finally learning/painting my first car! June 02, 2011, 11:15:25 PM My workplace has a wheelchair van that was in dire need of rust repair and paint. Bodyshops around town wanted $4-7k to cut, weld, replace, and renew anything on it. I made a deal with my boss, I traded the labor for the tools to do it. Turns out it really isnt as hard as I thought.Granted, we arent talking car-show finishes. It was a hammered white enamel I laid down over hot rod black primer. I am very pleased so far with the results. I will finish it up this weekend and post some final and progress pix. Its not a fox so most probably wouldnt care, but I'm pretty proud of myself from basically learning by watching youtube videos. (and creeping on Jerry's welding pix of his cougar on facebook!) Quote Selected
finally learning/painting my first car! Reply #1 – June 03, 2011, 07:53:25 AM all easy stuff if you got something to practice on... can't wait for the pics Quote Selected
finally learning/painting my first car! Reply #2 – September 09, 2011, 11:37:45 AM Just saw that I started this thread a few months back. Turns out I made the mistake of using filler sanding primer over bare metal instead of etching primer. In the thinner spots I am getting small rust lines fron the rain. Of course this is remedied buy rustoleum and a big magnet with out name... but still dissappointing lolPlus from what the bodyshop guys are telling me (met them through the new girlfriends dad ) cheap paint is why my guns kept clogging and I ended up with a sputtery finish. I am going to attempt to hit my roof on the tbird before winter sets in. I will sand it down to bare metal as you did the cougar. I would like to hit it with por-15 at some point.... would that take place of the etching primer? or after?I know you use filler overtop of it but I would like to get the order right. I plan of ordering the grand national 99k from sherwin williams and a nice clearcoat. Again its just my roof and possibly the trunklid, so I'll only need a quart or so. But it would be nice to take my time to get it smooth as possible so I will be satisfied with the paint for years to come. Quote Selected
finally learning/painting my first car! Reply #3 – September 10, 2011, 04:36:35 AM Por 15 is a bit overkill and expensive, I would just use epoxy primer,you can also use it for a sealer to. Quote Selected
finally learning/painting my first car! Reply #4 – September 10, 2011, 06:00:39 AM Agreed. POR 15 is also not UV resistant and is a pain to topcoat (it has to be primered while still curing for paint to stick). I personally only use POR 15 where the sun won't hit it, and over a rusted surface.A good automotive paint store epoxy is the cat's butt. Durable and sticks like crazy as well as excellent rust protection. Follow the rules on recoating, most times you have a window of time to apply topcoat before you have to use more epoxy.Rust forms when you have 3 things. Steel, oxygen, and water. As long as your metal is sealed from water and air it won't corrode. The van may be rusting from the backside if the panels weren't epoxied before you assembled them. Plus, as you found out, sandable primer is porous and lets moisture through. I don't use much of it at all any more.A good system is what Jerry uses. Sand or strip panel, epoxy prime, body work, primer-surfacer, block sand, and then epoxy prime as a sealer before topcoating. Quote Selected
finally learning/painting my first car! Reply #5 – September 10, 2011, 07:51:13 AM Quote from: flylear45;367227Agreed. POR 15 is also not UV resistant and is a pain to topcoat (it has to be primered while still curing for paint to stick). I personally only use POR 15 where the sun won't hit it, and over a rusted surface.A good automotive paint store epoxy is the cat's butt. Durable and sticks like crazy as well as excellent rust protection. Follow the rules on recoating, most times you have a window of time to apply topcoat before you have to use more epoxy.Rust forms when you have 3 things. Steel, oxygen, and water. As long as your metal is sealed from water and air it won't corrode. The van may be rusting from the backside if the panels weren't epoxied before you assembled them. Plus, as you found out, sandable primer is porous and lets moisture through. I don't use much of it at all any more.A good system is what Jerry uses. Sand or strip panel, epoxy prime, body work, primer-surfacer, block sand, and then epoxy prime as a sealer before topcoating. I would agree ...if you have any spot rust, you can Use pickelx on it to treat it before you epoxy..... Remember you can't use etching primer with it. only epoxy.if you have rust bleeding through a panel. it could have been there and you didn't see it. that's why I used pickelx on all my panels after I stripped them. Knowing I wouldn't be priming them immediately, I kept any surface rust from forming. Quote Selected
finally learning/painting my first car! Reply #6 – September 10, 2011, 07:56:10 AM the only sandable primer I use, is for a guide coat for block sanding primer/surfacer. Quote Selected
finally learning/painting my first car! Reply #7 – September 10, 2011, 10:03:05 AM I bet your excited lol. I am gonna be painting my truck myself in the near future, it will be my first also, I am very excited. Quote Selected
finally learning/painting my first car! Reply #8 – September 10, 2011, 10:05:06 AM Well i am going to at least por- inside the doors and perhaps the bottom 8 inches of the car. But epoxy is more what I was thinking for the rest of the body more than por because it is pretty expensive.And no... not very excited lol. Just seems like one of those things if I had 6 grand laying around, I would pay to get it painted Quote Selected
finally learning/painting my first car! Reply #9 – September 10, 2011, 05:41:27 PM Don't Por the lower 8"....It will chalk, and always look dull when the sun starts to break it down Quote Selected
finally learning/painting my first car! Reply #10 – September 10, 2011, 06:35:12 PM the UV will break down the por through a primer, paint, and clearcoat?Its going to be a garage queen anyway, but I want this thing rust proofed. Perhaps driving it in summer alone may be the trick.... Quote Selected
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