I'm not sure if this belongs in here or the project forum, but since I'm mainly looking for advice I posted here. I've got a 1970 C10 that I'm doing my first full resto on, I've never done much body/paint work before but I've been reading here and some books trying to get a feel for what I'm doing. Where I'm at right now is stripping the paint on the bed and doing repair work. I'm really wanting to get the bed in primer next weekend so I'd love advice on the steps I'm taking.

As it stands I have media blasted the top and bottom of the bed floor with medium grit black diamond. The sides of the truck were knocked down with a DA and 80 grit. The picture shows the bed partially stripped but I finished stripping the paint as of last night.



I've got to replace the rear part of the quarter since someone has used a pick hammer to try and bring it out, I don't really see getting it straight without using a lot of bondo. I've already started doing a bunch of other small patches though and I have confidence that I can get the bed side in without warping the metal too much. I'm using a MIG welder and 18 gauge steel to form my patches.






My questions are as follows:

1) In my other thread I read where I could use filler directly over the bare metal OR over an epoxy primer. I'm going to be using Evercoat RAGE Gold filler. Since the rest of the bed is in bare metal I'll be spraying Autobahn AP-8414 self etching primer and then U-Tech 2k primer (both which were recommended to me by the local supply house). Is it OK if I put the filler over the patch panels where I know I need it, spray the etch and the primer and then add more filler if needed?

2) I've read on here where blasted surfaces should be gone over with 80 or 120 grit to get the remaining sand out. Is this all I need to do before putting the primer down?

3) I've used lead in a few spots, is there anything special that I need to do in these areas before spraying?

I guarantee I'm going to have more questions as this progresses, and if this thread needs to be moved please do so. Thanks for any help that you can give!

1. no, you can't put filler over 2K primer. You can do some 'touch up' with polyester glaze but normal body filler is a no-go over primer.

2. blasted surfaces need to be sanded to put some tooth into the metal, if needed.

3. there are so many better choices than lead these days - did you actually melt in true body lead? I hope you were using supplied air and goggles/gloves - that stuff it is dangerous. You can primer over it with your etch primer.

If it were mine, I would clean the surface with W&G remover and then shoot two coats of a quality epoxy primer. This will provide an excellent protective barrier for your metal and a sound foundation for your 2k primer. PLUS you can apply filler over the epoxy primer.
Also, most bed liners and undercoats can be applied over epoxy primer as well.

Just some food for thought.

Ok, so no putting filler over 2k primer. Got it..I'll see about picking up some epoxy primer since I'll be putting bed liner on the top and bottom of the bed anyhow. Should I still try and do some filler before putting any primer down?

Nothing wrong with putting filler on bare metal as long as you are not covering any rust with it. The beauty of epoxy is that it can go under and over filler with no issues.

Perfect, I'll stop by my local supplier in the morning and see what I can do about getting an epoxy primer. Do I still need to spray the etch primer down first?

No rust left, I cut it all out (about 2-3" around each rust hole) and replaced it with new metal.

Won't need the etch primer at all.

I stopped by my local supplier and talked to them for a while, they suggested that I not buy an epoxy primer and that I go ahead and put the filler down, etch, prime. I was told that the etch primer I got has some filler qualities, and that I could spray the bedliner over top of it? Should I buy an epoxy anyway?

They also made mention of a product called Z-Chrome. I read a few threads on here about the stuff but didn't come away with much about it. From what I gather it would take the place of an etch primer and the epoxy primer as well?

there are so many products for the newbie its crazy. i can't say that my local paint store has steered me correctly at every step of the way either.

i am learning the hard way though that when it comes to sanding i am always going to burn through somewhere during the shaping stages of sanding and this includes metal.

with epoxy this delays things due to drying time and how it reacts with sandpaper and its very annoying. many times i have tried to spot spray epoxy and then continue on. from everything i have read epoxy is good stuff to treat bare metal and serve as a base and they say you can put filler over it.

another thing with 2k high build primers is you can get some cheap stuff and they have higher price more versatile product. my local paint store sold me some that was more expensive than a catalog type and after the fact i found out it can't go over metal, where the first primer i was using could go over small burn throughs like the size of a quarter.

also i was reading about another product you can get online and i forget the name now, but it had properties in it so you could go direct to metal and even had a rust converter built in? i know allot of product goes on the floor when sanding but i am learning its so annoying to mix and waste material and i hate dealing with different materials like an epoxy for bare metal burn throughs, then deal with dry times, overspray, etc.