I'm in the process of restoring a fire truck. I've found some good advice here. I'm also a woodworker and just don't paint wood. The problem I am having trouble finding info on is there's some wood covered by sheet metal as well as some that is exposed ( where the front fenders mount to the frame is a 3/4" piece). I'm planning on using expoxy primer on the sheet metal to seal it. The question is what do I use on the wood that is exposed? Thanks in advance

So.....just so I understand this.... Are you needing a clear coat recommendation for the wood or are you wanting to prime it and paint it? If you simply need to paint it, epoxy will seal it fine. You just need to reduce the epoxy somewhat so the first coat "soaks" down in the wood. Next would be a full wet coat or two built more up on the wood, and then going into your paint system. We have done just that on exterior wooden items that were of historical significance. With us, our part of projects like that are usually the stripping/removal, then on to epoxy paints (even straight resins as well) and finally the projects were handed off to the decorative arts guys for final hand painting and/or airbrushing. If you did want a "heavier" resin type epoxy sealer I would recommend West Systems epoxy at full strength. Just remember, if you use an epoxy paint or resin it must be completely painted as epoxy does not handle sunlight exposure well over time.

I was talking about the exposed wood. So just thin the primer on the wood and then treat like the metal. Thanks

Yep, reduce the first coat and stay within the epoxy "time window" for applying anymore epoxy.....

i usually Poly wood