Technical Leaving car in epoxy primer

Hey I was wondering how long I could leave my car in epoxy primer for. Its all stripped so I want to keep it from rusting when I finish building it. Also once the epoxy is cured is it waterproof?
Thanks

 

You can leave it in epoxy primer for a long time. There are two drawbacks. 1- After the primer has cured you must scuff it fairly well with ScotchBrite pads prior to getting serious about paint. 2- It will become way to easy to never paint a car that is in epoxy primer. No hurry............I'll get it next summer, etc.

You mentioned that the parts are stripped? You have a short window for primer after sand blasting or chemical stripping so you better get going with that portion or you will be starting over.

 

I painted the car in my avatar with ppg epoxy primer in the 80's it look's about the same now as it did when I painted it. when I get the urge to feel uppity I wipe it down with WD40 it shines like a new penny

 

10 years and counting


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

Have you ever had any issue with it turning chalky?

 

the black will chalk up, wipe it down with linseed oil a couple times a year
I recently started using PPGs industrial epoxy
lays down smooth
the tech rep said its the old DP 90 we loved back in the day

and much cheaper than the newer PPG epoxy

 

Not trying to hijack this thread, but I bought a gallon of the CRE 221 recently and I really liked it. It seems to me it has a little more filling properties than the DP. And it sands easier, too. (Not to mention it's about half the price of DP) Anyway, I was wondering if you reduced yours any and if so, what with? I used regular 885 reducer and it shot well but when it dried it still had a little gloss to it.

 

My wagon it DP(60?) on the blue bottom, and at 5-6 years still looks good. It is parked it inside so not a lot of exposure to sunlight. Even outside it will protect for a long time.
Larry makes 2 good points

 

Mine is in epoxy primer. Just waiting for my next check to come in to finish painting it. In the mean tine she stays in the garage.Bruce.

 

I put epoxy DP - Black on a 1940 Coupe 12 years ago - setting in a garage with a cover on it. Did the metal work - sand blast and epoxy primer. No plastic or build primer. Looks great - but not exposed to sun or rain.

 

If I need to thin epoxy I use lacquer thinner. Flashes off much quicker. Don't add more than 10% by volume.

 

The Zipper in my avatar was painted with DP-90 in 1999 and still looks good

 

I think the only problem is the epoxy primer doesn't have any UV protection. I know from experience with different DP primers they'll last forever indoors but will break down in a year or two sitting in the sun. As soon as it breaks down the metal will start to rust. I had a 59 Chevy stripped to bare and primed with DP40. When I finally broke it out of paint jail it had been sitting in the body shop's yard for a year, had to strip off the DP and clean off the surface rust that was under it.
I primed my daughter's Camaro with DP90, it never saw a garage. As soon as it would start chalking I'd scuff it and shoot another coat. She sold it 20 years later, still looked good.

 

Great stuff.....a direct to metal, tintable, sandable, epoxy primer...this stuff is great!

 

I sprayed DP on my son's early Chevelle in the mid '90's, I don't remember the #. The car was stripped to bare metal, prepped and sprayed, and stored inside a garage until this spring. It looked great on the surface, but when we scuffed it off, we found little spider tracks of rust forming in some areas. To be safe, it all came off to see if it was all over. It may have been humid the day it was done in the '90's, so I can't blame the epoxy.

 

Left my car in DP-90 for 2 years about 12 years ago. Started chalking within a couple months. Painted a truck with DP-90 30 years or so ago, it looks okay...
Neither was ever garaged. Apparently, the took out something (Lead???) in the newer DP-90 for environmental reasons.
Chalking came right off the car with steel wool so I could shoot some old-school lacquer over it. Cosmetic, mostly.

 

There is that little LF after the DP these days. It took a few other brands to figure out a lead free formula but I think most have it figured out. That lead really let it stick to metal.

 

SPI black epoxy has UV protection.

 

Read your CRE tech sheet,
Acetone is on there and what I use in CRE, there are other thinning agents listed as well. The sheet will also tell you the ratios for thinners. It has a bit of gloss to it.


I love the stuff!
I've also seen a recent project done on a CRE base take a hit. Dented the tank pretty good but the paint stuck amazinging well.

 

I used NAPA's cheap brand epoxy primer on my old delivery..I believe the brand was Montana. I sold it 3 years after priming it and it still looked great...many hours and many miles in the sun and rain.

 

Primed in 1990s. PPG. DP 90. Photo last year. Holding up well

 

What Metalman said.

My avitar shows my car on about 8 years in PPG epoxy primer. Every panel that could be removed was dip stripped. Some of those pieces were in my attached garage in bare metal for maybe three years. I used Eastwoods metal wash on everything immediately when I got it back from the dip stripper. While disassembling the car I noticed there were areas of the car that were never painted, such as the convertible well. If your car (and parts) are bare metal and in a covered garage it can survive in pretty good shape. And my car lived in hot, humid, cold and wet Midwest all of its life. Always garaged.
Once the paint part was started I SANDED all of the epoxy primer. I was taught old school and a paint job needs a 360 wet sanding for the paint to adhere well. The PPG paint I used had the same recommendation, not scuffed with a scotch bright pad.

 

Just know that looks can be deceiving and not a true 'tell' of what's going on from the surface to the metal. As mentioned above UV protection is the main Achilles Heel. If that look is the final finish you want then let it eat. If it's for preservation until a full finish goes on just keep it light (thin coating) and protected. Too much time and it's not something I'd trust to a hudred hours or more of custom finish work. By keeping it thin you can get to bare metal easier if anything looks suspicious.

 

According to the paint tech at SPI,

Was told by SPI that I should get several years from the epoxy primer even with exposure. I have been shooting it and it does have some sheen. Does not have that porous "flat" look.

 

I really hate to admit it, but I'm in my 5th year with epoxy primer...ughh! Not that it's bad, it just wasn't my intention. The plan was to get the car built and work the bugs out while in DP90, then take the car apart and finish body and paint. I have all the patch panels and a new trunk lid waiting. It still looks remarkably well. I only use Meguiar's Gold Class Shampoo auto wash. It has really preserved it well. There is only minor chalking. Whenever I tell people it's going in for shiny black paint they all say the same thing, "DON'T!" I want shiny black paint, black spoke wheels, and blackwall Firestones.

My advise is don't spill anything on DP90. That means don't let a bead of sweat drip on it, it will stain. Be careful pumping gas, it will stain it. Even soap can leave little marks in it (hot day) so either wash it inside your garage or just wipe it down with a damp rag. Don't spray it down on a hot sunny day, the water spots are a huge pain in the ass to get out.
Don't wax it! As long as you're careful with it, it will look good for a long time.

 

Yeah, I downloaded the tech sheet off their website and looked it over right before I was gonna shoot it. Didn't have any acetone on hand, so I just took a chance and used some DT reducer. The DT reducers weren't mentioned on there I would guess because it's from their automotive line and not industrial. I was just curious if using the dt885 was what contributed to it having a little more gloss than what I expected. Good to hear that a bit of gloss is normal. Thanks.

 

My 1969 superbee has been in epoxy primer since 2005,still looks great it does live in garage and gets water spots if you don't wipe down quick enough

 

Im using the EPX epoxy from their industrial line
never needed to reduce it
a 2 gallon kit runs abut $130

 

This one stayed in epoxy prime all winter long with no problems.Bruce.

 

I've heard some contradiction, but another negative of waiting more than a month or so is having to sand it and spray a new coat of epoxy over it before moving to build primer/sealer/base. So you lose the time and cost of sanding and re-epoxying.