Thread: Help with choosing a primer/sealer for my car (outdoor storage)

Tweet

My 47 ford coupe was in grey primer when I obtained it, and the grey is over a metalic purple job that was covered in primer after a 1/4 pannel was replaced after a deer hit the car 6 months to a year before I purchased the car about 3 months ago. There are some areas around drip rails and a few spots where other pannels meet that rust bubbles are starting to show. I have shaved the trim and door handles on the car (filled with welded in metal, not bondo), and found that when I ground down these areas to weld, that there is probably more glazing putty on the pannels than there should be (not filling dents, but just a thick coat that was never properly blocked down enough). I do not think that there is a coat of any sealer or etching primer between the metal and the glazing putty. I originaly planned on grinding down any areas where rust was showing to come through, spray it with Eastood Rust Encapsulator, re-glaze it, and then prime and seal the whole car (I want it in semi-flat black anyway). I know that eventually I want to strip the whole car, properly seal it, do my body work, and prime and paint the car properly so the car lasts as long as I do (im only 21, the car is almost 60, and has a lot longer to go). For now, I want to do the best I can before winter comes to at least protect the car the best I can. Untill the winter comes, the car will need to stay outdoors this year. I was looking at House of Kolor KO-SEAL II, as it seems pretty reasonably priced, and I can easily get it through Eastwood (I live in Maryland, and cant find a good auto paint supplier around here). I have sprayed plenty of cheap laquer primer in the past few years, and have a nice HLVP gun, but have never worked with epoxy/urethane primers before. I also plan on coating all of the unseen areas in POR15. What is the best way to tackle my sealing situation?
Thanks In Advance,
Chad (my 1st post)

Welcome to CHR, Chad. Sounds like a nice priject you're starting on. I will leave the sealer advice to the paint guru's, I am sure they will be along later with some answers and advice. Hope you enjoy your stay here.

Thanks Dave,
I love the car. I have a 55 buick special that sits in the garage (its a nice "pretty" car), because the little ford is so much fun with the 302 under the hood. I drive it to school sometimes (community college) and all the kids with souped up hondas and "tuner" crap just stare and wonder. I have loved 50's era cars ever since I was a little kid, but once I saw the 47, i had to have it. So far I have shaved the handles and trim, installed solenoids, and now the Air Ride system is sitting here begging to be installed. Stock Classics are cool, but once they are done, half the fun is over. A hot rod or custom will draid your wallet forever! I have big plans for the car, and Im sure this forum will be a big help!
Chad

If you're going to strip it properly in the future along with working area by area, for the short term you can get satin black and sealer in one; PPG DP90

When you do decide to do a good job, I would consider sandblasting all of the old paint and bodywork off of the car. You will want to be sure that you have put an end to any rusting or bad workmanship. Find a company that has done car bodies before. Tell them to get in to all of the pitted areas. Follow immediately with a self etching primer, then with a urethane that will seal it, and you can do bodywork on it. If you do it right, and take proper care of it, the paint and bodywork can last almost indefinitely.

All primer sealers , primer surfacers are porus , moistuer will penetrate in time . They are not ment for sealing out water or moisture !!!
They are designed to seal off the metal , and other substraits before the final finish/topcoat ,thats what seals everything from water/moisture.

If you can get youself ahold of a MILL guage ( local Jobber may have one to let you use ) , check over the whole car to see just how much material is on it , more then 9 mils is way to thick .
Need to get everything to raw metal , and rebuild it up for a good long lasting paint job !
SprayTech

Thanks for all of your help. Spraytech, if I seal in DP90, then cover it in a urethane black basecoat, and clearcoat with flattener added, will that work as proper protection, but keep the semi-flat look?
Thanks,
Chad

That should work .
That is if you have bare steel and do it that way .
If there is already color down , and you just sand it ( not going through the paint ) then spray the DP90 ,
no moisture penetration should get to the metal .

I have see the Horror stories of guys taking their rods to bare steel , then just spraying the DP 90 and running it that way for a year or so , then they just sand it , and lay color , then they start seeing these little tiny bubbles coming through the paint.
Thats rust popping through the paint , as when you sand it down to see whats under it , there are tiny little surface spots starting .

I have also see this at the shop , when we have had a bad hail storm , and the body men have had to sand the roof down to bare steel fixing the dents , and it being hot here in KS . They will lay their sweaty forearms on the raw metal , not thinking , it drys , then they send it to me , and I wil wax & grease remove the panels , as it will not remove the salt content of the sweat , and I will prime over it , prep the panels , and paint it , then about 6 months later the customer will bring the car back because they see these tiny little bubbles showing , and sure enough , when I sand it to the metal , there is rust forming .
So becareful where you lay your hands , or drip sweat , as raw metal can get a hazing of surface rust quick , even with just a minimum of humidity !

SprayTech

I agree that using a base/clear combo will not be a problem, UNLESS the problem starts at, or under the old paint.

I always discourage using primer as a final finish. You are painting it to look better, but in fact it will fail pretty quickly, and then, guess what?....It won't look better, and then you have lost both your time and your materials cost. Why not just do it right?

I don't take any chances. Whenever I expose bare metal I ALWAYS metal prep it...PERIOD! The rusting can start simply from the moisture in the air, and it's microscopic, so you can't see it....and you know what? I NEVER have rusting under the paint, since I started this practice over 20 years ago. I've read many people's advise that you should sand, and then prime immediately, but I like to sleep at night, so I just do it. I mean it takes a few minutes, and you can do a whole car for $5. Why would a painter even consider risking the loss the entire job for that? It is by doing things this way, that I can guarantee my work as long as a customer owns it! Beside that, the only cure for rusting is to strip and start over, and also, I hate painting anything twice! :-)~

Hot Rod Paint,

Now you've scared me. I have some Body work that I am doing in my shop, it has been exposed to air AND I have touched it without metal prepping it-what do I do next?

Painting has always seemed to be a "dark art" to me-there seems to be so many interpretations on how to do the same thing.

If you haven't painted it yet, there is no reason to worry. If you have bare metal, and it has rusted, sand it to remove most of the discoloration. Now simply wipe any bare spots down with metal prep, following the instructions for that product. Let it dry, then wipe with wax & grease remover, and let that dry. Now paint.

i wear brown jersey gloves for this reason while i'm working on a car. helps keep the rusty fingerprints off of it. saves some wear and tear on my hands also.

Shine , excellent tip !

And the wearing of the gloves also helps a person feel their work , the little bit of cloth will help you feel waves to an untrained hand !

An old bodyman trick from many years ago , just a simple little clean rag , and run it over your work slow , with a flat hand fingers together back and forth -up and down. ( ungloved of course if using the rag trick )

Spray

I've even used paper towels to feel surface imperfections! Whatever keeps your fingertips from confusing you with minor stuff.

hey for ur car i would suggest sanding the car to bare metal and spraying ppg dp90 its a black epoxy primer. and good luck with ur project