Handle On Paint and restoration Basics.

[clk68]

Hi guys,

I have a 68 charger project. I am trying to figure out the proper method of getting it in nice keepable shape.

The first thing was/is this car was a rust bucket. So a lot of the sheetmetal will and is new. New rear 1/4s new decklid filler panel. New trunk floor. New Floor inside. (leaving the floor by the base of the rear seat and the front area that meets the firewall. And leaving the hump.

A lot of the new repro panels come primed. So what I am trying to figure out is at the priming painting stages what would be my best bet. Since there will be a lot of new metal and some old. Does it pay to get the entire car media blasted? Just my bad areas that I uncover blasted? Is there a type of sanding that wont do longterm damage? (I read sand blasting causes tining and metal deteroration). Is a chemichal soloution better?

If I am leaving or using the repro panels and not blasting them do I only etch prime what is blasted or sanded down to bare metal? Or skip and goto an epoxy primer?

Does any filler (which I plan to be minimal) go before the epoxy primer? Or can it go to the filler primer?

How do I treat restoring different areas? Like would you just por15 your rear axle? Try and blast it then epoxy?

Same with interior floor pans / trunk area?

Any tips I am doing a lot of reading and seeing a lot of conflicting information.

Thanks....

 

[Bruzilla]

I just had my car done by a guy who's been doing paint and bodywork in humid Florida for 16 years, and he primed my whole car with POR 15. He told me he and his grandfather, who's been in the business for some 60 years, use POR 15 as a primer for the whole car as they've found it to be the best means to prevent rust.

 

[mattsinger]

I'm not an expert...but after talking to a lot of folks, I went with epoxy primer as a base...and working up from there.

 

[Propwash]

I go with an epoxy, then there really isn't as much as limitations as far as the systematic layers, unlike etch.

Here's a little sticky for your reading enjoyment and to save me 12 minutes of typing:

http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/showthread.php?t=3552

Also....you want media blasting (plastic-plastic/mix), not sand. Sand is great for cleaning old rust and paint off of bridges and ships, not the comparative paper thin tin on your mopar. Use sand and you'll end up like me....Warped! Blast as much as well...you can afford. The more the better, then epoxy coat or etch if you go that route.

I didn't go the POR15 route on my current resto, but used the comparative "Rust bullet" in known problem areas over clean metal. Underside of the car, trunk, floors, inside the rails, bottom side of the rockers all got coated, just for that extra layer of protection. You might want to check on the POR15 if it's gonna exposed. I heard something it don't get along with UV.

good luck!

 

[Cranky]

Prop, are you talking about the product that's called Rust Bullet?

 

[Donny]

Good questions. And good comments, Prop, bravo, the link is great, and informative. I like to put some self-etch down on bare metal. Mind you, when I do this, the metal is super clean as I have just plastic media blasted it, and it 'sinks' into the metal, then, on goes either Black, Gray, or White Epoxy Primer with a bit of reducer to seal it up. Epoxy Primer is where the bodyman starts, fillers, etc, more primers goes on top of this.

I did the /6 Challenger a few yrs ago, he had already put many new AMD panels on the vehicle, but, there was still some areas needing blasting, so, I did the entire vehicle, then, he had it painted. You won't really save anything by having a media blaster only blast the old metal...blasting gets everywhere. This is also one reason I gently tell people when they bring me fenders, etc. all sanded down (by hand) that they saved no money -- just wasted a lot of time as I still have to blast it even if there isn't much paint, the metal still needs a good working over to find weak areas, plus, no amount of sanding will ever get it as good as I do.

There is no need for POR15/Rustbullet when you have a car media blasted, and some good etch and epoxy is applied. Rust really is horrible stuff, but, you won't get much rust on it if left overnight, or even a few days. Ospho will take care of any flash rust.

 

[satman72]

My thought is that one would want to media blast before replacing any panels. This would let you know exactly how bad things are before replacing metal.

To me it seems pointless to replace a panel with a new replacement (that is already primed) then blast it & then prime again.

 

[fla 66 cuda]

I hand stripped the exterior of my charger [palm sander and 80 grit] replaced all rotten metal [patches] did rough body work [duraglass]on bare metal, primed entire car with epoxy/sealer primer,did evercoat skimfill on imperfections,spraying feather fill polyester filler primer next [3 wet coats as needed],blocking till smooth,prime and color shoot.That's the plan and i'm not a professional painter just winging it.

 

[Propwash]

Prop, are you talking about the product that's called Rust Bullet?

You bet Cranky.. Rust Bullet.

http://www.rustbullet.com/?utm_source=msn&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=GenRustPC

 

[747mopar]

Lots of good advice, When I started my restoration I removed all of the bad sheetmetal prior to media blasting. Doing that first allows them to clean areas that aren't easily assessable and makes your job easier. If you do have it media blasted make sure whoever does it knows what they are doing, if there is any doubt don't let them touch the panels. I would test all of the factory E-Coating that comes on the new panels or just sand them down to bare metal, I've found that some coatings are good quality and others will chip off easily. I too used epoxy primer, it does a great job over blasted metal. The epoxy primer I used recommended not being applied over filler, I primed the whole car before any body work was done then just made sure to scuff it good before filling. I would blast all of the suspension components and use epoxy primer but would be careful about blasting the rear end, sand kills bearings and it's a bitch to get out of all the nooks and crannies if it isn't properly sealed. Another great benefit of epoxy primer is that you have a window in which it can be topcoated with no sanding, I took advantage of this and sprayed the whole bottom of the car, trunk and floors with spray on bedliner. Good Luck