I have a project I am working on that will take several months, maybe a year or more to complete. As I go through the car, I will be repairing sheetmetal, replacing panels, making patch panels, doing rust repairs, grafting parts from several cars together, etc. Once I am completed with all the body work I intend to have the entire body sandblasted as one piece. What would be some suggestions on the best type paint, primer, sealer, whatever, to use to protect the sections as I complete them, keeping in mind that whatever I use will be sandblasted back to bare metal. The second part of the question is what to use AFTER the sandblasting is done? I suspect the finishing stages before final paint will need some filler here or there, so I will need to keep that in mind. I'm just an average guy that is learning a lot of metal finishing and shaping skills along the journey so the body isn't going to be perfect. Thanks for any insight and suggestions. I know there will be lots of different suggestions and opinions on this one.
if it is going to be sand blasted off any way, use what ever cheap, discounted, dollar store, walmart, tag sale, spray bomb paint to protect it. if any of it is going to stay, i would suggest epoxy primer. i would also use epoxy primer on it after blasting.
Well.... Sealer is basically a primer that's cut down a bit more.... Primer is somewhat porous and sealer is way less. for the parts of the body not getting any treatment i would definitely prime and seal, rest leave it as just primer... If you are going to lay a nice paint job on this.... by all means do not use rustoleum products.....
Whenever I read a post like this my first thought is to go to the local paint distributor and get their suggestions rather than rely on suggestions from the general population. My local distributor has always been great to deal with whether I'm spending a lot or a little when I walk in. You'll get some good information when you ask paint questions on-line but most often I see a lot of misinformation spread around as well.
".... by all means do not use rustoleum products....." I had my "A" project blasted and epoxy primed before starting the patch panel work. As I finish a small section ,rather than rig up the spray gun ,I shoot that area with a coat of rattle can primer (Usually Rustoleum) .... So ,according to the warning about Rustoleum products , what am I setting myself up for..?? Should I plan on having those areas re-blasted and epoxy primed again after all the metal repair is done...??? Stan
we sandblast, DA sand with 80, clean then epoxy this leaves you an excellent foundation for body work the last one we cut out the rusty panels and blasted it we were able to epoxy the inner structure this way as we fit new panels, we primed the backsides of them before welding after the metal work we lightly blasted the outside of car, sanded and epoxied if this is not feasible, you could apply rust converter products to the inner structure of the car as you build it. be careful with paint store advice, most sell products and never use them.
Don't know if it's still true but years ago I was told that Rustoleum contained fish oil which took forever to dry out and was incompatible with other products.
He says in original post it’s just temporary until he finishes the whole body then it will be blasted again , 15-20 years ago we used to use laquer primer surfacer after blasting to keep rust away whileworking on something , you could weld through it and wash it off with thinner if you wanted it off , putting epoxy on is a bitch if you need to work on it after Etching primer you can still weld through also I would probably be inclined to blast it , hit it with metal prep and Gibbs or try the laquer route then blast it when done and epoxy
tell us about your working conditions. Are you doing this outside, in the open? Under a roof? In a building? In an insulated building? it makes a difference....
Yup also is it humid where you are dry? It's so dry here and I do my work in a insulated garage so I clean to bare metal do my metal work then just DA the whole thing before primer as I get little to no surface rust no matter how long it sits. If I was somewhere humid that wouldn't work.
I'm currently going through final body stage on my F-100. It too has been a many Year project. I just won't do sandblasting on body panels any more, haven't for many years. Red scotch bright 8" pads on a slow speed motor for the big panels and time. I don't do Paint so learning to work with a painter is important. The new way seems to be a quality d.t.m. product. This stuff is designed for bare metal. It's Direct to metal with self etching bonding. Then a light coat of Epoxy prime and next the filler if needed is put on that. This stuff seems to have a bond time frame and if left to set days needs to be scuffed to open pours so new top coats bond. I also learned in the past not to mix up brands of product. Not every ones stuff likes each other. The learning curve can be dang expensive I've learned and the paint Suppliers and Reps are in fact here to help if you just ask. It's best to get coached before you have an issue rather have them try to help Fix a issue. Water traps are a must right down to on the hose connector at the Gun. And that's what I have learned over many years of failed paint jobs. Don't mix-n-Match or Cheep out. I've learned these lessons by having Blind Faith in supposed Pro Painters. I could have done the same mistakes on my own. I'm hoping for better results on my Truck. The Wizzard
This is largely a way for the paint companies to deny warranty. "You didn't use all our stuff so we can't guarantee it was our product that failed." If your painting at home they aren't going to warranty anything anyways 99.9% of the time. I am in shops everyday and guys mix and match product brands constantly with zero issues. There are product type incompatibilities, like putting polyesters over epoxy too soon, but the vast majority of those can be avoided by actually reading the TDS that comes with the products and following the instructions and adhering to the recommended time windows for application.
I know every time I have had something sandblasted the scope of the work I thought it needed always increases. There are always some surprises. I suggest blasting before panel replacement work. Then SPI epoxy primer immediately after blasting. Then bodywork. Then another coat of SPI.
Rustoleum is for frames and floors. Been screwed a couple of times by recoating over Rustoleum products. Never again.
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