ph31mwl

Had Body Blasted

I just could not go through the process of removing all the paint (clear coat, color coat and epoxy primer) from the body again. I have done it two times in the past over the 40 years I have owned my 65 when I changed colors. I contacted a “Dustless Blasting” service that does this for car restoration and other things. They do not use baking soda, but a very fine glass media that is blasted on with water at a low PSI. All the paint and prior epoxy primer is gone. It did rough up the body panels somewhat, some more than others, so I need to coat it with something to smooth it out. GFCI Fiberglass Coatings in Florida has a “Superbond Fast Epoxy Adhesive”, they also have gelcoats and lots of other stuff. Or, should I just put on a thick coat of an epoxy primer.
If anyone has done this in the past I would appreciate your advice.

Thanks, Mark

csherman

I would spray the car with a MEPK activated product - Slick Sand, Feather Fill, Clausen or another good 2K product and it will be fine.

ph31mwl

Thank you csherman. I am unfamiliar with a couple things though. What is MEPK and how will it help strengthen any panels that may have been weakened by the blasting process. Also what is 2K? I believe I have used feather fill or another high build poly primer when I painted the car back in 1982. But I was spraying it on a new one piece front end and new panels from the doors back. The gel coat was still on all the new stuff. Now with the blasting, even at low pressure and using extremely fine glass media, the surface is roughed up. I just want to make sure I fill in all the rough areas and strengthen the panels.

Thanks again. Mark

ph31mwl

Just answered one of my questions. Stumbled across a few you tube videos on the 2k primer. Instead of just spraying something on I thought I would need to do a skim coat over the whole car with an epoxy filler. I am going to paint the car black so I assume that I will be needing to do lots of skim coats so that the surface will be perfectly flat before I get into priming. Or will just using the high build poly primers act as skim coats so the surface will be perfectly flat.

Mark

dugsgms74

I would put down a coat of epoxy primer first then a couple coats of poly primer. I've used poly primer as a first layer in the past and have never had any problems but the epoxy gives a nice peace of mind. Also epoxy has around a 7 day "open" window where it can be over coated w/o scuffing.

alexandervdr

I blasted mine too (soda) , and on some spots the fiber structure became apparent. This was not so much because of the harshness of the blasting, but because the polyester degrades over the years, gets brittle and loosens from the fibres.
After very very thorough cleaning of the body with ample amounts of water ( and subsequent drying) I coated the whole body with gelcoat. I used a transparent one and applied it with a brush and a roller (no kidding!). Then levelled it off with sanding block grid 80 and 120. Only then I started the work with sealers, fillers, primers etc. If you have apparent fibre structure on the body I would hesitate putting just fillers/primers, they may hide it perfectly at first, but may become visible again after a while because they don't match the hardness/shrink/expansion of polyester based stuff. Epoxy typically is softer and more sensitive to temperature changes.
The body of my 64 is straight as a mirror now.
The point is that the gelcoat is actually a polyester too, just like the body . It sticks and blends very well with the cleaned polyester body panels.
Most (all...) would apply it with a spray gun, but I did not see myself doing that in my 1 1/2 car garage. In hindsight I would have sprayed it too , cause later on I sprayed on sealers and primers in the same garage)
I am all but a specialist, above is just what I learnt in the process of doing my 64 body off, and reading and posting on this forum
Just painted the doors and the hood (this time in a professional paint boot though), it's a great experience to see the stuff come to a shiny life after hundreds of hours of prep...Next week the body.

csherman

Mark
good questions
You do not have to coat the car immediately after blasting.
If you plan to do body work - I would do my body work first
repair cracks, filler work etc....
Then cover your repairs with a good 2k product - this will keep the repairs down and the glass down
then you can block your primer down

I like a MEKP primer because there is alot less shrinkage - the more solids I can get on the surface the better. Many primers are activated by a primer and thinned by a reducer.
Ones the just use MEKP that is all the primer needs to activate.
Just my opinion and what works for me.
I dont gel coat and I have my reasons, as do other restorers.
There are alot of good quality 2k products out there.

