Paint and sandable epoxy primer

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Paint and sandable epoxy primer

Postby SunbirdMan » Mon Sep 10, 2007 11:19 am

I got some rust repair to do. I don't have any experience with painting cars but I'm going to try to prep my car little by little and have it repainted eventually. I would try to paint it mself but I want to keep the stock color which is metallic and to be realistic I doubt if I could get good results the first time out. So for rust protection I figure an epoxy primer would be best. But I would need to have a sandable primer because I'm going to be going over it time and again. Also, I don't plan on stripping it down to bare metal but instead painting over the good paint. from what I understand, metallic paint needs to have a solid color underneath or it will show thru. here's what my car looks like:
Image

So, will a red sandable epoxy primer be what I need? Any recommendations? Thanks
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Postby cjbiagi » Mon Sep 10, 2007 1:52 pm

Metallic paint needs a solid color under it? Well, all primer is solid, so I don't know what that means. I painted my car at home with the stock code 16 medium gray metallic, which has a lot of metallic in it, with very nice results. Metallic is tricky to get even but it is not that bad. If you are going to leave your car in primer you do want to use a non porous primer or it will rust underneath it. I believe epoxy primer is what you want to use. After you have that on then you can spray a high build sandable primer over it and do your block sanding to get it straight and level and then your color coat. If it is a metallic you should clear it to avoid having to color sand the metallic which could mess it up. Painting a car is a lot of work. I did mine out of necessity and desire. I really didn't want to spend the type of money for a showcar finish plus I always wanted to learn how to paint. I read a lot and had some help from a buddy of mine who used to be in the business. However, I did do the entire job by myself and have been showing the car for many years with this paint job. I'd be happy to offer any advice I can give, plus I believe there are a couple of pros on this site too that will chime in. It wouldn't be uncommon to spend $5000 on a quality paint job, so learning how to do it if you are so inclined would be cheaper. Some people are cut out for bodywork and paint and others won't touch it, it just depends on what you want to do.
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Postby spyder_xlch » Mon Sep 10, 2007 6:28 pm

I think Roger meant the color underneath should be the same color. I'm kind of at a loss for the right words. Basiclly you wouldn't want light grey primer in some spots and black primer in others or it will show dark in some spots and light in others through the metallic. Also, as far as primer goes, it's all sandable as far as I know. The "sandable" primer you see is for filling in sanding marks and stuff like that. Atleast that's what I think. I'm no body man but I can do my own work. I think Clyde is right about the epoxy primer. Sealer primer might work the same way too.
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Postby SunbirdMan » Tue Sep 11, 2007 3:39 pm

Thanks for the input guys, I'm kinda busy with some family stuff right now and will have to get back to this later.
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Postby cjbiagi » Tue Sep 11, 2007 9:14 pm

Oh, ok I wasn't really sure what was meant by that. If you are repainting a car I would recommend having the base all one color. It will prevent coverage problems. Unless you are respraying the same color or doing some blending it does help to give the car a nice shot of primer to even everything out. Otherwise some area may need more coats than others to get the proper coverage.
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Postby HI WINDING MONZA » Sat Dec 01, 2007 8:56 pm

He might mean he wants the primer tinted the same color as the paint he will be using.............I've seen everything from purple to green. Doug in AZ 8)
My Old Monza now lives in Arizona with its newest owner.

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Postby markl » Sun Dec 02, 2007 3:52 pm

My first paint job I only primered the spots I worked on. Even though I repainted almost the same color the were a few spots you could barely make out the primer areas underneath. Primering the whole car will give a solid base and make for easier coverage and be able to see your spray pattern better as you lay down the first few passes. There are alot of good books and videos out there. Check out your local library or go here: http://smartflix.com/store/category/25/Bodywork . You can rent videos here for almost anything. I've rented a few from them, awesome place.
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Postby cjbiagi » Sun Dec 02, 2007 6:52 pm

It's almost always better to give whatever you are painting a complete coat of primer rather than just spotting it. It just makes coverage easier and you are sure you won't see any color shift between the primer areas and non primer areas.
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