Polyester Primer Complete!
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 704
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From: Cincinnati OH
Polyester Primer Complete!
Now the fun detail work starts!
Sprayed the primer on last night and sanded it today. Got my 1st paint lesson last night. Sprayed the 3 coats f Polyester primer pretty much myself. Don't know if I'll be ready to do black after 3 more practice trys with primer but maybe I will. The polyester primer was really easy to sand with 220 grit. Did the whole car in 2-1/2 hours. Looks like the glazing and body filler will take a lot longer to do though. Started marking the car with tape for high and low spots.
Here it is just out of the paint booth
Here it is sanded down
Working from back to front on the glazing. I've never done this before. The 1st couple times I put too much on and worked hard to sand it backoff. It gums up 220 grit pretty quick.
Sprayed the primer on last night and sanded it today. Got my 1st paint lesson last night. Sprayed the 3 coats f Polyester primer pretty much myself. Don't know if I'll be ready to do black after 3 more practice trys with primer but maybe I will. The polyester primer was really easy to sand with 220 grit. Did the whole car in 2-1/2 hours. Looks like the glazing and body filler will take a lot longer to do though. Started marking the car with tape for high and low spots.
Here it is just out of the paint booth
Here it is sanded down
Working from back to front on the glazing. I've never done this before. The 1st couple times I put too much on and worked hard to sand it backoff. It gums up 220 grit pretty quick.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,938
Likes: 2
From: Arkansas
Looks good 
One question, is the polyester primer that your using the same thing as sprayable body filler? I know that stuff is expensive, high end car stereo installers use it on fiberglass enclosures to make it easier to smooth out versus regular body filler. I didn't know if that was the same stuff.
How much does what your using cost?
One question, is the polyester primer that your using the same thing as sprayable body filler? I know that stuff is expensive, high end car stereo installers use it on fiberglass enclosures to make it easier to smooth out versus regular body filler. I didn't know if that was the same stuff.
How much does what your using cost?
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 704
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From: Cincinnati OH
I paid $75 for a gallon. It seems thinner then high build primer. it says high build on it but the guys at the shop thought it was thin. Says it will fill 36 grit swirls and it does do that as long as yo get 3 coats on it. A gallon did not do all of my car. 2-1/2 coats w/o the hood and t-tops
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 2,131
Likes: 4
From: May help you? You can sure as hell try!
You should get yourself some dark colored (preferably black) sandable spray primer. Fog it on--that is, just mist it to the point where you can see the individual spray droplets on the polyester primer--not complete coverage. Then block sand it with a relatively long (I used a 9") hard rubber block going parallel to the body lines and sand until the guide coat primer is gone. If you find a spot that you can't seem to get the guidecoat sanded off from, this is a low spot relative to the surrounding panel. This way you'll find high and low spots that you never knew you had. Re-spray with the hi-fill primer and repeat. After you apply paint and rub it out your car will have the smoothness and appearance of glass!! This is the most time consuming but most important part of the (show quality) repainting process.
Good Luck! Looking Good!
Good Luck! Looking Good!
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 2,672
Likes: 1
From: New Cumberland PA
Originally Posted by LemansBlue68
You should get yourself some dark colored (preferably black) sandable spray primer.
By using a contrasting color, the low spots will be easy to see. It helps in figuring out the high spots.
It's also a good idea to use a contrasting color, different than the main primer and different than the guide primer mentioned above, for the first coat of primer. When sanding the car as soon as the first (lower) primer is reached you know you are at a high spot. The low spots will have the guidecoat of primer and the area's that are in between will have the main primer color. It's still not fool proof. You will naturally hit the first primer if that area is sanded longer than an adjacent area. Sand one panel than move on to the next one. Re-shoot the whole car and start sanding again. If you keep working on one panel, chances are the last ones will be rushed.
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 704
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From: Cincinnati OH
thanks for the tips. Will be valuable here shortly. I'm using blocks from 6" to 21" sofar. will step up in length as I go higher in grit. lots more work after the polyester primer than i ever thought. amazing how those low and high spots show up now! i finished up the back half yesterday. i have a lot more to do on the front quarter panels before i get to the next guide coat and primer. more to com enext weekend. thanks!
