Question for experienced painters

[DrMoab]

Hey guys...I have a couple of questions...I am in the middle of a project to paint my XJ. Right now I have it almost totaly striped down to bare metal. I have been told by several people that I did not need to do this but there were a couple of reasons I did...First of all I am using several diferent doors off three diferent colors of XJs. Second this heep has been painted over the stock paint by I am guessing Macco or someone like that....The paint was horable and it has tons of chips clear down to the metal.
Here are my biggest questions.
1: should I seal this jeep with sealer first since its down to metal then do the body work? I am( not looking for the prettiest jeep out there...I use it hard and I know it will get beat up again so it doesn't need to be perfect.) Or should I skim coat it with bondo and then seal it? Or do I even need to seal it, should I just get a quality primer.
2: For a jeep that gets used hard and will get scratched up,what is the best paint to use? I have been told a single stage Urythane would work best but I have heard this paint orange peels real bad.
Any help would be apriciated...Also if anyone knows any good websites that deal with teaching you how to do so so body work would help too.
Thanks :wow:

 

[Bjack]

I just finished painting my Jeep, and think that it turned out pretty good. Any bondo that you put on the vehicle should be applied to the bare metal, but any exposed metal should be covered with a good sealer. I went with the 2 part paint (base coat / clear coat) because you can sand out any scratches you get in the clear and re-apply.

I also noticed that you're from Fruit Heights if you're planning on attending the shop day on sept. 18th. I'll be there with my jeep.

Bjack

 

[bchulett]

Hey guys...I have a couple of questions...I am in the middle of a project to paint my XJ. Right now I have it almost totaly striped down to bare metal. I have been told by several people that I did not need to do this but there were a couple of reasons I did...

Well.... considering that you need to get a coat of primer on it before it receives a flash of rust from moisture, handprints or whatever---it doesn't take much... this can happen sitting overnight. It's coated or sealed to prevent rusting to begin with ... you probably stripped that off when you went down to the bare metal.

If you primer and paint over the rust ... even though you can't see it now ... you will eventually see it appear in your paint job down the road. It shows up in the form of blistering, bubbling, speckling ... etc.

I wouldn't just leave it in bare metal until you finish stripping the entire vehicle ... if that's the case, you should sand and primer in progressive stages. Unless of course you take the whole thing apart, send it out and have the body re-dipped.

Make sure you use a primer that's compatible with the base & clear coat.... assuming you're using a two-stage paint.

Good luck with it ...

 

[DrMoab]

Well.... considering that you need to get a coat of primer on it before it receives a flash of rust from moisture, handprints or whatever---it doesn't take much... this can happen sitting overnight. It's coated or sealed to prevent rusting to begin with ... you probably stripped that off when you went down to the bare metal.

If you primer and paint over the rust ... even though you can't see it now ... you will eventually see it appear in your paint job down the road. It shows up in the form of blistering, bubbling, speckling ... etc.

I wouldn't just leave it in bare metal until you finish stripping the entire vehicle ... if that's the case, you should sand and primer in progressive stages. Unless of course you take the whole thing apart, send it out and have the body re-dipped.

Make sure you use a primer that's compatible with the base & clear coat.... assuming you're using a two-stage paint.

Good luck with it ...

Well its been stripped for a while now<---- :twak: :twak: I guess this is what I get for trying it myself...So is there anything I can do to help a problem I have already started? Maybe sanding it again before I prime it or some sort of rust inhibiter that I can use before priming? :anon:

 

[DrMoab]

I just finished painting my Jeep, and think that it turned out pretty good. Any bondo that you put on the vehicle should be applied to the bare metal, but any exposed metal should be covered with a good sealer. I went with the 2 part paint (base coat / clear coat) because you can sand out any scratches you get in the clear and re-apply.

I also noticed that you're from Fruit Heights if you're planning on attending the shop day on sept. 18th. I'll be there with my jeep.

Bjack

I won't make it...I am always working on sat :banghead:

 

[bchulett]

Well its been stripped for a while now<---- :twak: :twak: I guess this is what I get for trying it myself...So is there anything I can do to help a problem I have already started? Maybe sanding it again before I prime it or some sort of rust inhibiter that I can use before priming? :anon:

Don't be too hard on yourself ... even professional restorers make these types of mistakes everyday. It's a common practice to media blast and then roll them into the bay for primer ... but if there are delays or is done on a day with high humidity it can get a flash ... even without realizing it.

