[Festive57]

After I had my frame sandblasted I sealed my frame in epoxy. I am ready to get back to the frame but it's been a while, should I strip the hardened/cured epoxy back down to bare metal with a heavy grit or do I leave it on? I'm assuming that I at least have to break the surface... do I just scuff it with some red scotchbrite or a heavy grit like 36 or 80?

Thanks,
Bill

[MARTINSR]

Don't even think of removing it, that is exactly why you epoxied it, so you could move on from there. Scuff it up with a red scuff pad and lay another coat of epoxy on it and then paint. This is why one wants to get the frame ready to paint with all mods done. Then have it sand blasted, epoxy it and paint it all in one day. No sanding is needed of the epoxy IF you apply the top coat within it's recoat window. But not that it has gone beyond that recoat window you need to scuff the surface. You could probably just scuff it and shoot color, but I believe in shooting another coat of epoxy (which many tech sheets say) just be be sure you have a uniform surface for the top coat. The epoxy will stick to a poorly scuffed little nook or cranny better than the top coat.

Brian

[Festive57]

Hey Brian,

Thanks for replying. That is the confirmation I was looking for. Since I generally don't get large amounts of time to just devote to my car (my honey do schedule interferes) I find myself doing little things here and there. I am at a point where I'm back to the frame. I thought that I would be able to just scuff it but wasn't sure. I will be doing a little bit of filler work on it to get it nice and smooth so based on your answer I'm planning on scuffing the frame back up, doing some filler work then re-epoxying the frame. I was going to buy some white sealer to seal the frame afterwords (I'm using a bright red finish) do I have it in the right order or should I scuff, filler, smooth and just use the sealer then topcoat? Just one other question..... do I need to make sure to get every nook and cranny scuffed? like inside the front saddle section and between the body mount braces etc.? I'm asking because if it's not scuffed will it be a bad base that would maybe cause de-lamination over time or something like that?

Thanks,
Bill

[39Hemi]

Bill,
No one is going to tell you not to scuff completely, epoxy has good adhesion but your best insurance is to do a careful scuffing of the entire frame, even the hard to reach spots. If you are going to do any filler work then I would start with those areas and roughen up the old epoxy with 80# or 100# sandpaper nad complete the bodywork and spot epoxy those areas first. Then I would scuff the entire frame just prior to painting, shoot a fresh coat of epoxy and then color. When using epoxy as sealer you may want to thin it slightly, check the tech sheet for recommendations, so it will flow out a little smoother.

[Festive57]

OK, that is the reason I was asking, I was going to try to get as much of the nooks and crannies as possible within reason. I guess I was fret'n it to much. Since I will be filling on top I will give a scuffing with 80 or 100 on those areas and in the indiscreet locations I'll scuff with the scotch brite. I was going to pick up some white sealer to help the topcoat get brighter (red) the epoxy I have is gray. Do you think I should even worry about the white or just thin the gray epoxy I have? Thanks for the replies and the advice.

Thanks,
Bill

[baddbob]

The grey epoxy should work just fine under your red. Remember with any color you'll never get the true color untill full coverage is reached regardless of if sprayed over whatever color primer sealer. I usually fo a color test over black and white just to see how many coats are required to reach full coverage. Use the red/maroon scotchbrites for primer work and use grey for paint prep.

Sanding and scuffing these frames is a PITA with all the nooks and crannies and they do have a whole lot of surface area to deal with.

My proceedure for restoring a frame starts with sandblasting, two coats of black SPI epoxy primer followed by an overnight cure, Evercoat G2 black polyester primer where needed to fill any pits and minor imperfections, filler as needed for smoothing any welds, finish the sanding with 180 grit, apply 2-3 more coats of epoxy primer, sand as needed, then paint. This provides me with excellent durability and if done within the recoat window the least amount of sanding.

[Festive57]

Thanks for all of the info.... I started scuffing last weekend, I hope to finish this weekend (I don't get any time to tinker during the week days). I scuffed for about 4-5hrs and still have a lot of frame left. I'll hit it with a couple of wet coats of epoxy to give a good foundation for starting the smoothing. Thanks for all of everyone's help.

Thanks,
Bill