To Primer or not to Primer....Pics?

[goose69]

I'm wondering how many of you guys have pics of Primered B-bodys? I have a project that might ONLY get primered. I've seen many cars "done" in primer or a flat/satin paint that look great! So I thought I'd throw this out and see what comes of it.
I actually have it pretty well set in my head that I'm going to be painting my 1966 Belvedere "Satin Black". Looking into making it into a saturday night cruiser/bruiser/racer. But some other pics might change my mind.
Thanks and take care. :cool:

 

[Big Jim]

Almost be tempting to leave as is and preserve the "patina"- just make it safe/fast/fun to drive and enjoy the hell out of it- would beat worrying about door dings in $10.000 paint jobs (but those are nice in their own ways, too...lol) mostly just build it the way you'll enjoy it the most!

 

[YY1]

I think you're right about satin paint vs primer. Leaving primer without a top coat will rust back through pretty quick, as it's supposed to absorb moist paint, and if allowed, will absorb water. My 70 Bee was mostly primer and I went through about a can a week.
NOT fun sanding and spraying at least one square foot patch EVERY week.

 

[67 B-body]

If you want to keep the car for ANY time at all, you'de better put a good top coat over primer or it WILL rust away! Single stage has come a long way if you dont want to have the time, and money in a base-clear package.
I used a single stage paint over DP-40 epoxy sealer-primer and like how it looks!

 

[goose69]

I probably should have clarified a thing or two here. You guys brought up some good points, but when I do go to primer it it will be sanded and an epoxy sealer primer (PPG DP) will be used. Went the rattle can thing and all those issues when I was in teens. Not a good thing, although like many of us I couldn't afford anything else.
So if anyone had any pics, could you post them? Thanks

 

[welder47]

You can buy a gallon of satin or flat black for less than 100.00 and looks much nicer than primer which spots and fades out quick. Its easy to spray low sheen paint, mistakes can be corrected easily. Go to any car show, you wil see plenty of Homemade cars there with flat black paint on them.

 

[Cranky]

My 66 looked like yours for nearly 10 years of driving! One night on the way home from work some moron in a Mustang pulled up alongside at a light and laughed at it/me and when the light turned green, I stuck him for 2 car lengths before he could get his act together lol. I was only running a slightly modified /6 so he was faster but the 66 moved very well when stomped. The best part of that came 2 weeks later at the track. Yup, pulled up beside him at the tree and cut a nearly perfect light and ran the number. He didn't plus he broke out. He wasn't laughing anymore Some laugh at that kind of paint job so be ready to shut them up with driveability

 

[goose69]

I definatly have plans on having the motor to impress at least SOME people. Its a .030 over 440 balanced with worked over 915 heads, mild Comp cam, Streetmaster intake (I know the pic shows an Edelbrock performer), Demon carb, FBO distributer with ign system and an MSD box, big tube headers, 727 with 3000 dynamics converter, 391 gears and a small amount (100hp shot) of bottle fed fun! Oh yea, prob this winter or next summer... mini-tubbed.

 

[Propwash]

Primer is Primer........It's designed to be a bonding medium for a topcoat and or primer sealer. It's not designed to take the head on effects of enviroment for any extended period of time. You will have problems at a much faster pace than a top coated car. Doesn't matter if it is $60 a quart DP40, it will still deteriorate much quicker than TC. Being you live in a pretty wet/humid area, I would seriously think hard about putting on a top coat.

There are quite a few different paint MFG's that make a look-a-like primer top coats out there. "Kustom Shop" by TCP is just one, off the top of my head.

Good luck!

 

[Tex013]

like this

Tex

 

[goose69]

Respectible time there, are you running a bottle?

 

[Cranky]

And why are you going with a StreetMaster? I call them StreetBastards. That Eddy Performer would be much better and the Performer RPM would be even better. The only thing the SM has over a stock manifold is it weighs less.

 

[goose69]

I have wanted to run the streetmaster for hood clearance and because it seemed to flow a little better than the performer? I have the opportunity to buy a Torker 2 for about $75 and have thought about that but am worried about getting too tall on the motor and running into the hood with the air cleaner. Wanted to run the thickest air filter I could too. Better suggestions being that you ran the same car Cranky? My other thought was to stick with the performer and with the NOS plate it'll help gain some top end RPM range.

 

[moparstuart]

my 69 charger 500 is only in primer

 

[Ron 73]

Living in the land of moisture and humidity ive never had any luck leaving a car in primer without having rust start coming thru somewhere. I primered a blazer for my son in law who was going to take it to a friend to put this "magnificent" paint job on and he never got there, he drove it the summer and winter 50 miles to work in Cleavland everyday and came to me in the spring asking me why it looked so bad. I tried to tell him it wouldn't work, but it was my fault! I admire you guys who are doing it, never worked for me.

 

[moparstuart]

Living in the land of moisture and humidity ive never had any luck leaving a car in primer without having rust start coming thru somewhere. I primered a blazer for my son in law who was going to take it to a friend to put this "magnificent" paint job on and he never got there, he drove it the summer and winter 50 miles to work in Cleavland everyday and came to me in the spring asking me why it looked so bad. I tried to tell him it wouldn't work, but it was my fault! I admire you guys who are doing it, never worked for me.

with the great primer sealers they make today it would work fine , you just need to use the good stuff . It wont look as flat , rough and porous as the old stuff.

 

[OG max wedge]

oh not not another satin black car!
i personally feel thats a cop-out, there are so many tinted primers out there why try to make the car look like a RAT ROD with a primer black finish i'm stuck with a satin black 1964 polara and it totally takes away from the muscle car look, i am so temped to rattle can it any color just to lose that rockibilly look... or maybe i should just paint the rims red and complete the "look"

 

[69clone]

Me and my dad did my car back in April/May. We sprayed it in a garage that was really hot so the paint dried too fast and didn't lay very well. It came out satin and i thought it was fine, But we cleared it again in July and it looks great now i forgot how nice it was to have a badass gloss that you can get lost in with all the metallic.

oh not not another satin black car!
i personally feel thats a cop-out, there are so many tinted primers out there why try to make the car look like a RAT ROD with a primer black finish i'm stuck with a satin black 1964 polara and it totally takes away from the muscle car look, i am so temped to rattle can it any color just to lose that rockibilly look... or maybe i should just paint the rims red and complete the "look"

Yeah you diffidently have a point there, your car looks like a v6 rat rod only because of the color.

 

[scotts74birds]

Check this out! Its called Hot Rod Flatz http://www.tcpglobal.com/kustomshop/ksflatz.aspx Really popular with the rat-rod crowd, and old biker **** [like my 53 rigid!] Its a low gloss paint designed to give the primer look. But has more durability. Tons of colors too.

 

[RGAZ]

Eastwood has a whole bunch of flat colors in Urethane. no need to leave it real primer, you can make it look good without spending too much.

Randy