paint advice

[jveik]

ok i have a few questions regarding painting my truck. if you dont know all of the answers feel free to just answer one you know. thanks

heres some background first

i used paint stripper to get all the paint off the cab and then used 80 grit paper on it to get any remaining paint off. however, i left the floors painted and the underside of the roof also (inside part). i was planning on just scuffing that stuff up real good. also, i have some bondo on welds that i did to repair various rusted out sections like the cab corners and stuff like that. i just need to get all the bondo sanded good and get a coat of primer on it before it rusts. heres some questions i have...

1) can i use self etching primer over the parts that are bondo or still have paint on them or do i have to use a different non-etching primer for those areas?

2) should i use a lesser grit paper (180-200ish?) to make the metal less scratched looking before painting or should i let the primer fill in all the scratches to take care of that part?

3)can i let the primer sit a week or so before topcoating it or do i have to do the topcoat before the primer coats are totally cured? i have a 30+ hour a week job and go to high school full time(30 hours aint much unless school is in session lol), so it is hard to find a chunk of time that is long enough to do primer,topcoat, and clearcoat in one big amount.

4)can i let the cab sit in my garage over the winter in just primer and not worry about rust or will i have to topcoat it also?

5)are there any other tips you want to give out to a newbie (me lol) so that i dont end up with a crappy paint job on a truck i have put 6 grand into?

thanks for your time and your help

[PBking82]

You can use a self-etching primer all-over, but i'f your going to primer the entire car, i would recomend stripping off all the paint so you can get a nice even coat from the get-go and won't have to do lots of sanding to get it all even.

You don't need to worry about scratches in the metal before primering unless they are REALLY deep, other than that the primer will fill it all up and you can sand it all down to your liking.

Yes you can primer, let it dry, then lay your base.

Yes you can let it sit primered without worring if it will rust, AS LONG AS. Your garage is weatherproof(i.e. there isn't gonna be water/snow hitting your cab).

Take your time, if this is your first paint job I reccomend going to the junk yard and getting some practice peices that you primer, sand, then lay base and clear. Your final job on the truck will look 10000 times better. Good luck and be prepared to screw up! we all did so don't freak out if you do. It's only metal/paint and can be sanded/grinded/welded/and re painted. Peace-

[jveik]

thx for the help. im getting a hvlp gun today and some moisture filters and probly either that self-etching primer or some 3-n-1 primer and ill let it sit in the garage all winter until it gets warm enough to get going again.

[Redypoo]

When you prime your vehicle, it won't rust. Ever. Only bare metal will rust, spray paint over metal won't even rust. So you can drive around all primed out in a blizzard of rain, no worries.

[PBking82]

Originally Posted by Redypoo

When you prime your vehicle, it won't rust. Ever. Only bare metal will rust, spray paint over metal won't even rust. So you can drive around all primed out in a blizzard of rain, no worries.

Yea like once! You think painted metal won't rust? That's about as far from the truth as Iraq had WMD's! Seriously, sure YOU CAN but i don't recomend it at all for a quality paint job. Just think about all of the impurities that are being put onto your base primer. Dirt, dust, salt, etc... If you want a want a truely quality paint job you don't expose the paint to any weather of any kind untill it has clear on it that has been dried(and shouldn't even really get wet untill it has cured.) Peace-

[Redypoo]

Originally Posted by PBking82

Yea like once! You think painted metal won't rust? That's about as far from the truth as Iraq had WMD's! Seriously, sure YOU CAN but i don't recomend it at all for a quality paint job. Just think about all of the impurities that are being put onto your base primer. Dirt, dust, salt, etc... If you want a want a truely quality paint job you don't expose the paint to any weather of any kind untill it has clear on it that has been dried(and shouldn't even really get wet untill it has cured.) Peace-

Well he didn't ask about anything else, he wanted to know if it'd rust.

[jveik]

yeah i put the laquer on it a while ago and now im in the long process of sanding and re-coating over and over again to get a smooth primer base. a painter i know told me that as long as i dont let water sit on the laquer primer too long, it shouldn't rust underneath. I know that primer does let water through unless it is also a sealer, lol that happened to me when i was just messin around and primed part of my bedside with rattlecan primer. rusted pretty quickly.