The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Last minute paint advice

I'm just about ready to spray my upper cab with acrylic enamel. I've spent the last two weeks prepping drip rails, welding holes, grinding and sanding. I took everything down to bare metal, used a phosphoric acid metal prep, applied 3 coats of Rust Bullet to drip rails, then sprayed a few coats of etch primer. The last coat of etch primer went on this morning along with some seam sealer around drip rails.
I'm planning on doing 2 coats of flat white Dupont tomorrow. Then 2 more on Thursday.
So, did I miss anything? Or am I ready for top coat? Sealer over the etch primer? Anything between the etch and top? Just shut up and shoot?
-David

take yer pick did you do any sanding on the primer? use a primer-surfacer? I'd use at least a sealer, but then I'm not a painter either

Bill

I'm gonna sand just a tad before the enamel. It's actually pretty good. I was planning on letting it sit over the weekend and then wet sanding top coat next week.

that'd prolly do, but I'd still look into using a sealer, but you should check on what's usual for the paint type/brand you're using

Bill

what etching primer did you use? what paint single or bc let me know I took dupont's chroma system class a few years back
with etching primer you need to either primer over or seal over.

I used Mar Hyde self etching primer.
Mar-Hyde

you\'ll find it here

Bill

I just went and bought some primer surfacer. Gonna do a couple coats of that and then the white tomorrow.
-David

sounds good. just make sure that all of your areas around opennnings, edges corners are sanded down. those are the main spots people miss of forget.

White is easy. Just practice on a scrap piece to set up your gun because color never sprays the same as primer.

Alrighty, will do.
Didn't like that primer surfacer at all. It was VERY dusty. Didn't have any dust problems with the Rust Bullet or the etch primer.
Didn't like the seam sealer either. Had the consistency, look and feel of tub/tile caulk.
Glad to hear white is easy as I'm a bit concerned about jacking things up. I've spent so much time prepping and trying to get this right. You'll see a grown man cry if I've gotta start all over.
Hopefully, I'll get a couple coats of white on tomorrow (after I sand and rinse and clean that darn primer surfacer).
-David

Get the 3M seam sealer that is two parts, its called self-leveling, works good. Brian

You won't have to start over if you make a mistake on the final coat. In a worst case scenario, you'd have to wet sand the top coat and repaint. That's not a huge deal. A pain in the butt but nothing to freak about. Many painters plan on putting two top coats on anyway. Just make sure that your paint is mixed properly so that it flows out well and check your gun settings before you begin shooting.

Rule #1 when you have it as clean as possible clean it again.

OK, is there something specific I should paint over the seam sealer with? A guy at work said something about "Bulldog". And then topcoat over it. Does this sound familiar?
Jury's still out on the seam sealer I already applied. Gotta check it in the morning.
-David

the only thing that I would add to the paint is some flex additive. by dupont code 2350s. then you will never have to wory about cracks on the seams