So I recently purchased a '72 with a bad wrap job and I have mostly removed the old wrapping... I talked to a few body shops and body paint places, seems like the polyester filler primer would be the best way to go. However, I don't have a paint booth and I just want it to be one color instead of multiple colors, at least while I drive and work on it for a year or two. What's the problem with putting dupli-color primer green just to make it one color? Any other options for just a garage guy? Thanks!

 

Deleted double post.

 

Do you have a compressor and spray gun? If so I've had great luck with summit racing primers. They're affordable and lay down nicely.

 

The last picture has a bunch of cracking, I'm finding that in quite a few spots. Besides that there's a little bit of body work that's been done and a little bit more to do. What's my best first primer coat?

 

A catalyzed polyester based primer-surfacer. I’ve used Morton Eliminator for years.

 

Look at Dupli color paint shop, it is easy to use/spray, affordable and easy to find at local parts stores like O'Reilly's and through online places like summit

 

Problem with that is I can't get Elkhart green, otherwise it looks like a simple system.

 

I've done a lot of research over the years on automotive paints, and also have hands on experience (hobbyist not professional). Whether you are paying someone to prime/paint your car, or doing it yourself with a HPLV gun, use the two-part paints that you purchase from a paint jobber at a paint supply store. Proper paints are expensive, but are made for automotive purposes, and will stand the test of time. Be it Glasurit, PPG, etc etc. Don't cheap out on stuff you buy at summit or your local auto parts store.

I wouldn't use single part/rattle can or no mix primers/paints (like Duplicolor paint shop) on any nice car for exterior primer/paint. You've got a great classic Corvette there, so do the job right, and if the point is to just get one color on the car until you are ready for a really nice paint job, then why not consider Maaco (or similar)? It's all in the prep work, and even a cheap enamel paint job from Maaco will look pretty darned good if the surface is prepped and masked properly. Then once you're ready to upgrade the paint, you strip it down completely, or at least block sand it to prep for the new paint. You'll have to block sand again anyway even if you use a primer for however long before you are ready to paint.

Another consideration with keeping a car in primer is that primer is porous and absorbs moisture, so your garage would have to be completely dry. It's a common misconception that primer protects a surface it is applied to. That is incorrect - it merely sets up the surface for paint so the paint lays even and actually sticks.

I have done rattle can and other one part paints a few times before (on cars and on a motorcycle) when I was younger and foolish, but the paint is not anywhere near strong enough for automotive purposes - and I would never use that system on something nice like this. Learn from other people's mistakes, and do it right the first time.

The only parts I'll use single part paints on are engines (ceramic), wheels (ceramic), and flexible bumper parts. For those, I get excellent results.

 

I'm definitely going in the direction of putting on a nice paint job although I think I'm going to do a single stage like it came original. So if I'm understanding right I have to get different gun just to do the polyester, although then I read epoxy... And then I read don't do epoxy...

 

I have this book,and it's excellent. Has excellent information...


Looks like you've been blocking...I'm going through this currently on my '69 vert..... Time consuming and dusty/messy, but worth it....

 

Yes, lots of sanding and mess, The leaf blower helps a lot lol
This book has pretty good info, I just bought that other one you showed on eBay for $4, thanks!

 

I do paint and body for a living, mostly collisions work at my job, but do old cars for myself. Just did my 69 a few months ago. Stripped all the old paint. Followed by a little bit of filler work to get the body straight. Then a couple of good wet coats of poly primer. I used house of kolor brand, just because it was what I had on hand. guide coated and dry blocked it with 180 grit Next up 3 good coats of Tamco brand urethane primer. Very high build, almost as much build as the poly primer. Blocked that with 320 grit again dry. all the waves now gone. I guide coated and did the final sanding with 600 grit wet. USed Omni Plus base coat, with Omni 161 clear. All in less than $2000 in the total job.

 

Started
Started with this

 

and turned it into this. If you do the work yourself, a nice paint job doesn't cost a fortune

 

Beautifully done. I used Omni on my pickup's hood and canopy a number of summers ago. Has held up to 24/7 weather very well and I found it pretty forgiving for a novice to get decent results.

 

All that cracking you're finding.....you better sand all that off. DON'T think you can sand it pretty good, and the primer will fill in what you missed......yeah it will, but the first few times it sits in the hot sun withyour shiny new paint, the chicken tracks will magically reappear. All the work, money, time will have been for nothing. Get a good sanding block and some 80 grit, cut it down to glass.

 

One option I've always thought about was stripping the car to bare fiberglass and drive it like that for awhile. You think the car looks bad now,try staring at primer for the next 2 years.

 

I would say drive it as is until you can afford a nice paint job,you"ll regret it if you cheapout IMO.

 

In my experience, you WILL regret using subpar paint products. Buy the best you can afford, but choose wisely. Paint systems are not cheap and even more so today. I used PPG Deltron system on my 82 and it came out awesome to include a cut and buff and did the entire project in my garage over two weeks of work. With that said, back then when I did it which was around eight years ago now just for a gallon of paint and a gallon of clear was $850. That does not include anything else that will be needed to do the job correctly. It is definitely a lot of work and you WILL hate all the sanding that you will do, but definitely worth it after you are done. IMHO, PPG Omni paint system is used for shops that do OK work on a budget and the paint quality is...Meh.

The car today including DRs...

 

You can say those of us using Omni do Ok work and Meh paint quality. But you can see the gloss on mine, and I didn't need to do a cut and buff to get there. The red trans am in the background was done with the same paint, and has lived outdoors for 17 years since the paint job, so I'm going to say my work holds up pretty well too