The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop To paint or only to Prime

While I have the hood, grill, nose off the old girl I was going to sandblast them and paint them up. I will still have the fenders, the cab and the doors to deal with. Of course they all need some TLC.

Question: Do you think I should put on the finish coat on these panels that are off or should i just have them primed? Why?

THanks

I think yer better off to get all the metal work done and everything primed first, then make sure it all fits back together well, then do the final paint - you'll find fitting the front metal back on can be a struggle - best to make it all right first rather than cuss yerself for screwin up the fresh paint!

Bill

If it were me, I would just prime them for now. Get the other parts done and paint them all at the same time. If you paint now, that means the parts sit around and can get nicked or if something comes up that you can't finish the rest of the parts right away, the color could fade a touch and won't match the others. Not sure why you would want to paint just a couple of pieces anyway. Cecil........

Seems to me that you could put the first coat of color on these parts since primer doesn't protect the metal from moisture or any other contaminants. Even if you are storing the primed parts in the garage all covered up, moisture could still do it's work. My 2 cents, Smitty

if your driving it and its in the weather id be painting it we had a chevelle we primed and drove it was epossable to keep the rust off now its painted and looks grate paint it

sounds like your thinking well i've got it apart lets paint it. this is one suggestion,spray your engine compartment and the areas on the cab were the fenders hood hinges etc. bolt to.do the body work to the parts that are removed prime them then paint your inners eg. underside of hood fender edges just let the over spray land on the primer it works as a good guide coat for furure blocking then reassemble your truck. as far as the primer is concerned inthe weather (some will disagree) as long as it is catalized you should be fine if you still concerned you can put a coat of sealer over the primer right after you prime then paint the inners just a thought

I'm doing the body work on my son's 66 one piece at a time so had the same concerns. Regular primer will soak up moisture so is no good for anything that might sit outside. I went with epoxy primer (PPG Omni) and my supplier tells me it also seals.

The only concern would be that you will have to reprime before painting. The product sheet says "MP170 MUST be scuffed and reapplied if allowed to sit more than 3 days".

Talk to your paint supplier and tell them what you are doing and they should be able to suggest a primer that will work for you.

You can put a coat of paint on them before installing. Some people do that, then shoot a final coat after they are installed if necessary.