Hello, I just joined the forum and hope to get some advice on body and paint.

Being a hobby mechanic my job and life will usually get in the way, other car or bike projects as well and ten year projects are not uncommon to me. I also work on 3-4 projects at a time and do not have a deadline.

Anyway, we took my XKE to bare metal more than 10 years ago and I think it is time to finish the body and get the car painted. There is almost no surface rust, the garage is very dry 3 stories up and large windows toward west. 40-50 in humidity year round.

The car always lived in SoCal and it did not have rust but when it was talken down to metal it revealed that bonnet center section was dinged and right outer sill and right rear fender had sign of a side impact. These problems have been rectified now.

I had a pro lined up to help me but that did not work out and now I just want to get started and get the car ready for top coat myself. I will paint the bulkhead, underside bonnet, engine frames myself. If this come out nice I may even try do paint the outer body but that is a little scary for now.

My plan is to go over the car with 100 grit, wash with metal prep and prime.

I have used lead on panel welds like they originally did but I will use quality bondo for the rest of the body. I have tried to read up on best practise but still not sure, should I bondo first and prime secondary or prime first then bondo?

If there is no rust, then I would go over it with a DA and 80 grit. Clean with solvent based W&G remover by spraying it on with a squirt bottle and wiping it off, before it dries, with a clean shop towel. (Metal prep has caused me too many problems so I do not advise using it.)

Once the solvent has flashed off, shoot 2 coats of Epoxy Primer mixed 1:1 (Primer and Activator) waiting the proper amount of flash time between coats.

Wait at least 24 hours and then lightly block sand with say 180 grit. The idea is to lightly scuff the surface revealing low and high spots.

If the panels need a lot of attention, you should consider shooting a polyester primer over the epoxy primer. Polyester primer is like spray on body filler, so you need to plan to clean your spray gun before it sets up.

Shoot 2-3 coats of the polyester primer and when it has cured, cover with with a dry guide coat powder and then begin block sanding with 180 grit to remove the guide coat.

If necessary shoot shot some more primer (either polyester or 2k build primer at this point) and continue the guide coat/block sanding until you can remove all the guide coat and not see bare metal.

Coronet '68; Thank you for the information, I'll try 80 grit in my oscillating sander (DA?) and then W&G and see where it gets me.

I have the benefit of practising on the various parts that build up the inner XKE bonnet, that is some 10 panels and the importance on those are that the epoxy sticks, not so much looks.

The guy that took it to bare metal was a little rough and it does have some deeper scratches here and there and I guess I will need a filler on top.

Does the epoxy require a top end gun or will a cheaper one do? I do have a devilbiss I am saving for topcoat and a couple nonames that spray primer well.

be sure you have the knowledge to properly clean the led you used. i can't list all the nice paint jobs i've seen that were ruined by improper lead usage. i would have used a filler of some sort, i like to use fiberglass strand filler then go over it with your regular bondo. the glass filler has very little shrinkage. this is the first task i do so it has time to shrink as im working on the rest of the job.
Jay D.

teveo wrote:Coronet '68; Thank you for the information, I'll try 80 grit in my oscillating sander (DA?) and then W&G and see where it gets me.

I have the benefit of practising on the various parts that build up the inner XKE bonnet, that is some 10 panels and the importance on those are that the epoxy sticks, not so much looks.

The guy that took it to bare metal was a little rough and it does have some deeper scratches here and there and I guess I will need a filler on top.

Does the epoxy require a top end gun or will a cheaper one do? I do have a devilbiss I am saving for topcoat and a couple nonames that spray primer well.

I shoot epoxy primer with the same 1.4 tip I use for base and clear.

When you lightly block sand the epoxy primer you will immediately see your problem areas.

Body filler can be applied directly over the epoxy without sanding first, IF it's in the top coat window. Otherwise you will need to scratch the low spots with some 80 grit for the filler to bond to.

Head Bad six warnings about lead!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lead does not like regular old Sand paper! Corrosion will start in it even after coating it in epoxy if not prepped correctly with Hi quality Sand paper.

Chevman made a post about this some time ago showing how corrosion sets in in the lead caused by using the wrong sand paper and improper prep.

Please make a Build thread in the Build and completed section I would love to follow along with your build.

Dennis, when the O/P said it was setting for 10 years and no rust! i thought he must live next door to you in "dry country" ,
Jay D.

teveo wrote:Hello, I just joined the forum and hope to get some advice on body and paint.

Being a hobby mechanic my job and life will usually get in the way, other car or bike projects as well and ten year projects are not uncommon to me. I also work on 3-4 projects at a time and do not have a deadline.

Anyway, we took my XKE to bare metal more than 10 years ago and I think it is time to finish the body and get the car painted. There is almost no surface rust, the garage is very dry 3 stories up and large windows toward west. 40-50 in humidity year round.

The car always lived in SoCal and it did not have rust but when it was talken down to metal it revealed that bonnet center section was dinged and right outer sill and right rear fender had sign of a side impact. These problems have been rectified now.

I had a pro lined up to help me but that did not work out and now I just want to get started and get the car ready for top coat myself. I will paint the bulkhead, underside bonnet, engine frames myself. If this come out nice I may even try do paint the outer body but that is a little scary for now.

My plan is to go over the car with 100 grit, wash with metal prep and prime.

I have used lead on panel welds like they originally did but I will use quality bondo for the rest of the body. I have tried to read up on best practise but still not sure, should I bondo first and prime secondary or prime first then bondo?

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WHAT YEAR IS IT ? YOU could sell it to me and i could finish it. I've been thinking about another project. i just finished this well almost finished. i'm thinking id like to do a older XKE 6 cyl. but its kind of a dream now, i'm running out of time.
Jay D.

Thank you all for great advice.

I used bodyfiles for the lead but it was a few years ago. I could "tighten" the bodyfile a litte more and cut off the (lead) top layer. It was properly washed off back then. Btw I used eastwood "lead kit", mostly tin.

I'll try shooting one or two smaller underbody panels with the 1.0 noname gun to get a feeling for the primer, then move on to the devilbiss with 1.4 or 1.6 jet on the doors, hatch and finally rest of the car.

Teveo, as practice I buy old steel filing cabinets from the recycler at the dump. So cheap they are almost free. I do my practice on them. I've got some of the most beautiful filing cabinets you've ever seen LOL. So maybe get your skills up on some old filing cabinets first.

Funny thing is the cabinets came out fine and the car panels looked like crap. I was trying too hard with the car and putting too much paint on and too wet. I need to say to myself "relax, it's only a filing cabinet".