Gents

I have a long term restoration project (10 years into probably a 20+ year build). I'm doing a complete ground up restoration and the challenge was to do everything myself so I'm having to learn all the skills, build the infrastructure, and complete the work. Thus it takes time especially with a young family (not to mention I'm restoring a LWB pickup).

The original plan for the paint and panel was to spend a few years:
- metal finish each panel individually
- epoxy prime completed panel and store (indoors, no UV exposure)
- re-assemble cab and test fit everything (engine / brakes / interior etc) while in primer to avoid scratching nice paint
- dissemble, scuff epoxy and continue the paint process.

I liked this plan as it mean I could take my time but also that with the parts in epoxy I didn't have to worry about further corrosion.

I'm now reading that epoxy primer might not be as impervious to allowing moisture through as I first thought. I'm not sure if some of that advice related to storing a vehicle in epoxy outdoors in the elements. Am I asking for trouble by having a part sit in epoxy primer for a long time even if I store it indoors with no UV? The worrying thing is that you wouldn't know if rust was beginning to develop underneath unless you stripped it back again which is always an option but defeats the purpose of preparing it in the first place.

Any advice is much appreciated.

Adam

No paint finish will last forever, but epoxy, if inside, should go close. You're correct in that it will need scuffing/sanding before further coats, but this is pretty much a given anyway. Make sure that any rubthroughs while you're working on the panels are sealed up and you should be fine.

When I built my 55 Olds custom, I put it in epoxy primer, to go to it's first car show in 1983, unfinished. I chopped it in 1984, continued customizing it through the years, still driving it, until it got painted in 1987. Drove it every summer to car shows across the country. No problems. The paint I did it in, is still on the car now.

I now put epoxy primer on everything I am restoring. Time has a way of getting past us quickly.

You need a quality epoxy primer with some UV protection. It will keep your parts very well protected and is absolutely moisture resistant.

Appreciate the responses - looks like I can stick to the original plan...

Hopefully not an ignorant question but in the future when I do scuff up the epoxy layer and put a 2k urethane primer over it, will it still have the same moisture protection ie. will the panel be able to absorb moisture to the metal since I opened up the epoxy pores or just to the urethane layer? Is that where shooting another layer of epoxy over the scuffed epoxy before the urethane will help things?

Trying to determine if I can block sand the urethane primer at a relaxed pace knowing the epoxy underneath is still sealing the metal up

The epoxy will still provide protection although, obviously you'd need to recover any rub throughs. Once you've block sanded the urethane primer another coat of epoxy will certainly seal things up, but isn't absolutely necessary.

Thanks Chris.

Once again, apologies for these basic questions:
1) When I spray say a high build primer, will the build of the primer allow block sanding that original coat of primer from say 240/320/400/600 or do you have to put additional coats on along the way as you work up in sandpaper fineness? If you say rubbed through on the 400 or 600 grit sanding, do you have to resand with a harsher grit to respray or can 2k urethane adhered to more finely sanded surfaces?

2) If I did put another epoxy coat over the urethane, the epoxy tds talks about abrading the the painted surface with around 280-400g sandpaper. Would you stop at 400 on the urethane, spray the epoxy, sand the epoxy at 600 then move to basecoat?

3) How do you guys paint small brackets and stuff? I hung parts on wire and struggled with the spray gun pressure blowing them around...I had tiny unpainted areas where the wire was hung which I just touched up with primer after everything had cured. Not a huge issue with primer but how do you do the top coats on brackets if the hanging wire doesnt allow everything to get painted? Do you just touch it up like I did in the primer stage?
.

I do my primer in 2 steps. First the 180 cut, followed by a 320 cut. Do any minor glazing, or major filling, and primer it again. Then do a 400 and 600. All cuts done with guide coat. Usually, the first cuts (180, 320) are done dry. The next phase I do wet.
I usually use a high build epoxy primer all the way, Tamco, in fact. Used to use HOK, but got too expensive.
On small brackets and such, I try to hang the part from a hole that will be covered completely by another part, or by a washer and bolt. So a small brush touch up won't be seen.

1. That depends on how good your metalwork and bog work is. If the substrate is smooth & flat then long block with P240, normal hand block with P400 and run the DA over it with P500. Finish with P800 wet if you're using a metallic or pearl. For rub throughs, P240 or even red Scotchbrite is fine before just spotting in a light coat over the top.

2. If I was doing a sealer coat of thinned down epoxy I'd start with sanded surface of P400 - P500 on a DA. Then go wet-on-wet. You don't have to sand the epoxy again if you basecoat within the recoat window.

3. Small parts painting calls for ingenuity and imagination. I hate painting parts that are just hung on one wire. Just chase them around the booth. If I can I'll use a second wire secured to something on or near the floor. Some parts you can paint on paper, in two goes, so you don't have the wire masking effect, otherwise a good touch up brush and steady hand should get you out of strife. Sometimes you can put a small screw or bolt through a hole that the final bolt will cover - I did this yesterday on a safe that I painted, hanging off an extension on an engine crane. For some parts that aren't getting a finish coat on the inside/underside you can roll a piece of masking tape up in a circle with sticky side facing out, then stick them to some fresh paper on a stand.

Use a gun that is happy with low pressures. I have an Iwata AZ4 HTE-S Impact that is designed to run at 15psi. That's an RP gun, not HVLP, so less air blowing things around the joint and finer finish with 1.0mm or 1.2mm tip.

chopolds wrote:I do my primer in 2 steps. First the 180 cut, followed by a 320 cut. Do any minor glazing, or major filling, and primer it again. Then do a 400 and 600. All cuts done with guide coat. Usually, the first cuts (180, 320) are done dry. The next phase I do wet.
I usually use a high build epoxy primer all the way, Tamco, in fact. Used to use HOK, but got too expensive.
On small brackets and such, I try to hang the part from a hole that will be covered completely by another part, or by a washer and bolt. So a small brush touch up won't be seen.

Thats a good process! i like epoxy first then urathane hi-build and then top coat but thats just me. nothing wrong useing epoxy all the way.
Jay D.