Ok I have the car down to bare metal. I went and coated the whole car with Plasti-coat's etching primer. I have a suction feed gun that i plan to use to spry everything but the actual color and the clear. Do I start spraying right over the spray bomb primer or should I sand that off first. I basically put the etching primer on from a can as a quick way to keep rust from forming while I was striping the rest of the car. My plan is to get it to epoxy primer and drive it far a while till next summer when I will be able to put the color on. So, what should I do?

Thanks!! http://www.nastyz28.com/ubb/smile.gif

I would sand it with 220 and put on several coats (4) of epoxy primer over it-it is not completely water proof though, and is uv sensitive. Then when you are ready to paint it will all have to be sanded again. Most self etching primer doesn't have to be sanded to be topcoated unless it is not topcoated within a certian time period so read the label first.

A better way would be to get some epoxy primer, and prep and spray a panel at a time.

Really.. I was under the impression that the epoxy primer would be fine to leave on indefinetly.. And the spray can primer get such a bad wrap I was sure it would all have to come off. Is the epoxy going to be hard to get off when it comes time to put the color coat on? Damn, it seems i would have been better off leaving the old crapy paint on until i was ready to do the whole job. Oh well, so sand the primer and epoxy over it until it is time to take it all off again... live and learn... http://www.nastyz28.com/ubb/smile.gif thanks for the reply.

You don't have to sand all the epoxy primer off when you are ready to paint, just scuff the surface for adhesion. After a few months the stuff gets powdery, and you want to get that off. You will probably have some rust spots showing through by then, which will have to be sanded until you get shiny metal, then reprimed. And you don't have to sand off all the etching primer, just scuff it up-you might not have to sand it at all, but read the lapel. The big problem with spray can stuff is it reacting (sometimes) with the topcoat and causing cracking. I had this problem with the underside of my decklid, it had a little spot that needed work, so I covered it with spray can primer. Then when I topcoated it, it reacted and cracked-I had to strip off everything and start over. That is why I will never use the spraycan stuff again. Also, some primers and topcoats are not compatible, so you should pick one brand and stick to it from start to finish.

Ideally, a car sprayed in any type of primer should not be exposed to anything, because since primers job is to promote adhesion, oils from your hands, squashed bugs, road debris, ect will get in there and will show up later as bubbles, spots, ect. Also, most primers have a window period when they should be topcoated-for example within a week from when they are applied.

[This message has been edited by Daniel (edited October 31, 2003).]

That doesnt sound like "Epoxy" primer you used Daniel. Are you sure it was "Epoxy"?

If so - must have been an off brand.