Is there anyone in here who has had experience painting their truck? I was wondering if its possible to do some body work, where I inevitably will have to expose bare metal, fix the dent, body fill etc. then for the time being cover it with some 2K primer and have that for a while till I have the time to paint it all at once?

My main question is if i can at least prime the spots that have body filler or bare metal, can I drive/use my truck with out it ruining the process with rust or cracking filler?

I understand before I put the base coat on I would have to degrease/wax remove the whole truck, then spray base and then clear.

I just don't know how I will be able to do the body work, sand it all, then filler prime, then base, then clear all in a weekend. trying to see if I can do it in stages weekend by weekend

any thoughts or tips?

 

When I get home on my computer so I can type I will try and answer this for you.
Dave - - - -

 

Montag you can definitely do the truck in stages. I would suggest doing one body panel at a time. Currently my driver's fender is primer red on my 86 f250. I replaced a crumpled fender a month or two ago and only got as far as priming the fender (and valence) and installing the trim and grill. It definitely looks better than it did!

Even though it isn't what someone would do when doing a Jay Leno restoration, you can thoroughly clean and then re-prime panels before spraying them. Just make sure you're using compatible paint, primer and chemicals.

 

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This depends on the primer used as many are not water proof and will allow moisture to penetrate the primer letting corrosion to take hold and the filler to absorb water. If you use a marine grade body filler this will be less of an issue.

 

Well I don't need to type a long post.
First check with the people you are getting your supplies from if the primer will hold off water / weather and as Olds64 said "compatible" with all the other supplies you will be using.

That brings up the "marine grade body filler" will that be compatible with the other supplies you will be using. I don't know everything but never heard of marine grade body filler.
Dave ----

 

Looks like this stuff is waterproof. It is actually epoxy primer. If you read the description in this link, once you start using the can, you have 48 hours after that till everything in the can goes bad.

https://www.eastwood.com/ew-2k-aeros...ray-26898.html

 

I think you can get the same type of primer in qt or gal with hardener so you can mix what you need and spray it on the panel(s).
Any of the 2 part primers / paints that use a hardener is like that. Once the hardener is added that mixed batch has to be used or thrown out, it CAN NOT be added back to the unused product or it will get hard and turned to garbage.
I think all 2K primers are water proof but again check with who ever you get the supplies from on that.

On painting you don't need to paint it 2 stage, base / clear, as our truck were not that way from the factory.
Also is the color a solid color or metal flake? Solid colors seam to do better in color matching when painted it "batches" than metal flake.

That is because when painting metal flake if you do not have the air psi the vary same each time the color will be different.
The higher the air psi the lighter the color will be with metal flake and lower the air psi the darker the color will be.
You will see this more where you paint the fender 1 day / week, then do the door on the same side the next day / week, then you do the same on the bed side.
You can have 3+ colors on the same side even using the same batch of paint.

This has to do with how the metal flake lays based on the air psi. If the flakes lay flat you get 1 color, if on edge you get another color and with the flakes laying in between you can have other colors.
My 81 F100 is a solid color single stage but vary transparent (lot of clear as part of the paint color) so should not have issues of color match but I will be painting the flare side first then the cab.
Because the bed is not right next to the cab like a style side bed is and a solid color I should not have a color match issue.

So just some things to keep in mind when painting.
Oh why single stage you ask? Laying down 4 coats of color then 4 or 5 coats of clear is painting the truck 2 times, it is bad enough doing it 1 time so no way 2 times.
Dave ----

 

https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/3...-0790262p.html

Fully compatible with all paint systems. Think of it more like a fiberglass ester resin.

 

When using any 2k primer it needs to be top coated in 72 hours. You are not doing yourself any favors doing this in stages as you will have to go back and sand all that primer and spray it again prior to top coating.

 

Terrible idea, that shouldn't be used with anything steel. If you want good results get good products. If budget is an issue start with the USC Kromate Lite and then use a icing or glaze for finishing. But don't be the one that uses fiberglass body filler.

 

How cost prohibitive is this project? It'll be a long time coming before I do body/paint on my truck. But from what I know about the process there is going to be plenty of sanding between layers of, well everything. Seems to me like you could get extra paint. Get everything ready to go and spray an "ugly" coat of your top coat on and leave it at that, then when you are ready sand it down to do a proper top coat. I'm sure I'm going to catch a lot of flak for saying that.

 

Uh no it is used on steel and Alum fiberglass etc. This is a vinylester NOT a polyester Vinyl esters are more tolerant of stretching than polyesters are way less likely to show stress cracking or experience osmotic blistering. The bond to steel Alum FRP's concrete is unsurpassed they are used in the aerospace industry and is what is used by the factory in the transportation sector . No repair I have done with a vinyl ester has ever failed even if the top coat is gouged down to the filler it will not de-laminate or blister even with repeated moisture exposure plus the finish's good enough that glazing putty is almost never needed If you are going to fill and it is going to sit for long periods before top coating this the stuff to use...

 

It's been my experience that unless your repair is totally sealed from the rear, regular body filler will not last and you end up with a bigger rust hole than you started with. I bought this fiberglass based filler at the store, it had a slight green color to it, but it was much like bondo. While it is much harder to sand than bondo, it is waterproof. So if there is any way that water would be able to get behind my repair, I use the fiberglass type bondo as a first coat to seal the area off, and then bondo on top of that to finish it off.

 

To the OP, one thing you should consider is taking an evening auto body course at a local vo-tech. They usually have discounts for seniors, vets and about any other category. I did this when I painted my 71 Olds 98. I got to do all the body work myself and had assistance when it came time to spray it. FWIW, I spent about $1500 total on supplies AND the class. The only truck that comes close to the size of my Olds is a f350 cclb drw. I used a single stage Nason urethane. I've heard bc/cc is more forgiving for the novice but mixing and spraying so many times was a bit daunting.

 

I did my own bodywork a panel at a time, and had one of the big chain cheapo paint shops shoot the color and clear and it turned out good. That was about 10 years ago now. I think it was $1200. "Real" body shops said their materials alone were more than chain paint shops. Shortly after the C6 started slipping hard and being a 4 door galaxie, it was impossible to sell (you have to literally give large 4 doors away), so I decided I'll let it sit indefinitely if need be, until prices go up. so, that super cheapo paint job has held in there 10 years and I guarantee I could wash and clean the car up real good now, and paint would look fine.
Point is, I did my bodywork and prep. I even covered ENTIRE Interior, removing door panels, carpet jam plates, all exterior chrome, etc. Those cheapo box paint shops can spray just fine, they do it a lot. But YOU better do all your own prep. And, I mean ALL. I even removed my taillights and taped that off right in their parking lot. Had I left things up to them to cover this and that and do the prep, no doubt I'd have had overspray everywhere. But, it turned out PERFECT and has held up. Only the crap bodywork I did shows, and that's MY fault.
Something to consider when you get your body work done a panel at a time.
Another old guy I know paints, he says if you try and do panels at differing times, you'll have different colors (I'm talking color coat). However, he said he once did a white paint job keeping his paint (I guess he bought in quarts???) in a 5 gallon bucket in between panel painting, which was months apart, and it all matched. He said a lot of that was because it was just a basic white color. I have learned if you can feel anything whatsoever or see anything whatsoever in any light angles, it'll magnify about 10x when the color coat hits it. Ergo why my bodywork sucks, I don't possess lots of patience.