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First of all, thanks for any help I have been given in the past on weldign, and quarters. It has been great. Now, I have been workign on putting 1/4's on my 64 for what seems like forever. I learned to mig weld. Made mistakes(too tight door gap, I ended up cutting and rewelding), and I am trying to do the bodywork thing to fix imperfections and make the thing straight. Except for the 1/4's the car is in paint. I have a few questions. DO I need to put the whole car in primer before paint(even the previously painted surfaces)? What are the next steps, liek what grit sandpaper do I use when and where? I have Evercoat Polyester primer to put on the car. How do I know when I am far enough along to do that? This is becoming very frustrating for this bodywork dummy. Seems like my car will enver be one color again.

I went through all this last winter with mine. Good advice would be to walk away from it for a while if your getting frustrated. It is supposed to be fun lol. A few times I had to leave mine alone for a few days when I became overwhelmed with all the work. Believe me its worth it. When you are done and look at your accomplishments you will forget about those trying days. Some very knowledgable people on here can help you with proper procedures, try a search, there is lots of great info available. Remember have fun doing it


Jerry

From waht Iunderstand .. you have" ALL the Body work done EXCEPT the 1/4's ??
IS that your NEXT challenge ???? to hang your 1/4 skins ?

Actually quarters are on now it is time to get teh body ready for paint.

After all your body work is done, I would prime the whole car, making sure there are no imperfections in the old painted areas. Wet sand smooth with about 600 grit. Before actual color, you should apply primer/sealer to make sure nothing bleeds through. The prep is the most important part of the final product. You can paint a car with crap paint as long as it's prepped right. But the best paint in the world will look lousy and not last if the prep isn't done right. More work now saves work later. And makes it all worth while!

Unless your car is a real rough mutha, forget the polyester primer. That primer is great stuff, I swear by it. But it is a very specialized product to be used to fill very big imperfections. This stuff is so thick you could tape a quarter to your fender and bury it!! It is very rough, and harder to sand than a urethane.

You do not need to prime the previously painted panels. In fact, unless they needed a lot of surfacing and you have hit bare metal and things like that, there is no need for primer.

Martin I've always agreed with everything you've said but this. If he's a rookie he should go ahead and prime the entire car just so the new paint will get even shading from panel to panel. Better to do it this way than to find out later that the car doesn't match all over. If he was painting it black no problem, but he might be shooting a lite color. And for all we know about his old paint is it could be uncatalyzed enamel. Not good when you top it with a bc/cc system.
You see where I'm going with this. Sometimes giving info we're better to play it safe with newbies than just assuming.

See ya
RandyB.
Black 67 chevelle prostreet 468 solid roller
67RS/SS 4spd
www.angelfire.com/ky2/mycars (http://www.angelfire.com/ky2/mycars)

That being said about teh types of paint, how can I tell what type of paint is on teh car? Teh intention as per my one friend was to put a sealer on teh car just prior to basecoat. Bearnig that in mind, do you still recommend primerign the entire car? And I was planning to go with a light color. Hide my newbie mistakes a little better. I would be crazy to go black on my first car. DOnt ya think?

Take time to make sure that replacement quarter is straight. I put a replacement quarter on my 64 and it was a little wavy. Take the extra time to quide coat and block. I am an amature to and it took about 3 to 4 times to filler primer and guide coat. It was frustrating and took time but the quarter turned out great and is straight.
Good luck.

I definately support the recomendation to prime the complete vehicle. But don't use the polyester on the old painted surfaces only where the quarter replacement is. Once the quarters are shaping up with the polyester, prime the complete vehicle with the urethane primer and guide coat the complete car. Block sand with 400grit and repeat the process until no flaws show. Final sand with 600 grit paper and follow up with a good rubdown with a doubled up fine scotchbrite to mellow out any cut marks made by a wrong stroke with the sanding block. Now you're ready for sealer and paint. Any imperfections not repairable with primer noticed after the first blocking are usually repairable with a polyester glaze coat if the body work is fairly straight. Bottom line is the better the bodywork the less blocking required. Hope you've got lots of elbow grease, take it a panel at a time. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

If you take your time and concentrate on one panel at a time with a guide coat and blocking like bob said you can paint it any color you desire. Make sure their are no deep scratches left in the primer before shooting if your thinking of putting a metallic paint on it as it will really show the scratches. Solid colors are a bit more forgiving. But if you go over it with a fine eye a panel at a time you'll be fine.

Good luck
RandyB..

Randy, I am big on using primer as a base. However, if you are not going to strip the old paint than the primer will add too much to the film thickness. It may not be a big deal, it is hard to say without checking the film thickness. But one thing is for sure, polyester would be too much.

The way I see it is that this is a perfect time to use a good sealer. Block the painted panels, using the paint as a surfacer. Sand the whole thing with 320 and seal and paint.