hey guys I noticed at autozone they have dupicolor primer serfacer and primer sealer. they are for shooting out fo a spray gun. I was wondering has anyone used them? is it any good or just garbage primer? Also what kind of highbuild primers are out there? Around here there isn't any paintshops we got carquest that carry paint also napa they carry primers and paint. Please let me know what kind of highbuild primers i can buy and what all i will need with it.
thanks,
jimmy

 

Duplicolor.... Yuk! It's for painting model cars. Spray can painting is for camouflaged hunting trucks or duck boats. Just my two cents.
Bruce

 

If it does not come with an activator, then it is probably lacquer primer. JUNK IMO, for used car specials and beaters. My suggestion is to get away from 1kproducts used in the 60's and 70's and use catalyzed urethane and epoxy primers if its something you plan to hold onto for awhile. Lacquer primers shrink a lot more then other primers, which can lead to sandscratches showing (shrinks into the sandscratches), mapping-rings around bodyfiller featheredges and other problems you can run into using them. Lacquer primer drys and can be sanded quickly, but should really be left several weeks for it to shrink before sanding for paint. It is possible to use modern catalyzed paints over them, but you could have problems. It is possible it could lift when solvents attack it. My suggestion is to spend a little more for a good quality primer. Cheap in comparison to paint, no sense compromizing the paint job and longevity to try to save a few bucks IMO. If an activated primer, you will need the primer and the correct amount of activator for it. It is possible you will also need a reducer. The guys at your paint supply should be able to help you with what you need. There may be a different mix ratio between different brands of primer, and some are thicker then others. If you don't have a large enough tip in your spray gun, you may have to reduce it more to get it to spray. Allow extra time between coats if reducing more to avoid building up solvent. For example omni mp 182 primer is reduced 5 parts primer to 1 part activator. Marhyde universal is 4 parts primer to 1 part activator or 4 to 1 to 1 part reducer. The marhyde is a much thicker primer then Omni. Most urethane primers are around the 4 to 1 range. Epoxys primers are generally not as thick or high building and usually have more activator added. They generally don't sand well, or have a lot of fill, but have great adhesion to baremetal and when cured they will seal the surface (good for corrosion protection and adhesion), where as other primers remain somewhat porous. Bodyfiller can be applied over epoxy primer. You have to scuff the epoxy up with around 180 before applying bodyfiller if it is past its time window, generally a couple days or more. Depends on brand. The ultimate way IMO where money not an object would be epoxy primer down on bare metal, body filler, epoxy over body filler areas, and urethane primer or polyester primer for fill, blocking straight and sanding, and epoxy reduced on top prior to paint, but its acceptable to paint on top of the urethane primer. Depends on how far you want to go and what the vehicle is worth to you. There is also self etching primers. They have phosphate acid to etch the surface and deal with minor rust. Very thin and no real fill to them. I am not found of them, put them in about the same class as lacquer primer. and you would need to use another primer over them. Most have strict warnings against using bodyfiller over them, or them over bodyfiller. If you get rid of all rust by media blasting or grinding sanding and scotchbrite disks and have sanded clean metal and get epoxy primer on it right away, you should have a long lasting repair and good start at a good undercoat surface. Hope this gives you a little more information about primers. Maybe someone else thinks I am crazy, everyone has their own opinions what works for them. Guess I was kinda bored to type all this. Good luck with getting the primer you need.