Im going to have the front half of my car media blasted with plastic grit. The shop that is going to do the work said they also sand blast certain areas if the plastic grit cannot do the job. After searching the archives I need to put down either an epoxy or etching primer. I know that I will be needing to do some filler work and possibly some welding.

So, would it be better to shoot the panels w/ an etching primer and the sand the area down to metal that I need to work on, or apply epoxy and put the filler on top of it? This is something that I won't have allot of time to work on, so which one would be better to let sit? What process should I go about to prep the parts after the blasting?

MARTINSR, I did a search for two of your post and could not find them. The one on aligning body panels and the order to paint a car from prep to finish. If you could point them out that would be great.

Thanks

Hi, This is DG from Dayton (outside of Springfield actually), Ohio. How much is your blast gonna cost? I am looking to do the other half on my 70 Chevelle (I have done the fenders & hood already).

I saw a van at Wright-Patterson AFB AutoHobby shop in a body work stall that had been media blasted. Looked great. Sat inside the bay for at least a month while he did final sanding before he primered it. No flash rust.

I would use a bare metal wash to remove any reside or oxides. Probably be a good idea to get reccommendations from your paint supplier and the media shop.

If it was me, I'd try to blow off as much dust/media as I could outside of the area you are gonna paint. I'd try to keep the ground wet so you don't kick up dust. Don't forget to open/close the doors sevral times to shake out the particles. Vaccuum, vaccuum, Vaccuum. There is a product called Metal Wash, it's for bare metal. Use that. Then wipe down with several tack cloths. Then I'd shoot it with metal etch. This is assuming you have cleaned up any areas they miss.

The metal etch is easy to use a grinder on to feather back an area to weld on. Just don't wanna sand more than you need. Besides it's cheap insurance against rust, relatively speaking. I think I used 2/3 of a quart on all the front end metal and a trunk lid.

Where are you gonna have yours done? I found one in Columbus, but haven't recieved a reply to an email about ball park prices.

Thanks

DG, the quote I got was $375 to do my doors, fender and hood, all off the car of course. The shop is called American Reclaiming, there closer to Cincy.

Did you call Redy Strip (sp?)in Columbus? They tould me $100 for the hood and $85 apece for the rest. Deejay came through for me on finding AR.

There is a place near middle town called HY-Blast 513-424-0704 (should be the number) that does this. I haven't had a chance to call them so if you do I would be interested in what they charge per piece.

sportster, I like to get all the body work done and then etch and urethane primer. If you have a lot of humitity and need to get it covered, I would say just epoxy prime it. I am a BIG believer in etch, but I am swaying towards epoxy more and more. If you have a need for some extra corrosion protection, use the etch and then the epoxy. But I think in the real world, the epoxy over the bare metal is plenty.
Sand the bare metal with 180 on a DA and prime! Have fun with it.

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1965 Buick Gran Sport Convertible
1965 Buick Skylark H/T
"Fan of most anything that moves human beings"

I would like to use the etching primer because of its benifts towards helping fight off rust.

Do you think I will have enough time to do the body work to the parts before I have to start worring about rust?

Could I shoot etching primer and sand off the areas I'm going to be working on? Or would it be easier to just shoot it in epoxy and work on the parts then.

This will be my first time spraying anything with a gun, so which ever will be the route with less chance to mess up the better.

When you get it back throw DX 1791 on it and your good to go. Easy, affordable, and you can top coat over it later and still see what your working on. We do this with every car we start.

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Micky Hale Restorations
69 L-89 Chevelle
68 Biscayne 427/425
34 Plymouth Drag Car
ACES #134
www.mickyhale.com (http://www.mickyhale.com)

Most etch primers and epoxies are not designed to stand alone (Especially in weather or sun) for even a small ammount of time. Spies Hecker makes an etch primer (3255) that can stand up to weather for up to 6 months. But an even better system is to use their best etch (3688), then apply a urethane primer (8590). You can let this sit for a while, then sand it with 220 grit, than apply your filler right over the primer . This is you best option fot rust prevention. Do not use epoxy on bare metal. It will give you almost no corrosion protection.
Gordon VM
Restoration Mororsports
http://communities.msn.com/Restorationphotos/shoebox.msnw

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by GVMLS6:
Do not use epoxy on bare metal. It will give you almost no corrosion protection.
Gordon VM
Restoration Mororsports
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Gordon,

I respectfully disagree with you on this.
Do you have some example or evidence to support this?
I have used epoxy on bare ( blasted or sanded ) metal and nothing will penetrate it after it cures. Including brake fluid, laquer tinner etc. I have had parts sit outside in the weather for a year and looked the same as when I put them out. A little sun bleached, but that's it.
If you don't get the metal sealed or fail to spray an edge, yes, it will rust. But that is not the epoxies fault.

It just occured to me that we may be talking about two different things. I am talking about the two part epoxy paint. The one that uses hardener to paint in a 1:1 ratio.

Dave



[This message has been edited by SS_Dave (edited 04-24-2002).]

I will be using PPG paints on the car so if you guys know the part# or names for there products post them.

The car is going to be in a garage. Once I start having stuff blasted I plan on having all the parts back on the car and primed and ready for high build primer.

If you are blasting them off the car, I would prime them off the car and then put them on. That way you will be sure to paint everywhere it was blasted. The epoxy I used was from NAPA. Will make 2 gallons of primer.

Dave,yes I do have proof in the form of comparison between epoxy and etch prime. I don't believe everything I am told or read. I often do my own testing. I urge you to do the same. Paint a piece of metal, half with epoxy and half with etch primer. You can also apply urethane over both if you want. Take a sharpened punch and scratch a line all the way to bare metal. Then leave outside. Accelerate the process by spraying on salt water. Keep in the sun. You will soon see that the etch side is superior at holding back rust to the epoxy side. As I mentioned earlier, PPG has proven this, Spies has proven it, (and doesn't even have an epoxy)and most of the other paint manufacturers also don't recommend using epoxy.
And , yes epoxies may be tough externally but the problem come from underneath. Rust will form much quicker under epoxy than it will under etch primer and will eventually cause adhesion problems and rust through.
I don't know why so many people are still stuck on epoxy when paint manufacturers have long since moved on to newer and better things.
Gordon VM
Restoration Motorsports
http://communities.msn.com/Restorationphotos/shoebox.msnw

Gordon,

I have not tried your test, but I might try it. I did not consider the possibilities if the paint has been scratched to base metal. I do know that if you don't get all the rust off before you paint and water and oxygen can get under the paint, it will rust through even with epoxy. The idea is to seal the metal either by welding or a water proof filler before painting to avoid problems. I can't pick the etching primer appart, because I have not used it. I can say that I have used epoxy many times and I haven't experienced any of the rusting or rust through that you describe, however I am not opposed to trying something new.

Dave

Dave, the scratch test is a test that all coating manufacturers use to test the durability of their coatings. They apply the coating, scratch it down to bare metal, then put it in a "salt spray" cabinet. The cabinet cycles between a spray of salt water and heat. After a number of hours of these cycles, they measure what they call "creep" or how far the rust creeps into the coating from the scratch in a certain length of time. This is very controled and scientific, but can be duplicated somewhat by putting the scratch part ouside in the sun and spraying salt water on it from time to time.You won't get correct number of "salt spray hours, but you can compare different coatings applied to the same part.

Gordon VM
Restoration Motorsports