First time "real" painting.

[Girth]

Not much. Just heard this today, along with a '72 hr window' (was someone who does ALOT of higher end paint jobs too). I had always expected to have to scuff or sand it before high build primer, but never heard that it wont stick to 'cured' epoxy. WTF are you supposed to do - primer, seal, and paint all in one day? Only been 24hrs so I'd like to know if this is true or hype. I've known cars that sat in epoxy (covered) for years and then scuffed and finished. Dunno.

Ugh... googled, can't find much info on that product. Seems that TDS is missing the rest of the info, that would cover topcoating it.

I'd assume scuff/clean/topcoat, after it cures. Can't imagine it's different from most every other similar product. My TDS says....

Time to Topcoat
(Primer Option)
• Allow a minimum of 1 hour per coat
and a maximum of 24 hours at 75°F.
• Between 24–72 hours, primer must
be sanded prior to topcoating
• After 72 hours, primer must be
sanded and recoated with a single
coat prior to topcoating.

That's a Lumabase DTM epoxy though. Can't imagine yours is THAT much different?

 

[Doppleganger]

Ugh... googled, can't find much info on that product. Seems that TDS is missing the rest of the info, that would cover topcoating it.

I'd assume scuff/clean/topcoat, after it cures. Can't imagine it's different from most every other similar product. My TDS says....

Time to Topcoat
(Primer Option)
• Allow a minimum of 1 hour per coat
and a maximum of 24 hours at 75°F.
• Between 24–72 hours, primer must
be sanded prior to topcoating
• After 72 hours, primer must be
sanded and recoated with a single
coat prior to topcoating.

That's a Lumabase DTM epoxy though. Can't imagine yours is THAT much different?

I just talked to a guy thats worked in a dealer body shop for 20 yrs. He said to leave it til Spring then sand it all with 220 - and apply my high build. So sounds like I'll be hand sanding til I puke.

Only thing he mentioned that I question is my roof - I had bad oil canning and got it straightened out about 95% - but will still need a skim coat of bondo to make it 100%. He suggested sanding the epoxy off to bare metal and mudding that instead. Dunno.

Sorry to the OP for my mini-hijack.

 

[Girth]

I just talked to a guy thats worked in a dealer body shop for 20 yrs. He said to leave it til Spring then sand it all with 220 - and apply my high build. So sounds like I'll be hand sanding til I puke.

Only thing he mentioned that I question is my roof - I had bad oil canning and got it straightened out about 95% - but will still need a skim coat of bondo to make it 100%. He suggested sanding the epoxy off to bare metal and mudding that instead. Dunno.

Sorry to the OP for my mini-hijack.

While I've no background worthy of questioning a pro..... my TDS says to final sand the epoxy with 400-600 before topcoat. To me, that sounds like scotchbrite will do the job? All your edges on the cab, hand sanding the epoxy sounds like you're be touching up a bunch of edges where you burn through? Everyone has their methods I guess, and maybe some product variations?

In my reading there is a TON of argument over the body filler though. lol Some insist on bare metal. The "new tech" guys are adamant that modern epoxies allow the filler to adhere just fine (IF it's fresh epoxy, or prepped properly). The supposed benefit of filler over epoxy (if done right, so it bonds to the epoxy well), is the epoxy won't allow any water absorbed by the filler later on (say you get a paint chip) to get to your base metal, and start rusting under the filler.

I'm of the mind to fall back on my favorite saying It's a helicopter (well, truck, in this case), NOT the freakin' space shuttle. Just FIX it. I've got some light filler where I sanded through to bare metal. Some that were skimmed over the epoxy too. Time will tell.

 

[Grit dog]

Bottom line is regardless of what kind of paint or primer or clear, you have to sand (scuff) it before carrying on.
Too late now, but areas where you’re presumably not doing any more primer, like inside the cab and jambs, underside of hood etc, consider painting it right away. Pain in the ass to scuff all those areas.
Fortunately if you’re as bad of a painter as me, and as slow, that ain’t gonna happen, at least on the parts you can see, so I can use the extra sanding. Thanks to my shoddy body work. Ain’t bad on flat panels. Can machine sand epoxy, filler primer. But there’s usually enough blocking in filler coats it’s mostly by hand. Lol.

 

[Doppleganger]

Bottom line is regardless of what kind of paint or primer or clear, you have to sand (scuff) it before carrying on.
Too late now, but areas where you’re presumably not doing any more primer, like inside the cab and jambs, underside of hood etc, consider painting it right away. Pain in the ass to scuff all those areas.
Fortunately if you’re as bad of a painter as me, and as slow, that ain’t gonna happen, at least on the parts you can see, so I can use the extra sanding. Thanks to my shoddy body work. Ain’t bad on flat panels. Can machine sand epoxy, filler primer. But there’s usually enough blocking in filler coats it’s mostly by hand. Lol.

Sounds like regardless of the bare metal vs primer for bondo argument.....if you use epoxy you're almost forced to use bondo on bare metal in order to get it into paint ASAP. Seems like too much of a PITA to ever use it again.

 

[Grit dog]

Sounds like regardless of the bare metal vs primer for bondo argument.....if you use epoxy you're almost forced to use bondo on bare metal in order to get it into paint ASAP. Seems like too much of a PITA to ever use it again.

I’m just a shade tree. But you needed to use epoxy or etching because you went to bare metal.
. I wouldn’t use it otherwise I think.
Not a big deal. And sanding to metal for bondo should be quick and easy. You don’t put epoxy on thick.

 

[Doppleganger]

At this point, I'm considering letting it sit til Spring, then having it stripped....again.....and planning on the bondo to metal circus, painting in one day, maybe a whole different primer and just go from there. Sanding the large flat areas is no big deal but the firewall is a PITA - why I stripped it in the first place (had alot of rust and undercoating in the seams and crevices where you couldn't get). Hinges will get blasted again for sure. Gives me a few months to come up with $ anyways. Thing is worse than a boat.

I'm not even a shade tree - just a fking idiot. I'm about done with the whole mess. Wonder what its worth as it sits?

 

[legopnuematic]

I cannot speak to that specific epoxy you used, but for the Tamco epoxy products, that outside of the recoat window, just sand 180-220 and apply filler on top of the epoxy (after normal cleaning procedures, of course). Same for their 5300 series high build primers.

I have done it both ways, filler over primer, and under primer on bare metal. If all else equal, there should not be a difference using modern materials. I prefer to apply filler over a primed substrate however.

As far as sanding to recoat, I would recommend if you do not already, to pick up a 2” random orbit sander, 5 or 6” random orbit, and foam interface pads for both.

The interface pads are just thick foam pads that go in between the sander platen and the sanding disc, allowing it to form itself to the panel.