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Never painted before, need some guidance on epoxy sealer on bare metal

1496 Views 13 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  Trainwreck, 
T
After a year of metal replacement on my project (1950 Chevy Fleetline 2 door) I am getting ready to have the body blasted. I'm in the Great Rainy Northwest so I will need to get it sealed right away afterwards.

I've never tried painting anything before, my painting experience is limited to Krylon spray cans so I have zero experience with the guns, paints, thinners, etc.

Anyone willing to walk a newbie through the basics? And maybe some suggestions on guns, materials to use?

Thanks!
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ogre
You need to get your car primed, not sealed. Sealer goes over primer. If you are going to leave it in primer for a while, for bodywork or whatever, it really won't matter how the primer goes on. Mix the primer according to the instructions and spray it on. Now is a good time to work on spray patterns, coverage and runs. For a decent primer gun, look at Harbor Fright's $29 purple gun.
I'm sure others will chime in, I only prime, no paint. Martin Sr probably has written a book about priming, another on bodywork and another on paint in this forum.
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dusterdude3404
But you must use epoxy primer,if you use ppg epoxy you can also thin it a little and use it as a sealer too.

Sent from my SM-G973U1 using Tapatalk
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bill3337
I like the SPI epoxy, so I use that, the price is good and it sands nice as well, but there are lots of other brands available. I use an HVLP gun with a 1.8 tip. at around 22 lbs pressure at the gun. Sand the metal well with 80 grit paper and clean it well before spraying the epoxy. I use the SPI alcohol based wax and grease remover about an hour before spraying. Give it two good coats. Good luck with it.
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T
ogre said:
You need to get your car primed, not sealed. Sealer goes over primer. If you are going to leave it in primer for a while, for bodywork or whatever, it really won't matter how the primer goes on. Mix the primer according to the instructions and spray it on. Now is a good time to work on spray patterns, coverage and runs. For a decent primer gun, look at Harbor Fright's $29 purple gun.
I'm sure others will chime in, I only prime, no paint. Martin Sr probably has written a book about priming, another on bodywork and another on paint in this forum.
Click to expand...
Ogre thanks for the reply; I guess I used the wrong term? I want to use an epoxy primer over the bare metal, not a sealer, right? I'm trying to protect the metal after the blasting is done for now- I will be doing some minor bodywork (no more welding, just some light filler in a few places) as I am able but it is looking like the car will be mostly sitting in the shop for several months and I don't want to have to deal with rust when I get back to it.
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T
bill3337 said:
I like the SPI epoxy, so I use that, the price is good and it sands nice as well, but there are lots of other brands available. I use an HVLP gun with a 1.8 tip. at around 22 lbs pressure at the gun. Sand the metal well with 80 grit paper and clean it well before spraying the epoxy. I use the SPI alcohol based wax and grease remover about an hour before spraying. Give it two good coats. Good luck with it.
Click to expand...
Bill, thanks! I appreciate the specifics. Do I need to sand the metal if I am priming immediately after sand blasting? I can understand the wipe-down with the wax and grease remover (is that what PrepSol is?) My neighbor suggested a mid-priced Harbor Freight HVLP gun but doesn't know any more than I do about setting up or adjusting one. Is there a good online source for the SPI epoxy?
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Ford blue blood
I recommend getting in contact with an automotive paint supplier. He/she can provide all the technical info you need. The metal is going to be "textured" after media blasting so no sanding will be needed. They can give you specifics with respect to guns (or needle size for your gun) to use for each step to give the best results. Youtube is your friend to find out setup and air pressure.

Yes, the epoxy will seal it up good and prevent any new rust.
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bill3337
Trainwreck said:
Bill, thanks! I appreciate the specifics. Do I need to sand the metal if I am priming immediately after sand blasting? I can understand the wipe-down with the wax and grease remover (is that what PrepSol is?) My neighbor suggested a mid-priced Harbor Freight HVLP gun but doesn't know any more than I do about setting up or adjusting one. Is there a good online source for the SPI epoxy?
Click to expand...
You don't need to sand freshly sandblasted metal. Wiping it down with wax and grease remove can be tough, depending on how much texture the sandblasting has left. You could use a clean white scrub brush and try wiping it off with actual "wipers" available through a paint supplier, but the big thing is you need lint free cloths that won't leave fibres stuck to the metal. I think most repurtable brands epoxy are ok, but I'd stay away from the cheap no name brands. If you google Southern Polyurethanes Inc., you can look up a supplier somewhere near you, but I think they ship free in the USA. (I'm in Canada)
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ogre
that's basically what i did on my 58truk, though you have a lot more body than my truk cab :)
blast, prime and (for me) weld in patches, some body modifications and bodywork
old iron will handle sandblasting a lot better than new, but make sure your guy knows what he's doing
bad blasting can ruin a body
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C
I also like Southern Polyurethanes SPI epoxy, I used the purple HF gun for years and then got the Devilbus Starting Line kit. It has a couple of tips and comes with both a normal size HVLP gun and also a smaller jam gun. Love the jam gun for small parts or just touching up. It is about $100 but I think worth it. Get a good gun if you plan on base and clear.
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T
A friend that used to work for me does his own paint. He heard through the grapevine that I was looking for some tutoring and offered to have me over next week when he is painting some parts for his current project- he is going to go over everything with me and get me some practice time on the gun. So it looks like I might be learning some good stuff that will get me going on the car!
Thanks for all the info! I'll post an after-action report when I'm done spraying it.
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T
Well, after months of health issues popping up, people not showing up when scheduled to, and no small amount of loss of motivation, tomorrow is the big day! The car is getting blasted and I will (finally) be spraying it with (PPG) Omni Epoxy primer immediately afterwards. I never did get any tutoring or instruction on how to paint or use the HVLP gun properly but I've been spraying some old paint on a rotted out front fender I have laying around. I hit it with a DA and took it down to bare metal and read the booklet that came with the spray gun then started experimenting. I think I have enough skill to at least get the epoxy on, lol.
Then the '50 gets put aside for a couple of more months while I finish up a coupe of projects on my '41 Chevy sedan.
Updates to follow!
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jcclark
I used the Southern Polyurethane brand epoxy for years but switched to Kirker brand
a few years ago, it's almost half the price, sands easier, and sprays better.
I like it much better.
You can find it online & Ebay.
Just my opinion.
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T
It was a long day but I got it done. The blasting took almost 5 hours but they did a great job, they even did a few extra pieces that weren't in the original quote. After rinsing the car off and wiping it down with cleaner/degreaser I started spraying the epoxy on. Things I learned today-
Lesson number 1- Lint-free rags ARE NOT lint-free. The lightly textured surface after blasting had caught a bunch of little fibers stuck to it that I found while spraying the first coat.... Dammit!
Lesson number 2- Have a dedicated area for the mixing of paint products. I had a heck of a mess on my bench when I was done.
Lesson number 3- I am not as young and limber as I used to be. By the time I had two coats sprayed, everything cleaned up, and got in the house I was a sore, slow moving old guy.

It was a smooth process and I only had a couple of surprises show up once all the old paint was stripped; two Bondo patches about the size of my palm on the passenger door and some rust-through on the front corner of the hood. Easy stuff and much better than I expected.

Thanks for everyone that offered up their knowledge and advice!
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