MORE paint advice (please)

I'm taking next week off from work and plan on dedicating some time to working on my car. I would like to get it in epoxy primer before the week is out.
My question. The car hat the original paint plus 1 coat of paint over that. I was doing a little messing around and on the roof I was able to sand part of it down (fairly easy with 80 grit) to the original factor primer. Is it ok to use this as a base for my epoxy primer? The fenders,hood, doors and rest of the body will be stripped to bare metal due to filler needed and the fact I replaced some panels but I was wondering if this would be ok for the roof? Thanks in advance.

Todd

 

Hey,

Why chance the event of having a reaction with the old sealer/
primer down the line? Besides, if you're spending real money
for paint materials, arn't you going to want to know if there is
any rust beneith that old primer? Now would be the time to do
something about it if that was the case.

S****ey Devils C.C.

 

I would agree. Normally, it is reasonably acceptable to paint over a coat or even two of paint if they are tied down well, but if you are cutting through everything except the factory primer, I would just strip it all the way. Use some metal prep and epoxy prime. Then you know what you have for sure.

 

I agree . If your going to do it.....do it right. Don't take any chances with the old stuff, it may come back to bite you in the *** . Taking it all the way down to metal makes for a better job. You'll know whats under there.

 

I agree with the aforementioned. It would take you 10 extra minutes to strip the factory primer off than to only strip to the factory primer. If you are dead set though, check the tech sheets. 90% of epoxy primers are good over OEM finishes sanded to 80.

 

so to answer your question,,it would probally work...but not advisable...do it right,do it once

 

I have learned this the hard way many times.......if you're not a pro, partial sanding is dangerous and likely to make the finish wavy and require mega block-sanding. It's just too hard to remove half the material evenly across a panel. For that reason, if it's important to be straight, it may end up less effort to strip it bare. good luck

 

keeping the old primer doesn't really save you that much time anyway...

 

Thanks for the "Idiot check" I am taking the roof down to bare metal.


Todd

 

Good on ya...

 

How far should one go to do it right? Does one need to pull fender wells off, remove doors and inside panels...pull the body off the frame?

I have a 46 panel van, and I'm thinking of going to a "frame off" restoration - can't decide to powder coat or paint the frame. So if I'm going that far, I guess removing the fenders, doors, and hood is sorta a given hunh?

 

IMO, doing it right has a context. The right thing to do to flip it for sale is different than the right thing to do if you plan on keeping it. It also depends on your budget. Don't take it farther apart than you can afford to put it back together. That said, if you are "doing it right" and removing the body from the frame, yes pull the doors. There is probably some structural damage there as well as hinges that may need attention. That's just my two cents, which doesn't seem to buy that much these days

 

Yeah, I should be more specific. I don't know that I'll keep this ride forever, but I sure do intend to make it a righteous ride for me to keep the next 10 - 15 years...

Regarding fender wells, engine compartment and the carriage underside...does anyone ever coat them with something more durable than paint?.

 

If you leave some of the old original primer, chances are that the old primer will swell up a little from absorbing the solvents in the epoxy primer, and it'll leave a lumpy surface and just make more sanding work for you later. Also sometimes the edges of the primer will "lift" or curl back and look like the edges had been shot with paint stripper. So it's easier just to strip it back completely.

You might want to try using some of those 3M stripper disks instead of sandpaper. I can't remember exactly what they're called, but they look like crumpled up wads of krinkly black abrasive coated string stuck on a backing plate. The 3" ones with a Roloc type disc base work pretty well for stripping paint in hard to get at areas in door jambs and places like that. You use them in a die grinder with a Roloc backing pad that makes it easy to switch discs with a 1/4 turn. They last a long time as long as you're careful not to snag them on something sharp like the corner of a door.