Epoxy primer vs self etch primer for 1st coat ??

[DRJDVM's '69]

I'm going to have my car media blasted pretty soon and want to get it primed soon after so I dont have to worry about surface rust while I do all the panel work etc etc. The car will be indoors and probably take 2-3 years before it actually gets to the color paint stage.

So what the general opinion from the "experts" out there for using epoxy primer vs a self etch primer for the first coat ?? Pro and con of each ??

I'd like to do my body work over a primer if possible but may got to bare metal in some areas.

[mikey]

My paint rep says to use epoxy. I personally haven't tried it yet. I'm still in the stage of fixing other peoples wrecks to fund my toy. I just use vari prime since it's mostly 1-2 weeks start to finish.

[novanutcase]

Hey DRJ,

I heard of a primer DP something or other that is black and should do the job as long as you keep your car indooors. Anyone know what the name of it is?

[yellowrallys]

DP is a PPG epoxy primer. The "DP" will be followed by a number such as 40, which is a green color. You can't get DP anymore, it's now DPLF since they took the lead out of it. Personally, I would epoxy prime.

[novanutcase]

I heard epoxy primer is pretty nasty stuff, especially if your trying to shoot it in your garage instead of a professional booth.

[yellowrallys]

you need a fresh air system for all epoxies and urethanes. You don't want to spray in an attached garage.

[kamaroman68]

I'll second what yellow says because I did it. Its bad. Real bad. I did mine in the winter in an attahed garage with a kerosene heater heating the garage.The smell got in the house and the garage still has remnants of it. Chris

[novanutcase]

Luckily my garage is not attached to my house but I guess if I'm going to do it there I should set up some sort of fan system. I guess I can open the windows and at the same time have fans blowing air out of the garage so that I get airflow through the garage. I think i'll also set up a filter of sorts on the in and outgoing air so that no contaminant air flows in or out. Do you think this will work or can I just leave the garage door open and let if fly?

[rohrt]

I used sherwin williams brand of self etching primer. It worked very well. My car was done in my barn that holds a lot of moister in the lower half that I work in and I didn't get hardly any surface rust. Because I live in the rust belt I used both the self etching primer and the epoxy primer on the frame and under body.

[Air Daddy]

Epoxy is the way to go.
Check out Southern Polyurethanes site.http://www.southernpolyurethanes.com/homepage.htm
Outstanding quality and very reasonable prices.
It’s about $120 for two mixable gallons of self-etching epoxy primer.
The tech support is TOP NOTCH! They also have a very useful user’s forum.
I switched to SPI products about 3 years ago from PPG and will not go back to PPG again.
PPG is not the same PPG it was years ago, the quality just isn’t there like it once was.
As far as shooting epoxy and safety…. It is very sticky stuff but it has no isocyonates.

[novanutcase]

I am going to primer my '66 nova. How much primer and catalyst will I need to shoot the whole thing?

[DJW32]

What about dupont epoxy primer? I heard it works great and plan on using it, does anyone have an opinion(good or bad) about it

[Mike Holleman]

I'm responding to DRJDVM's original post. Both primers have their purpose. If you are media blasting your car you will be exposing all the things needing attention. My suggestion is lightly coat the car with just enough etch primer to avoid flash rusting. Epoxy primer at this stage will create a problem in that it will cover what you exposed and make it difficult to see what needs repairing. If you spray epoxy primer over even small rust spots they will come back to haunt you later. Do your repairs and then use epoxy primer before using filler. Most all major paint companies have good products in these primers. I use Dupont Vari Prime etching and US Paint 545 epoxy primer. 545 is a marine primer, but I have had excellent results with it. Very little shinkage. High build and hard to sand. But it holds up great for years.
Mike Holleman

[J2speedandcustom]

Everyone has their own way of doing it. In your case my $.02 since it's going to be such a long period of time before you paint. I would not put anything on the car. Do all the repair, replacing, custom work to the metal. And then before your ready for filler have it blasted again. Then go straight to epoxy and filler.