The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Flat black spray - No better than primer?

Hey all,
Is flat black spray paint, i.e. the cheap stuff at walmart, just as porous as gray primer? Is it no better at keeping moisture out than primer?
My truck has been gray primer since I bought it and up to this point I've just been sanding areas of surface rust and spraying again with primer. That's starting to get old and the surface rust is starting to get out of control.
I decided to start working on small areas at a time, priming it and then flat black in hopes to keep the moisture out. Every night in San Diego, dew builds up on top surfaces and just sits.
I used flat black on a couple areas and already I can see metallic looking corrosion spots forming. I was very diligent in removing every last speck of rust in the area.
I don't want a slick looking truck. It's a work truck and daily driver. Any ideas?

Primer is not meant to stop rust. It is meant to form a base for paint to stick to the surface. You need to either use paint or a sealer on top of the primer.

Yes, that was my intent with the flat black paint.

If you use epoxy primer it will keep seal and keep your truck from rusting. However, its a 2 part system, so you need a spray gun and compressor to shoot it.

You could use a Preval sprayer to spray up to a pint of epoxy primer if you don't have a compressor and spray gun. Here's a web outlet but should be available at your local house paint store.

http://autobodystore.net/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=P2

How 'bout Dupli-Color's products, "Primer Sealer" or "Weld/Through Cold Galvanized Primer" in spray cans? Anyone have experience with these? I'm trying to go cheap and easy. Just like my women! Heehee! Kidding of course.

Well, I'm painting everything on the frame with a brush, X-O Rust Red Metal Primer, and X-O Rust Satin Black. Cheap, about $6 a quart (and a quart goes a long way when using a brush) and easy (anybody can use a brush).

A tmy shop we use 3 different products for flat black. 1 Duvau, witch is commercial grade paint. you can paint anything with it. you will have to find a dealer of it though. 2 trackter paint, you can get it at any trackter suply company. 3 this one is the best. DP90 from ppg

The DP90 expoxy primer/sealer is an excellent two-part product. DP90LF is the lead-free version. 90 is the number-code for black. There are other number-codes for other colors of this expoxy primer (many people recommend using a primer color similar in tone to the final coat).

This information is a little out-of-date and there might be more colors now: DP40 is gray/green, DP48 is white, DP50 is gray, DP74 is red, and DP90 is black. You can obtain identical colors in DPLF as well as DP60LF, which is blue.

Tim

Well, I got a couple cans of Dupli-color's "Primer Sealer". Sanded the tops of the bedsides down to bare again (the dew sits on top of bed rails), primed them, applied the primer seal and then sprayed the flat black. I used 2 coats of primer, 2 coats of primer seal and now, at 94 cents a can, lots of flat black. Be cool if it holds up, time will tell. Hopefully it works until I buy a 230V air compressor and get it hooked up.

If you want a tough flat black, find your nearest John Deere dealer and go get some Blitz Black. A gallon is like $26 and you can use regular mineral spirits to thin it. If you want more info I got a tons of info for it I can post.

I have to tell you, if you are spraying this primer and flat black out of a rattle can, it will not protect much, if at all. A 2K primer like epoxy or urethane will protect from moisture "to a point". It is not designed to do that job, paint is. It will however protect for some time against rain or washing with no ill effects. But it is not designed to protect for extended periods of time.

The 1K primer from a rattle can, it will do almost NOTHING. Even one washing will likely cause damage.

For the sheckel you've already spent on rattle cans you may have been able to "Scheib it" or something similiar. No longer any car any color for $29.95 but you'd probably get better metal protection for that daily driver. JMO

So "Primer Sealer" in a rattle can is just a big waste of time?
And if I were to use an epoxy primer with flat black spray, it would only prolong the inevitable?

If paint is the only thing that keeps moisture out, what flat black can I use? Are the tractor paints the best bet for flat black?
Should I use a couple coats of actual topcoat (like a gloss black) then apply the flat black over that?
And yeah, I thought about Scheib but, I still got a lot of body work to do like cutting out old metal and replacing. Right now I'm just concerned with top areas where the dew sits nightly.

The paints you get from TSC and the sort arent the greatest paints to use.

JD Blitz Black is a good paint to use, it is very strong, they use it on the lower portion of the cabs, the part that runs by the wheels.

The downside to it, it is tough so it doesnt sand easily to paint over, so down the line you are still gonna want to strip it to lay down real paint.

But if you're looking for a cheap long term paint, I would say this is the way to go.

Seeing as how I don't ever want "real" paint, that's not a problem. I'm not into slick vehicles. Although... I went and looked at the new Dodge Magnum RT with 390 ft. lbs. of torque. That's a slick car I could drive!
I'll check out the tractor paint. Thanks.

Mugsy,

If the flat look is what you want, that can be done. Use DP90 for the prime coat to get a good base, then use DCC9300 (or is it 9330) with a flatener addative. Then you get a finish that will stand up for more than a week and the flat finish you want.

I hate to see someone do all the work only to have it rusty before Christmas. If you use the cheap stuff, by this time next year you will be doing it all over.

And this DP90 and DCC? is the tractor paint? And made by whom?
I live in San Diego but, there are plenty of ranches 20 minutes away so I'm sure I can find a retailer.

Both are PPG products. I'm sure there are similar products in other brands that would do the exact same. I use PPG because that's what I learned with. Please note that it will not be anywhere near as cheap as the farm stuff, but it will last for many years looking as good then as today. What costs more, paying a chunk for paint that keeps your ride the way you like it, or doing cheaper now but repeating several times.

Bottom line, what's more fun, painting or driving?

Check around for an auto paint supplier in your area. If you cant find ppg, try one of the other better brands.