on their personal experience.

I'm sure some bodywork experts will weigh in on this soon.  Just please make sure your car is coated quickly after the media blasting.  Otherwise, your efforts (and money) for blasting will be wasted, when surface rust creeps back in.

-Tom

[Slotts]

Thanks Tom,

I was told by one body guy that the base primer coat will need sanded and a second applied and not needing to be epoxy or self etching.

Once the chassis is blasted, it will make a trip straight to the body shop for painting. I'm just trying to get it right the first time so I can avoid this. > 

Slotts

[craigsmytcudas]

hey never prime at the blasters. what media was used sand or soda or plastic. each has a purpose, i use sand for rusty areas hand strip deck hood roof with stripers then a light blast for clean up .under side use sand the bad news is if a shop cant sand blast i sure wont let them plastic bead eather most blasters trash your parts with pressure not the media also rember sand is a bedia by definition .plastic leaves a residue as does all medias my point early on is you need to clean very carefully i wash my cars with wash thinner untill all the black silt or silicone is removed you will see it come clean .the most important parts are the outer panels. i watched a shop in my area do a 35 chevy with just air then prime .i told them about clean up they said thanks for the advice we will do the next one right .this scared me so bad i haven been out from under my bed in days .also i have done over 200 cars in my life time a few have had problems on the first 2 or 3 i had to surf or be part of it study study study good luck

[MEK-Dangerfield]

   



  Mike   

[craigsmytcudas]

it sounds like you might have a shop already have u asked them what they would want you to do

[Slotts]

Craig, thank you for the very good information.

The media blaster will be stopping by tomorrow to see the chassis first. I will ask him all about what type of media, etc. I will be better equiped to ask him questions with your input that you stated. Thank you! I have not worked with him before, but a friend of mine recommended him.

I do have an autobody shop lined up that has a rotisserie. The owner was out today and couldn't get my questions answered.

Thanks again for your help!

There's another piece of business that I have to take care of, too:

   



  Mike   

Ok, Mike here goes....

Slotts

[LAA66]

 Not sure, but I think that's a picture of a paint can.  Thankslotts!

 Just curious, how do they get the media or sand out of the tight crevices where the sheet metal is tacked together?

[72bluNblu]

The PPG DP series is a great primer. We used it at my dad's restoration shop almost exclusively. It make a great sealer/primer, and is just about indestructible. That being said, it also sands fairly well. We almost always used DP 90, its a black primer but has a little more shine (almost like semi-gloss) than a standard flat primer, which is great for showing up bodywork.

[SilverChally]

I went with a self etch primer from dupont then the high build before paint.  I couldn't get the epoxy I wanted, but thats usually what I use.  They claimed at the paint store the etch primer was going to replace the epoxy... but I dunno about that.  It worked out great.

[Chlngrcrzy]

  Great questions. I am almost there myself, and have been wondering the same thing. I will be watching, hope to see more input.

[Travis72]

I'm no expert either, but I've done a lot of researching and reading.  I agree with 70_challenger's recommendations, so I'll just add some of my own thoughts.

1. A recommendation on the type of primer base coat to use, self etching, epoxy or something else?

In this day and age epoxy is the way to go over bare metal.  There are still some old timers who still use self etching but most shops have switched to epoxy for it's corrosion resistance over bare metal. 

2. Second and or third coat of primer type?

Depending on if your car needs body work or not and you apply the body filler right over the epoxy (some people don't like that and it seems to be a 50/50 split, but I went ahead and applied filler over epoxy) then apply another coat of epoxy to sandwich the porous body filler between epoxy.  Then high build primer over that.  The epoxy is not meant to be sanded which is why you follow up with the high build that you then block sand.

3. Does the manufacture of the primers need to match the finish coat?

Yes!  Unless you're an expert who knows exactly what to mix and match and has experience with that, stick to one brand.

4. A recommendation for the paint manufacture, PPG is what I was thing of. I body color will be FY1 and clear coat(s).

PPG is a good brand as are Dupont and House of Kolor.  It seems to come down to personal preference and painters get familiar with a certain brand and as a result know exactly how to spray them.  See what the body shop recommends and what they are most familiar working with.


Travis
72 Cuda

[hemiken]

A lot of companies recomend you use their entire product range or they void any paint imperfections from cross contamination with other brand paints.

Just something to think about when talking with your body/paint man.

In other words, if you use a PPG paint then you should use nothing but PPG for the whole process. FY1