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How important is the primer I use?

9K views 49 replies 12 participants last post by  deadbodyman 
#1 ·
Hey guys (and gals) I am new to this forum and I am very excited I found it! I have started a Father/Son RestoMod on a '65 Mustang Coupe with my 12 yo son!


My question is I am stripping off all the old paint to the metal

What's the best way to strip the old paint off?
Does it matter what primer I use to cover it once it's bare?
 
#39 ·
Back to the original question, How important is the primer I use?

The primer is the foundation of the paint job, so to answer the question it is very important. As I said before follow Barry's perfect paint job and you won't go wrong.

Now back to the thread hijack ego stroking pissing moaning contest.
 
#40 ·
I believe we established that epoxy was best and that SPI might just be one of the best brands earlier in this thread but as good as epoxy primer is,its only as good as the metal prep The perfect paint job always STARTS with the metal prep....After all ,the best foundation is useless to build a house on if the ground isnt preped right...Thats why we always want to strip the old paint off when we really want something to look great,we dont know whats under that old paint or how well it was done.
 
#44 ·
do good metal work with planishing hammers, shrinking disks, plastic mallets. All that stuff takes time, experience, and to know how metal works(easy part. You can also use lead or synthetic lead to use as filler. Either that or you have a bondomobile, a primermobile, or a wavymobile. I'd love to do all my work with shrinking disks and true restoration tools but nowadays no one has the money to pay for those kind of jobs. My advice is, if you have the time and money and the car is gonna be worth while why not? If you don't get the perfect results you're looking for than it's that much less filler to apply, but you should be aiming for a straight finish to where you only need a primer to level it.

Anywho, we use 3m Platinum filler, various urethane/polyurethane primers, and sometimes we use z grip to fill over huge manholes.
 
#45 ·
even if the car is packed bumper to bumper with bondo ,the trick is for it NOT to look like it is...it takes experiance,lots of it....
I pefer Z-grip along with EZ sand finishing putty.One coat of z-grip fills just about anything I need sometimes two if I dont have time to do proper metal finishing...after I sand with 36 I quickly breeze over it with 80 then start with the ez sand putty and 80 grit all the way to 320 and a thin coat of primer ,it works great for me and quick,i like that part
 
#48 · (Edited)
Theres a few common mistakes I still see all the time. first is with the masking before the primer I see a lot of guys masking too close to the bodywork and priming right up to the paper creating a hard primer line,the problem is when that line is sanded out it'll still show through as a ghost line.The proper way would be to mask of well beyond where the primer is, 3-5inches or more.
Second and even more common mistake is only sanding to 180 and priming. Sanding to 180 on the filler work is ok and wont be any trouble but the surrounding painted area needs to be takin down to 320 so theres a smooth transistion from 180 to 320 for the primer to stick to,going from 180 to shiny paint just dont cut it. and please never prime unsanded paint,I see this all the time,someone will prime 4-5 " past the sanded part and all it does is waste valuable time sanding it all back off,hours in some cases ...A good rule to go by is when you mask for primer the tape should never be stuck to shiny paint ,only stick the tape on something thats been 320 sanded (320 dry or 400 wet)
So you see, your primer IS important but knowing WHAT kind primer to use and where and proper preping is MOST important. Just using the absolute best primer on the planet wont get you a better job...PREP is everything in this biz....
 
#50 ·
LOL,You probably wouldnt say that if you worked for me...
I always let the guys make the mistakes first THEN I show them how to avoid them and make life easier...That way they understand completly the value of what I'm showing them. Something I hear all the time is: WHY didnt you show me this BEFORE I wasted all that time..
 
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