I have a professionally restored car that has this problem in different areas ... and it's an expensive fix---essentially it has to come apart again.

At this point, I would go down to a local automotive paint distributor and inquire---you need to spec the paint anyway. Let them advise you what's been done and what's needed to prep the XJ for paint... see if there's a FinishMaster in your area.

http://www.finishmaster.com/

Check out the links on their site .. PPG has some useful information.


Good luck with it.

 

[DrMoab]

Don't be too hard on yourself ... even professional restorers make these types of mistakes everyday. It's a common practice to media blast and then roll them into the bay for primer ... but if there are delays or is done on a day with high humidity it can get a flash ... even without realizing it.

I have a professionally restored car that has this problem in different areas ... and it's an expensive fix---essentially it has to come apart again.

At this point, I would go down to a local automotive paint distributor and inquire---you need to spec the paint anyway. Let them advise you what's been done and what's needed to prep the XJ for paint... see if there's a FinishMaster in your area.

http://www.finishmaster.com/

Check out the links on their site .. PPG has some useful information.


Good luck with it.

What would happen if I ran over it again with a sander real good right before I sealed it? I havn't pulled fenders off or anthing...its only on the outside areas where its down to the metal. Would this take care of the problem?

 

[hackedxj]

I do resto and general paint and body , When I strip a vehicle to bare metal I clean the metal, use a metal prep and seal with an EPOXY primer sealer usually PPG brand. You can do the body work on top of this type of sealer.By doing this it keeps the metal sealed from moisture and oils from hand prints. I like it because it allows me to be able to work on a project as time allows and not worry about rust.Keep in mind not all sealers are like this so ask your supplier.

 

[vintagespeed]

If you're working on the stripping in phases you can strip a section, sand to a bare metal finish, spray can prime that section & them move on. This way you dont have to load your can every time you work on a small section. Once you've got the whole thing stripped & can primed, take your DA & remove the can primer for your sealer.

If you've stripped it fully to metal you might want to use an acid-etching primer first, do your bodywork & then lay on a primer sealer. Lay about 3 coats of a medium build primer and block that sucker out. Use a simple 2 stage Urethane for a decent & cheap finish that isn't hard to retouch.

Just stay away from the metal flake brotha, candy isn't for trail jeeps.

-jb

 

[XJ_ranger]

i just drove out here (NE) from cailfornia, and cannot believe the salt rot, thus i reccomend that you seal it with the best sealer u can find. IMHO if the job is worth doing, its worth doing right (the reason my xj is awating mods due to college student cash flow) and needs the best sealer i can buy.

I worked in an auto shop back in CA and whenever we did frame - ups we always reccomended powdercoating to the buyer (maybe that was because we were in the business to make money) and we never had a car/truck/rig come back. There was a fj-40 that we completely riped apart (it came in as a rusty box on a rusted out frame), we took everything off had it acid diped and had the whole thing powdercoated (no paint anywhere, EVEN THE BODY!)

just an idea to think about

 

[bchulett]

What would happen if I ran over it again with a sander real good right before I sealed it? I havn't pulled fenders off or anthing...its only on the outside areas where its down to the metal. Would this take care of the problem?

These guys pretty much answered your questions. Take a section at a time ... re-sand and primer per the paint supplier recomendations or the advice given above. It sounds like the PPG epoxy primer/sealer is the way to go ....check out their web site or simply call them to verify. PPG makes higher grade paint like Delstar ... and also makes lower grade paint such as Omni.

I'm not a paint expert ... believe me, there are NO effective short cuts when it comes to good body & paint preparation---generally speaking, the more time that is spent in prep, the better your paint job turns out---unless you shoot it with runs, voids or "holidays"... like my late father used to say.

I've interviewed plenty of high-end resto shops due to the pending issue with my show car ... it's gonna cost me bank to fix it.

More than likely your XJ was painted with two-stage paint at the factory. You may want to stick with it ... based on what I've seen here in California two-stage is the way to go. I understand it's forgiving, not to mention single-stage paint is outlawed in the state of California---it's a $10K fine for spaying it anywhere near our border.

Price the PPG Omni ... then price the Delstar. See what fits within your budget.

Question: Are you planning on shooting it yourself ?