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Questions and Progress Pics


mikeatrpi

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Hi all, I'm pretty new here and usually just lurk in the shadows. I'm finally finishing up the metal work and will be ready to paint my 82 280zx soon. I plan to use PPG Omni, black, with epoxy primer.

 

1) I've been doing body work on panels and spraying aerosol primer as I go. Paint guy at the store says I don't need to sand it all off... is that true? I used rustoleum and cheapo primer from Autozone.

 

2) I have the stock 82 plastic bumpers. Can I sand them before painting? Do I need an adhesion promoter? Do I use any specialized paint?

 

3) I wish to paint my floor with rustoleum... in places where the rubber mat didn't lift easily can I just paint over it? Or should I dry-ice it and remove all the rubber mat? In some places its still in really good shape... I'd rather keep it if I could.

 

4) I have a craftsman cup gun to shoot the primer. Should I use it for the color too, or would it be worth it to buy an HVLP gun from harbor freight?

 

Here is a link to my progress pictures: http://z.modeltrainguide.com.

 

Tomorrow I'm welding up the floor and making patches for the subframe rails. Oh yeah!

 

Thank you in advance.

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I would not leave the aerosol primer on the car. I've never seen it adhere as well as purpose made primers/sealers. I'll bet if you go over it with some sandpaper (use a fairly large grit, like 80 or 120) and sand on it, it will try to separate from the steel instead of sand off cleanly. I simply took some solvent (e.g. lacquer thinner) and wiped the aerosol primer off where I had to use some one time (that alone should tell you something about it's durability and adherence). Ernie (RacerX) will be the subject matter expert here.

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Thank you for the tips. I'm getting ready to go outside and cut out part of the subframe. I made the patches yesterday... today I cut 'n weld. I will go to the paint store and ask about the spray guns, and I will definitely remove the aerosol primer. The floor is nearly finished welding, but I won't paint it all until I'm done welding the subframe.

 

I will post pictures when I get the car painted. I usually update the web site on Sunday nights if anyone wants to follow along :)

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  • 3 weeks later...

Alrighty- so the frame, floor, welding, fiberglass, etc work is done on the car! I took this week off work to paint it.

 

I bought PPG MP170 epoxy primer (with the mp175 catalyst). The data sheet says 1 coat- can I do more? Also it says non-sanding...? I would like to spray 2 coats of epoxy primer, block the car with a guidecoat, and then do one more coat of epoxy primer, and wet sand it smooth. Is this ok?

 

I also bought MAE acrylic enamel, to go on top of my epoxy primer. I'm planning for three coats. It gives various drying times- dust, tack, tape, polish. Do I remove the masking at the "tape" time (4 hrs)? Do I need to polish the car? I have a power buffer but I've never used it before.

 

I know I have a lot of questions, so I'll keep searching and reading. I will post pictures when its done :) Thank you very much!

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Guest Phil1934

When the catalyzed enamels first came out I sprayed my truck over a conventional primer and the paint crazed after a couple months, so now I ask questions and follow directions. Yes you can sand the primer. Current recommendations are to use filler after the prime coat, it sticks so well.

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Thanks Phil and RacerX. I had some issues setting up my "paint booth" today, so I'm slightly behind schedule. I'm going to be doing sanding, sanding and more sanding for the next couple of days- probably won't spray anything until Friday. I will talk to the people at the paint store and see if I should swap the MP170 for MP211 or use it in addition to the epoxy.

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Due to some delays, I didn't get to spray until Saturday. Sure enough, everywhere there were hidden traces of rustoleum the primer lifted. As a result I only have the hood, one door, and shell in primer. Next weekend I'll be able to finish the rest of the parts. It was a little too windy for my spray "booth", because some of the plastic blew into the wet primer and was a B to get off... I did this in the open.

 

IM001496.sized.jpg

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What do you all recomend as the paint to spray on the car as you fix and bondo it? It is an indoors car ( ala jackstand racing). As I float filler and weld panels etc is there something you recomend to spray in order for me to see how good things are turning out? I guess I could just sand off anything I put on or wipe it off with solvent like mentioned. Also, can you spray 2part epoxy primer over zero-rust? That is what it is made for right? So, if I just used that as a base would I be ok later when the real primer went on? Thanks all.

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What do you all recomend as the paint to spray on the car as you fix and bondo it? It is an indoors car ( ala jackstand racing). As I float filler and weld panels etc is there something you recomend to spray in order for me to see how good things are turning out? I guess I could just sand off anything I put on or wipe it off with solvent like mentioned. Also, can you spray 2part epoxy primer over zero-rust? That is what it is made for right? So, if I just used that as a base would I be ok later when the real primer went on? Thanks all.

 

"Just" sand it off or wipe with solvent isn't as easy as it sounds. It took me a long time to remove all that crap (I had as much as 2-3 layers of it). Based on my experiences, I would 1) use a waterproof filler on bare metal, such as where you weld up patches. 2) spray each piece with at least one coat of epoxy primer. Its not that expensive, and also waterproof. 3) Then later when you're into final body work, use rage gold filler instead of bondo brand... I've heard rage gold is a finer compound. Do it on top of the epoxy primer. Then spray more epoxy primer to seal it.

 

X also recommends a high build primer. I haven't decided yet if I'm doing to buy some or not. Depends how it looks wet sanded. One step at a time. Right now, I have between 3 to 5 coats of epoxy on the car.

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