coreyt

Hello everyone, I am getting ready to prime my 75 corvette, I stripped the paint to the fiberglass using mainly a razor scraper and in particularly curvy areas a da sander. There are lots of blemishes and nicks on the car and I intend to fill them with epoxy resign. My question is how smooth do I need to get the body before I prime. Ofcourse I will fill noticeable imperfections but should I also fill the small nicks if I try to fill all of them I think I'm going to cause myself more problems than good. Will a high build primer cover small imperfections?
Thanks,
Corey

jnb5101

use an epoxy primer before repairing the glass. the repair materials bond to the primer better than the bare glass.

MrForce

Anything you can feel with your eyes closed needs to be taken care of.

Mick71

When you are sick and tired of filling and sanding, you know you're about half way ready for primer. Take your time now, the amount of surface prep is the difference between a $1000 paint job and a $10,000 paint job.
P.S. I found that taking a cold shower first after doing glass work is a good idea. It cuts down on the itch. Wear long sleeves too.
Careful with that DA, it's easy to make more work for yourself with one.

DUB

If the bare glass is prepped correctly...and correct materials used to do a repair...the use of epoxy primer for an "adhesion promoter" is not needed....because before there was epoxy primer...there are and still are products that will adhere to bare glass quite well. I have not nor will not use an epoxy primer and then apply a material over it for body repair. BUT...to each his/her own. BUT I will use epoxy primer for painting in certain areas after all body work and priming have been completed. Steel repairs is another issue entirely.

No matter how long you spend on prepping a car for primer...there will ALWAYS be something that will show up when you prime. There is a point where you have to shoot it...and that is what the primer is for....filling imperfections. Prime ...block sand...re-prime. Use a guide coat in aiding you in blocksanding. Like earlier mentioned...feel the car with your eyes closed and use a clean towel under your hand...it magnifies what your hand can feel.

DUB

coreyt

Thanks for the advice, your not kidding about the itching, after my first day of sanding I was on fire. I have been using a plastic mjump suite ever since.

coreyt

Thanks everyone for the info, I've spent more time than I can count on this body and I really appreciate all of you being willing to add insight to ensure I do the job right.

tommy1727

I highly recommend /encourage the use of epoxy primer. There are several reasons, which I won't go into detail about now, but it is the best product available. Sand the glass with 180 then epoxy prime. Then you can do your mud work right on top of the epoxy. Once everything is filled and smoothed, re-epoxy before applying base coat.

johnt365

As stated above, make your repairs and get the old pant off and then seal it. Then lay on the primer . The primer is thick. I used beige primer and dusted it with a black guide coat and blocked it off. Then you can focus on smoothing all the black spots. Prime , block repeat till there is no sign of your guide coat.

vetteman1976

What dub said!! I agree...
J

oldschoolvette

The paint will magnify anything you leave behind. The smoother the car before you paint the better. Its the entire 1000 vs 10,0000 talk above.

your hands will tell you when its ready if you can feel it, see it
it aint ready. roll it out in the light of day and look very close, then prime it and block sand it to see whats left and fix it

repeat until you are ready to cry

then it will be ready for paint

rogman16

I stripped completely, glassed in seams, made a few repairs with glass, filled those areas with vette panel adhesive, skim coated entire car with evercoat metal glaze then sprayed 3-4 wet coats of K36 primer... Still have areas that broke through after guide coating and blocking the primer... One more round of K36 and guide coating will do the trick... Then I mix K36 as a sealing to shoot right before base/clear... Works like a champ...

Rogman

Roadster71

Same sequence that I used. Worked great. Also, stick with the same manufacturer for all the material going on the car to insure compatibility.

bluedawg

Vinegar before showering will add in getting fiberglass out of your skin, once out of the shower and dry use panty hose to get any remaining splinters out.

Bobs69BB

Vinegar and pantyhose, never heard that one.

Just one question, how long do you wear the pantyhose? ;-)

SH-60B

X2. This is the way I do it, no problems at all. The other material people are talking about is primer-surfacer, it's just like coating the entire car with body filler and sanding it smooth. Use of a guide coat and other techniques will get you show quality paint.

Priya

I haven't had great luck with the touch method, guess I don't have a great sense of touch, a lot of stuff that felt smooth to me has shown up after paint. I found what worked best for me was to sand until it feels smooth, then have a light shining from some distance away from the car, like an open garage door with the lights inside off, put my face close to the side of the car and then the light shining down the side of the car and with my eyes close to the side of the car look towards the light down the panel, it allows the biggest shadows from the smallest imperfections and I can see a lot of stuff that needs more work. Another thing I've done is to soak a cloth in pre-clean and wipe the panel until its uniformly wet and then look at a sharp angle again to see imperfections. Third thing I do, is after I've done all this and think the car is ready is to just keep sanding and sanding over and over with fine grit paper 180-220 until I think its really overkill and then its come out pretty well. Just remember to keep forcing the sander or sanding block in the shape the car should be rather than allowing it go where it wants to.

Korevette

I recall the day of getting the 'touch' skill to feel body work. To add a tip I used a very thin towel from the dispenser, I am going back a bit but I think Kimberly Clark, maybe
'Lithowipes ?' was a 'wipe down' towel that was perfect.

Take that towel from the dispenser and place it dry on the body work with your hand on top. Believe it or not it will 'magnify' the sensitivity of the 'uneven' body work and will allow you to identify areas of further attention. Circle this area with a HB lead pencil and go back to it for repair.

Cross sanding and X-sanding along with a 'trace coat' will identify area's of concern. Do a full study of substrates and primers.

Not to start a lot of discussion on this thread but a good read of 'Themosetting' and 'Thermoplastic' helped me understand primers and sealers to repair Corvettes.

coreyt

thanks everyone for your responses and valuable info. i am encouraged by all your posts to fight the good fight and keep sanding. i have rebuilt almost everything i can think of on this car from the interior, instruments, engine, engine compartment, exhaust system, but nothing has been more demanding than the body work. i appreciate your support.
~Corey