My advise would be to do your repairs or body work first - align your panels etc...
Then primer, block, repeat :-)

ChattanoogaJSB

Aside from your question (I vote one coat of epoxy and then 2k by the way, this is what I'm to do on my 64 after stripping):

How did you like the dustless blasting from a Residue standpoint? Do you have media in the vents and crannies much or is it "cleaner?" What about the door jamb openings etc? I am on the verge of stripping my 64 and I got a dustless quote, but am leaving toward hand stripping just to control the after-mess. I've seen regular plastic media blasting strip well but leave media all over.

alexandervdr

As I wrote above, I did gelcoat, and 1 year later the body still looks perfect. How this will do over time I don't know. But again, this is what I did after reading all the arguments pro and con, and then make up my mind.
I am sure there are many other ways to do it right or better.
You mentioned reasons against gelcoat, can you explain?

ifitgoesfast

dry ice blasting, no media anywhere

65silververt

Wash the entire car with a dawn dish soap water mixture first, especially the metal. Rinse extremely well and let cute in the sun for at least a day. Wipe entire car down with wax and grease remover twice, tac off, then spray with SPI epoxy primer. Not sure what color you are going with, but they sell their epoxy primer in white, gray, and black. I find it helpful to go with black for white glass and white for gray or black glass...kind of works as a guide coat to go with opposing colors.

65silververt

...After bodywork spray more SPI epoxy then follow up with slick sand. This is what I did on the split window restomod and there was zero shrinkage in the paint. You can spray the slick sand directly over the SPI primer without sanding it if you do it within 24 hours of spraying the epoxy. I know some people love 2k, but every car I've had sprayed with 2k and kept for several years ended up showing sand marks later at some point. Also, and I don't mean to push SPI, but they have a great 1 to 1 clear!!'

csherman

Thanks for asking. I have never seen a good gel coat job, that being said I feel people use gel coat as a fix all and its not (like any material) - - my other issue is the mils (thickness) - every gel coat spray is WAY too thick in my opinion - again could be back to the person using it as a fix all.
I like epoxy and products like slick sand/feather fill etc..... seems to work for me and others
I know alot of folks have there opinion

alexandervdr

too thick of anything is a bad idea anyway. It creates a shell that's having its own behaviour. When I bought my 64, the body was just done by the previous owner and looked like a mirror. Unfortunately he had sprayed build up filler such that minimum thickness was at least 1/32" and in some up places up to 1/8". Result: cracks started showing up and I could literally peel off large chunks like I was stripping wallpaper. The good news: I had spotted the cracks before buying so I did not pay for the finish.

jrm5657

Tell us more about your experience with dry ice blasting? I have used it on gas turbines, but that system was a huge semi trailer that generated it's own CO2 pellets. I have a 67 coupe I would like to strip with CO2, and there are some small units that can be rented from companies like Sunbelt. I am all ears....

ph31mwl

Csherman, dugsgms74, alexandervdr, chattanougaJSB, ufitgoesfast, 65silvert, jrm5657

Thank you all for your recommendations. My apologies for not responding earlier but I went to North Carolina on August 6 to help my son remodel his bathroom and I was unable to bring my laptop. It took two weeks, and then I went to Carolina Beach, NC where I do have access to a computer.

I think what I am going to do is after other body work is completed, I will skim coat the whole car with an epoxy filler, hand sand it down so it is only left in the pitted areas of the fiberglass from the media blasting, then use an epoxy primer sealer, then a high build poly primer. I will have to look into the specific brands which were recommended. I want to get the body primed and ready for paint in the next few months. I will probably paint it next spring after I get the engine and transmission back on the frame and the body back on the frame. Lots of things to do before I do the final paint application.

Again, thank you all for your input.

Mark