I'm putting on my qaurter panel this weekend and doing some body work. :D I want to prime after i get it welded and sanded. I don't have a compressor yet and was wondering what alternative way of appling primer, shaker can? electic prayer? cheaper gun and small compressor?. I'm having the car painted by a coworker after I have all the body work done.I'm doing the body work myself and don't have the money to go out and buy a good enough compressor and gun to do the paiting. :rolleyes: Thanks for you help on this, I'm sure someone has ran into this same problem. :D

Transtar and PPG offer a direct to metal roll on primer that some of the shops in my area swear by. The Transtar is preferred over PPG because it has a longer shelf life. The PPG version is listed in the specialty coatings division. I haven't tried them myself but the results I've seen look good. I bet adhesion isn't as good as a self etch type or epoxy but I haven't seen or heard of any problems and I investigate repair complaints often working as an inspector. Stay away from the spraybombs and 1K primers IMO. Bob

Personally am not a bog fan of DTM primers, be it spray on or brush on. They just dont offer the corrosion resistance that an epoxy or etch product provides.

If the metal is galvaized theres NOT a single DTM primer in the PPG line that will stick, you still need to etch or epoxy prime first.

The DTM primers in the regular PPG Deltron line would NCP primers but they are NOT rollable. As Bob mentioned the specialty line offers a few.

One would be SX1080 which is DTM primer. In the tech sheet it says:
Product may be applied to metal for small dent and crease repairs. SX1080 is not recommended for larger areas such as full panel replacement.

The other rollable product would SX1060. The tech sheet says the same thing about this primer as well. Fine for small spot repairs, DONT use on large panels.

The difference between 1080 and 1060 is 1080 is a lower VOC primer which is meant for areas like CA.

To me 1080 or 1060 would be fine for production body shop doing spot repairs but for a resto were the whole car is bare metal, not me. Ill stick with my etch and epoxy.

Just something that I found, if you have problems with either of those products 1080 or 1060 PPG doesnt back them as they are NOT warrentied products

Yeah I plan on either etch or epoxy primers, but I need to know before go out and waste money. I'm sure theres someone out there who has been in the same boat as I am, small or no compressor doing a resto job. I don't wanna go out and spend $800 for a good compressor and $400 on a good gun if i can do it with a small $300 com. and a cheapo gun for Priming only. having a family 2 kids got to get the car done and save money when I can. all your help on this would be great. ;)

Gary, you dont need a 400 dollar sata to spray paint. Many great guns out there in the 100 dollar range.
I have a 120 dollar gun bought off the MAC tool truck that I use for etch primer. Ive also sprayed topcoats with it also. Its a great gun.

Shrape makes a good gun with the cobalt at around 140 bucks. Theres some website outthere that sells rebuilt shrape guns at un real prices. Try doing a search.

Astro makes a good gun for the money most are around 80-120 bucks. www.autobodytoolmart.com (http://www.autobodytoolmart.com)

One thing you need to keep in mind is that since you wont have the best compressor you CANT use a 400 sata in the first place. Sata's are air hogs as with most other HVLP guns, they LOVE air!
You would need to buy a conventional gun that runs on air pressure instead of air volume.

Most body supply stores Ive been in sell Astro or Nesco guns. They might not be the best guns in the world but are good guns for the money.
Look for a NON HVLP gun with a tip of around 1.4-1.6

So would useing shacker can for primer or electic spayer work, for primer spraying? :rolleyes:

So would useing shaker can for primer or electic spayer work, just for primer spraying? :rolleyes:

Diamont (BASF) offers a spray can etch primer that works really well. (AM700) After you spray the etch , you can use a roller for their DP20 primer with ph12 hardener 4:1 ratio. I'm not a big fan of rolling on primer, but this will work. This is a very high build primer. Hope this helps.

I have also heard that the Astro is a very good gun for the money (around $100) and you can get a compressor for around $300. I have painted a few items on my car myself with an $80 HVLP gun and a Craftsman compressor and am very happy with the results.

Black70454,

Hmmmm. Didn't know that you could "roll" DP20. I'm in the midst of using it now. Have a few places that I will need to spot in. Have used those Preval sprayersas a quick/easy cleanup way to spot in some places....when I don;t want to pull out the gun. This roller thing sounds like it might be a convenient way too.

What kind of roller do you use?

Thx