I have been doing the prep work on my 68 for time for about 4 weeks now. It's origianal two tone piant with Wimb White on bottom with Rangoon Red on top. It was not in too bad of condition except for a few rust spots and a few holes I wanted fixed in the bed rails. I prepped the top half because that is all I'm having shot..the white is still ok..I sanded down and did my body work and sanded again. I got it primered with PPG MP 182 by the self help Auto skills at Ft Lewis...Primer Looked good then the painter put the high/low die on and told me to go home and sand..I came back the next day but he sent me home again saying it was not sanded good enough and it would show orange peel and I needed to get all the color off the gray primer. (also he said it should be as smooth as a womens inner thight right after shaving). So I took it home and sanded my *** off again for days with my free time (two little rug rats, not much free time) and today I Am bringing it back to shoot the paint. My worries are I have never done this before and I was told that the MP182 cannot go over bare metal..IT was shot on some bare metal, very small spots though, not entire bare panels. So am I screwed by this?? Second, from sanding, I went through the primer on a couple edges, not very big spots. I was told the paint will not stick to to the metal at all. I bought a can of spray etching primer to go over the bare metal spots. Will that work or will the paint be ok being sprayed on a couple small bare spots? Third, I'm worried about getting orange peel in the paint..I know from reading it's all up to the painter and his gun, tech, air press, etc..I read about color sanding peal out so should I just have him put on as many coats as my paint will last then hope for the best and if peal occurs just wet color sand?? After putting so much prep work into it I hate for the paint to come out ****ty. It was great G'mas truck and I would like it to last another 38 years ya know!!! Oh ya, the painter barely speaks english so it's hard to get anything out of him.

 

Peter, go ahead and use the spray can primer on the bare metal. It should work fine, and you don't want to spray the color coat on bare metal. After the primer drys, hit it very lightly with 400-600 (wet)until it feels smooth to the touch.

What type paint are you using? If it's acrylic enamel, and metallic, you don't want to color sand it. You are at the mercy of the painter and his skills.

If the MP182 looks good and is smooth after sanding, I don't expect you'll have any trouble with it.....