Hello everybody...
SOOO after spending a decent amount of time cruising around google and doing a search on here, I still have some questions about the specific uses of Epoxy primer and Self-Etching primer.
I am restoring my car and on the areas that have bumpy scaly rust I have been chipping and sanding it all off. I get the surface down to bare metal where I can... but of course some pitted rust still remains. My question to you guys is what have you all found to be the best steps to go from here?
I have had luck in the past with rust-reformer (the clear stuff that coverts rust to black) but was wondering if I should be using a Self-Etching or Epoxy instead... OR before... OR after... etc. There were so many different sites and steps I have read in the last hour, for example... one website said to use the ETCH primer on smooth places of bare metal and overtop bodywork that you already did and then hit it with regular primer and go from there. The same site said to use EPOXY over bumpy metal, then do the body work, then epoxy again and then regular primer.
Another site said to never use Epoxy primer over top Etching primer, some said it IS a good idea. Then you get into reading body shop/restoration forums and everybody seems to argue about this there too.
This forum has always provided me with SO much knowledge and I am hoping ya guys will give your experiences and thoughts on this subject.
Thank you so much for reading :cheers:
There'll be different opinions on this, but my opinion is that etch primers are designed for the smooth, almost polished steel that new car panels are. The auto refinishers -time-is-money- don't like to waste time rubbing the panels to get a 'tooth' for the paint to adhere to, so etch primer was designed.
Looks to me like you need more of a 'high-build' primer to fill those pitted areas.
My method with what you're doing would be, after all the rubbing and rust removal, rub it all over with about 400 grade wet and dry to scratch it all over to give a 'tooth' so the primer coat will stick. That's all the 'etch' does, -provide it's own tooth to stick to the metal.
After thorough cleaning and drying, (must be ABSOLUTELY dry, I use blowgun and sometimes a heat gun), hit it with 2-pack hi-build primer which you can mix with various amounts of reducer to thin it for different amounts of 'fill thickness'. The 2k primers are designed to be 'barrier' coats that will go over various earlier finishes. Useful if you can't strip everything back to the bare metal.
I don't get that thing about epoxy over 'bumpy' metal then do the body work... That makes no sense does it? Surely any metalwork, panelbeating etc needs to be done before any paint!
I'm prepping my GT500 frame (yes, the 2-banger) at the moment and I plan no primer coat, (Like most factory finished frames). I'm rubbing down all over with 400, down to the metal only where there's a trace of rust. Then I'll hit it with SS (Single Stage, means you need no clearcoat over the top) 2K black, Satin or gloss I haven't decided yet. I know this will work, and it'll be a very authentic factory finish look (but better).
Cool! Wow thanks for the reply and the info! I really appreciate it.
I know what you mean about the epoxy over bumpy metal... that one site I read (wish I could find the link now but I looked at SO much info yesterday omg it would be hard to find again) said to just knock off all the loose rust and sand it as much as possible, then epoxy primer it to seal it. THEN apply filler to smooth the surface and then epoxy over THAT to seal the filler.
So what's this avatar of yours ? You channeling I dream of Jeannie ???
Cool.
Buddha.
That's the Bewitched chick Samantha isn't it? ... she was ok. .. but those outfits that Jeannie wore were MUCH more entertaining!
Yes that's Samantha :D I've always been a big fan of her (Liz Montgomery). Also people gave me the nickname Samantha because we look VERY similar.
Haha and yes, Jeannie's outfits were indeed much more fun ;)
He he, OK atleast you're not that crazy clown posse on a bike now. Ewwwwww ....
Cool.
Buddha.