I have done a ton of reading over the last coupme of months i decided i would jump into trying my fist paint job. I real quickly found out my 30 gal compressor would not run a DA. I now have a 60 gal that works nicely.

I am working on an 87 buick grand national. I know starting with black paint. I like a challenge.

I am planning on using shop line JP376 epoxy primer and Shopline JP202 2k high build primee surfacer.

My question is how much wave will high build take up before you need a body filler? Sanding with the DA i have found that the fenders are wavey along with other areas.

If i need body filler what is a good brand to go with?

The pic kinda shows what i am talking about.

I want to do it right the first time so if i need to do a skim coat of filler before epoxy i will just so its straight.

Brandon

High build primer goes on at around 2 mils film thickness. So that will accommodate approximately 2/1000", or 1/500" of panel inconsistency, per coat.

So if you have a defect of say 1/64" in the panel you'd need 8 coats of build primer -- which you'd never do. The point is that for other than final blocking of already near-perfect panels...you use something other than build primer.

Vehicle mfgs use the very best bodies that come off the line to paint black. That one looks too rough to start with. Maybe your sanding technique is off a bit, allowing the sander to dig in and create divots and highs in the panels?

You might try using longer strokes or a softer touch with the sander, and see if that gives a flatter surface...

The upper part of the panel in the picture is bare metal and i can feel the panel not staright. I assume this is is from the roof being attached to the quarter there.

The lower quarter i cant feel the imperfections i can just see where it is removing it in some spots faster than others.

My sanding has been fast strokes up and down the panel to try and not heat it up to much.

What is a good brand of body filler to use to do a skim coat on? I dont mind the work if thats the right step.

As far as i can tell this is orginal paint and i could not or didnt notice the imperfection before i started.

I did notice on the A piller there is a low spot that runs all the way down the center of it from top to bottom.



Brandon

My opinion is take it to metal or epoxy it now and put filler over the epoxy...you will never get it straight with a DA..the small imperfections are only going to be found by blocking. Any of the evercoat brands of filler are good....the more you pay the easier it sands and reduces pinholes. Don't depend on high build to do the job of filler. Good luck!

My plan is to go all the way to metal. The factory paint on these cars is junk. I was blowing off dust on the quarter and it cought a piece of old clear and it peeled right up.

I just want to make sure i do the steps correctly.

If i can make a great 5' car i will be excited. Not looking for show car but a good driver quality paint job.

This car is my learing car as i have a 69 firebird convertible that needs a full restoration on.

Good luck, and Kudos to you for taking this on! Would like to see your progress...maybe consider posting progress in the projects section. I'll sunscribe.

asking what brand of filler is good is like asking what brand of paint of good.
personally I use evercoat products.
something on that- most of them say can be sanded in like an hour. I give filler overnight before sanding. didn't do that on 1st job and paid for it a while after paint was on. the quarters waved at me.
you mentioned DA sanding- what are you using for that?

its a Gbody. it deserves to look as good as possible.

I am also newbie but think I can share what I have learned the hard way. Get it right before moving to the next step because if it is not right it will show. It is more difficult to undo again and again than to do it right the first time.
For example I should have put more time in with guide coat and blocking before hoping base would cover. Base covers little to nothing and only brings it out! Scratches from 400grit clearly showed thru in a few places. If I could only go back in time......

tomsteve wrote:asking what brand of filler is good is like asking what brand of paint of good.
personally I use evercoat products.
something on that- most of them say can be sanded in like an hour. I give filler overnight before sanding. didn't do that on 1st job and paid for it a while after paint was on. the quarters waved at me.
you mentioned DA sanding- what are you using for that?

its a Gbody. it deserves to look as good as possible.

I was asking about brands because it was bondo brand from the box store or go to a paint supply house for a better product.

I am using a DA to remove the old paint down to bare metal. The old clear is coming off with just a blow gun. I want to do it correctly from the get go so i dont have to fix it later.