TheSamba.com :: View topic - Finally get her in epoxy! (After a month of waiting!)

Sun Nov 30, 2014 9:59 am

The man doing my car was tied up for a month and it just sat there for a month in bare metal killing me!!

At least I know it's protected now somewhat! I'm going to put the body under a cover for now and start working on the bodywork with the small stuff first like fenders, etc.
My wife likes the SPI epoxy primer look and I kinda agree!! Hahaha
Has anyone just done bodywork and then re sprayed it with epoxy primer and rolled with it? I would assume it needs some. Sort of protective topcoat too right??

Sun Nov 30, 2014 6:47 pm

looks nice so far 8)

Mon Dec 01, 2014 3:52 pm

I've heard of people putting clearcoat over epoxy primer, but I have no experience doing it. I'm pretty sure the epoxy primer is not UV proof - most primers chalk up when they are exposed to too much sunlight. There are also low gloss and satin sheen paints & clearcoats to get that primer look from a UV resistant paint.

Tue Dec 02, 2014 10:58 am

Hey cool, I was just wondering about you after all your questions, looks great. A big step ahead from where you were, and you can take your time on the bodywork now.
As far as the primer I think Mark has it right and with all the hot rod flat paints out now it would make no sense not to topcoat it with something that's meant to be a final coating.

Tue Dec 02, 2014 11:12 am

marklaken wrote: I've heard of people putting clearcoat over epoxy primer, but I have no experience doing it. I'm pretty sure the epoxy primer is not UV proof - most primers chalk up when they are exposed to too much sunlight. There are also low gloss and satin sheen paints & clearcoats to get that primer look from a UV resistant paint.

Yup, done that a few times, and had it chalk up. It needs some sort of top coat, as it's not UV protected. I have cleared it before, but that was for stuff not exposed to the sun. It held up well though.

OP, Keep in mind that most epoxy primers need to be top coated within a certain time, otherwise they'll need to be scuffed and reshot with fresh epoxy before any other work can be done to it.

Tue Dec 02, 2014 10:28 pm

Huh?? :shock:
It's been shot over a week ago and has been in my garage under a cover.
My PLAN is to do all of the bodywork on the fenders, decklid, and hood first. (They have all been epoxied a few weeks ago)
I planned on scuffing them up, filling, then what do I spray OVER the filler? Epoxy again or the 2k primer, then base, then clear?
Confused on my steps here and need a few pointers. I used the SPI brand epoxy primer but the painter said I have ALOT of bodywork to do before we ever THINK of base and clear.
The guys on the SPI user forums are quite snotty to be honest. The product appears to be very good though. In all, we sprayed 6 QUARTS on the body (inside and outside), body, decklid, hood, doors, and 6 fenders. Does that seem like a lot?

Wed Dec 03, 2014 9:41 am

The SPI website has instructions on how to use their products. You will need to scuff sand the epoxy primer before spraying the next coat of primer.

Since you were not able to do your body filler (bondo) work in the 7 day window (per SPI), you will need to give the epoxy a good scuff (or sand to bare metal) before doing body filler. It's best to topcoat the bondo with some more epoxy if you have any left - especially if you plan to wetsand your highbuild primer.

You can get away with applying a sealer or high build 2k primer over the cured epoxy, but you loose the benefit of the epoxy being really good substrate to adhere to when it is recently sprayed. Not a deal breaker, just a somewhat inferior way to do it. Do what the SPI website says.

Fri Dec 05, 2014 9:23 pm

marklaken wrote: The SPI website has instructions on how to use their products. You will need to scuff sand the epoxy primer before spraying the next coat of primer.

Since you were not able to do your body filler (bondo) work in the 7 day window (per SPI), you will need to give the epoxy a good scuff (or sand to bare metal) before doing body filler. It's best to topcoat the bondo with some more epoxy if you have any left - especially if you plan to wetsand your highbuild primer.

You can get away with applying a sealer or high build 2k primer over the cured epoxy, but you loose the benefit of the epoxy being really good substrate to adhere to when it is recently sprayed. Not a deal breaker, just a somewhat inferior way to do it. Do what the SPI website says.

Yup, the PPG epoxy (DP series) I use has a 7 day window too. Ideally, about an hour or so after the epoxy was shot, you shoot some 2K primer on it, so you'll have a surface for your fillers to adhere to.

However, since you're already past the "working window", you'll need to scuff it, and re-shoot whatever you're planning on working on, so you'll have a "fresh" surface for the 2K primers and fillers and such to grab onto. This is mainly because the epoxy needs a "mechanical grip" on the surface, and shooting over it with a 2K primer gives that primer a chemical grip to the epoxy. You can't do that after the 7 day window without scuffing, as the epoxy developes a shell (for a lack of a better term), and nothing will bite into it.
I hope this helps.

Sun Dec 07, 2014 3:59 pm

Good feeling when ya get them to that point ! Great start !