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Help with steps between body work and Paint

1K views 9 replies 6 participants last post by  colormecrazy 
#1 ·
Hello All, I am finally getting close to paint on my 54 Chevy. I have the bodywork just about done and need some advise on what steps to take next.

The car is currently primed in lacquer primer (i know i'm stuck in the past) and I have been doing alot of reading on what I should seal with before paint.
I would like to block most of the lacquer off and shoot some 2k primer and probably block again. What grit would be good to block with before the 2k? I was thinking maybe something a little finer than 80, perhaps 120. Also, I see that using sealer doesn't seem neccesary with some of these new primers, do most of you stick with one product for priming and sealing?

The car will be SS Black Dupont Centari (again stuck in the 80s, i know). I like the 2k high build primer I saw on the SPI website, my local jobber carries Dupont, is there a comparable product made by them that any of you have used and would recommend?

Thanks for all the help in advance, I haven't done any type of body work since the early 90s and am a little(or alot) out of touch. Cesar
 
#2 ·
Dupont URO is easy to work with. I used it to level some pitted sheet metal and it covered quick and sanded easy.

In a Dupont training manual from a while ago they talk of thinning the URO down to be used as a sealer coat. It is mentioned that it is a better sealer than some of the sealers.

I found the URO works better if you add in more thinner than recommended. I found the old ratios and found it much easier to work with.

The URO sands well dry with 360 dry paper for final sanding (final grit depends on top coat).
 
#3 ·
If you get alot of that laquer primer off your heading in the right direction :thumbup:

Any primer with hardner will be 1000x's better than laquer. Block and sand as you would with the old stuff. It just won't shrink back and fail like the Laquer.

Depends on what grit your body work is done in now. 80/180?
Just remember that you'll see every flaw in black!

You'd be fine with 600-800G on your final prep before going directly to your (basecoat) or single stage. Base clear would be my suggestion but to each thier own. You can clear right over some single stages and have a good durable finish that looks miles deep. Check with the paint manufacture to see how they recomend doing that. I've done it several time before with great results.
Good luck,
Scott~
 
#4 ·
About adding a clear coat, that was going to be another question down the line. I will stick with the single stage for now but would like to give it some coats of clear depending on which way I decide to go in the future. I would like to get it pinstriped or add some flake or pearl to the roof before I clear it.
Thanks again for all the help, i'll be calling my dupont jobber in a bit to price out the URO. Cesar
 
#5 ·
The best "gloss" factor is when you put clear right on top of the single stage.
Single stage is just colored clear. When you put Clear right on top of a already shiny single stage it realy gives more depth and gloss.


You can let the single stage dry and block it down with 600 and then re-clear. It will give a great finish too.

Your good to go either way. I've done both.

~Scott

Just make sure the product you use will be able to be topcoated with clear after flash time.. (just like another coat of color) Most are ok with that.
I always like to read the tech sheets or ask a user of that product.
 
#6 ·
If you are going to use centari, may I suggest the ultra performance pak. I haven't used the ultra system, but believe that is what replaced the old centari with 2000 performance pak. I used that back in tech school on my moms car in early 90's and must say out of the booth it did look pretty good. Didn't get to see it too long though cause mom fell asleep driving home and put it in the ditch and was in the hospital for a little while (hurt pretty bad) not real long after it was painted, She has a pic of that car somewhere with fresh paint sitting in the salvage yard, but every panel is trashed, but shiney, lol.
School did have a very nice clean booth to paint in, so it didn't need to be touched with a buffer. Good thing, since it was a metallic blue and being a single stage, buffing would have been a no no anyways. Here is a link to the tech sheet and if clearing centari, there is that info also.

http://www.performancecoatings.dupont.com/dpc/en/us/html/prodinfo/oemfleet/CentariUltraPerf.pdf
 
#7 ·
Called the local shop and they told me that the URO hasn't been available in Ca for some time. That is just my luck. The more I look into this the less sure I am of what to do. :confused:

Now if I block the lacquer primer I currently have on to remove it and burn through some spots, can I just go over it with a 2K before going to paint?

The 2K from SPI is sounding like the way to go as far as price and quality. Let me know. Cesar
 
#9 ·
If you were planning on buying a 2k primer and reblocking and then priming again anyways, I see no reason to keep that lacquer primer on there. An epoxy primer would have far better adhesion to your metal and even a urethane would be better over the metal. For normal jobs, 1 blocking with 180 and repriming should be enough if the body work was done pretty well. It up to you, but I really don't see why you would want to keep that lacquer on there if you were planning on buying that much 2k anyways. Lacquer sands very easy and shouldn't be too difficult to remove, IMO. You should have an idea where your bodyfiller areas are, and just keep the da flat and moving or block those areas, non bodywork areas not really as much concern.
 
#10 ·
I'm going to have to second that motion.

IMO Block it now(lacquer primer) with 80 or 100 grit until you get as much lacquer primer off as possible. Then (what ever brand you decide to use) put on 2 coats of epoxy primer (seals it). Let that flash for a day (flash meaning let the solvents out). Most brand epoxies, don't need to be sanded before they are spayed over, with-in a week (or in some cases longer check the product specs).Then put 4 coats of 2K (urethane) primer. Block it with 120. Every time you sand it go back and spot "seal" it with epoxy on any sanded through spots. Put 3 more coats of 2K primer on it. Wait a good week. Then block it with 180. 2 coats of 2K. Wait another week. Block with 400. Soft pad Sand it with 600. And put on your paint. This should solve most of your possible shrinking problems. And should come out straight for your black. Sounds like over kill, but, Everytime you block and prime (properly) it will get straighter.

As for your paint choice, I say check out some of the newer (than Centari) products on the market. They are almost all easier to use and better finished products. As stated by others, I too would go with base/clear. The advantages are all over this forum. I'm sure that if you have used Centari in the past, with success, you'll rock with most any base/clear.

That'll be $.02 :)

Good Luck! :thumbup:
 
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