If those are really 40 grit scratches I wouldn't count any high build primer to make them "completely" go away. I'd cream out that entire area with filler or a poly putty well feathered out. Then I'd go to my high build primer....

Yes, the previous work had filler over top of it also but I did not completely understand why. Darrel....thank you for being so helpful to me on this project. I have never done this before and really have no one to turn to for advice. Your input is greatly appreciated. I also have a rough spot on top of one fender which I guess I better cream out also...looks like the soda blaster got a bit too heavy in that place. The front end had 3 coats of paint compared to thinner layers on the back, why I do not know but the front paint was a lot harder to blast off than the back...John

Yep, I know what that "man in the wilderness" thing is like when you are working with fiberglass and plastics like this. I started building kit cars 43 years ago when I was 17 but had only been exposed to metal beating and lead body fillers back then. Old guys didn't know or care about the new composite tech. and plastic fillers and any guy who was able to work with the stuff was "top secret" about his work and usually buried 6 months deep in work. I used to bury my self in the top stacks of the public library and read every book they had on working with fiberglass and plastics, then go home and try stuff..... So I ended up here 11 years ago and we didn't even have a fiberglass / plastics section. We're still slowly buildings some momentum here but between all the categories you can usually figure out what you need. You're doing good consistent work on your car now, just keep it up.....

Finally, all sanded and ready for the primer shoot which I will do next week. All in all I have about 31 hours in the prep work sanding and fixing things. I am sure I will find more as I work the primer. Pulled it out of the garage to give the car a good blow down ( and the garage also) and as I did I had the wife snap a pic. With no paint, no hood, no lights, no doors, and open headers I thought this was as close to Mad Max as one can get. I have some after sanding cleaner I will go over it with and tape up what needs be.

Cool.... looking good. Really feels good to get ready to prime doesn't it? 31 hours on a Vette is not bad at all to this point. My last kit car build was about 100 hours for assembly, body "straightening," and final paint work. Keep posting pics.... it inspires everybody.

Question Darrel....I know after I prime I am going to find places that I thought would cover and did not. When attempting to fix these can I apply the Rage Ultra on top of the primer then reprime or will I have to sand the first coat of primer off before I fix? I know as this is my first job there are going to be some waves in the fiberglass due to my amateur eye but hopefully not so bad as to be discouraging. Do you have any tricks to finding these before I apply my basecoat after which it will be harder to fix? I purchased a sanding block kit but have not used it much due to the fact that this car has not one inch without a curved panel. I have also bought 2 cans of guide paint to help with this but if I can not use the blocks I don't know how useful this will be. Most of the sanding had to be done with the radiator hose or by hand.

Good question, I prefer to keep my body fillers "low" so yeah, I sand back to add more filler. I think they get better grip. An exception to that would be filler over an epoxy primer which most fillers are rated to go over top of....
Reading body panels.... It is another one of those acquired skills. Guide coating should help a lot. Yes, you do have a curvy body. Not sure who's guide coat you are using but the powdered ones work better. Evercoat makes an aerosol powder spray and of course you have the 3M rub on style powders. The powders highlight subtle differences more than the paints. Advice on sanding. I can pretty much "eyeball" a car like yours once I've guide coated it. I use a few small straight edge aluminum pieces I made and use a peel and stick roll stock paper. Those are my "hard blocks" for establishing what little straights there might be.... from there I have only 1 block that I use most. It is called a dual density rubber block. One side is a black hard rubber and the other side is a softer gray rubber. It takes a quarter sheet of sandpaper. I block my guide coat with the black side in a section then hit it with the gray side. Long strokes with the black side establishing more "profile" and more multi directional strokes with the gray side leveling it up.
Again, you just have to do this stuff to learn it. So let the priming begin.....

So it is said and so it will be done.

PRIME TIME...
Well I got to admit I was a bit nervous having never dome this before but I figured it was a learning experience. What goes on can be sanded off. I drained all the condensation out of my lines and prepared my primer gun, a HVLP gun with a 1.8 tip. I set the air at 29psi which was supposed to give me a steady 10psi at the tip with a full pull. I set up a piece of practice paper to get my spray pattern adjusted.

I attempted to don all the proper safety equipment as to not kill myself. I was able to smoke a camel after so I guess I'm ok. As I begun I attempted to practice that mechanical motion while keeping the gun 6-8 inches away.....not easy if you are not use to it. In the pic below I am a bit further away but like I said it takes practice.