Paint/primer questions
 

All, i am wondering when doing a rebuild and DIY paint job what is the process if all the sheet metal was disassembled and sandblasted for reconstruction.

first question is it ok to prime the inner panels such as inside the rear fenders and leave it just primed or is there another preferred method?

second question is again with the rear fenders where the fenders meet the bed sides (the bolt flanges inside) just prime and assemble and color coat all at one or paint each piece befor assembly

Scott

Little late to the party sorry.
I am old school and after the blasting the parts should have been coated (primed?).
Some like to use epoxy primer as it seals pretty good. I don't like using the 2 part epoxy because if you mix to much you have to throw it out.

As for paining, if all you had on the panels was primer (no paint) and then put together what protection is there?
Also a lot of times when you have a 90* like the fender to the bed side it is hard to "blow" paint in where they meet.

See where I am going with this? Get paint on there.There are 2 ways of doing this.
1 could do what they call "edge paint" the parts then put them on and part the bed together.
or
Paint the whole bed apart and then put it together. I am going to paint my 81 flare side bed apart then put it together.

As for the back side of the fenders you want to paint them as the primer will not stand up.
Now you don't have to use the trucks color, $$$, paint as no one will see it.
Now it is up to you, on the bed sides behind the fenders do you want to see truck color or not?

AsI said I will paint my bed apart so I know all edges will have paint on them.
I also plan to paint the back side of the fenders, they are fiber glass on the 80's flare side trucks and bed side behind the fenders.
Right now thinking brush / roll on bed liner as I have some left over from doing the cab floor.

BTW I have already painted the engine bay (inside of fenders & edges, firewall, under side of hood), inside of the cab and door jambs (edging) and the parts back together on cab.
I will paint the bed apart, put it together and store it then I paint the out side of the cab. Once painted, 2 colors along with the rear fenders, I will mount the bed back on the frame.

Now as they say it is your truck build as you wish. I just gave you some things to think about on the out come of doing it either way.
Good luck
Dave ----

Thank you very much

There is no such thing as a 1 part epoxy. I've seen some stuff labeled as such and it is FALSE advertising at best.

A lot of what you can't get with a gun you can reach with a brush. On inside surfaces that won't show, etc., get the primer covered with some slick paint as soon as possible so you have that paint protecting the primer. It doesn't need to be anything fancy for paint in these areas, just something glossy. In fact this is one area where the cheap paints really shine. They are soft so they won't chip and they don't really break down outside of the UV hitting them.

I think they are able to call these so-called "1K epoxies" this name becasue they must contain CURED epoxy suspended in the solution. You do not get any epoxy action when you use these and thus you have a product that has robust pieces WITHIN IT but itself is not entirely as robust as a real 2K epoxy.