Bare Metal - Project Car

[Mommy Wagon]

I am a little confused on what is considered "Standard Practice" vs what is actually done in garages and high end shops across North America.

I have had experience on project cars over the past 20 years, and this is the first time I want to actually take my time and complete every component myself.

My current project is a 1969 Dodge Dart, and is a very good base with no real rust issues.

This being said, I want to start modifying, and I mean extensively modifying. I know this will take a couple of years to complete.

I see project cars / high end resto-mod cars / pro-touring cars are sanded down and left in bare metal for an extensive period. Most of these vehicles have been blasted and or DA sanded and remain in this state without an epoxy primer until all metal work is completed.

I had always though this essentially was bad?



If my car will sit on a rotisserie, will never be outside, and will be in a relatively low humidity climate while in a state of fabrication do I need to worry about sealing it up immediately?

Could it sit in bare metal until all of the metal work and fabrication is complete, and then just sand down the entire car again as I get ready to epoxy the entire car to prepare for filler?

PS. Sorry for the long post

[Fl Buick]

Get yourself a product called OSPHO. It is basically phosphoric acid and a few extras. I live in humid Florida and it will protect bare metal for many, many, months.

[MoparCar]

Just check with whatever paint system you will be using before using OSPHO or similar products. They work very well but some paints such as House of Kolor will not adhere after these products.

Wes

[Mommy Wagon]

What I'm getting out of these responses is that under no circumstances should any metal be left bare for any length of time?

Have any of you been to custom shops and had a chance to see what I am speaking of? Many projects/customer's cars are left as bare metal for extended periods. It would make life so easy if this was conducive to a flawless final product.

[kush69]

I use Spies 3255 its like a selfetching prime and a weld through prime all in one .Just dont put body filler over it either sand it off or put there vario prime then filler .

[NASTY GN]

From what I have learned is it can be left exposed, keep an eye on the metal if you see a lot of orange coating on the metal developing then the humidity might be worse then you think. If not you can give the car a good sanding before a good epoxy and you will be good.

[dontlifttoshift]

We don't worry about it when we are done fabricating we send it out and get it e-coated. It's not cheap and is kind of a pain in the arse but the body shops love us for doing this. they dont have to do any metal prep at all, they can go right to body work.

If that's not up your alley, not available in your area, or just not in the budget you can use this stuff http://www.radrides.com/Merchant2/me...de=Protectants which is gibbs penetrant relabeled. Works great. do a search there are a couple of threads about it on here.

Donny

[The WidowMaker]

i dont think most leave it in bare metal, but rather it just looks that way. i havent used anything in the past 2 years and the humidity here didnt do much. but i did have rusty hand prints all over. i just started using gibbs and the stuff is awesome so far.

[Mommy Wagon]

Biggest problem is ordering these products from the U.S. for delivery in Canada.

Carriers will not cross the boarders with certain chemicals, or pressurized materials.

Any of these options available as standard stock items in Canada?

[rohrt]

I sanded down my shell and had it in sherwin williams self etching primer for over a year in a very hi humidity area. I was very impressed how well it worked.

I have now been playing with Gibbs brand lubricant. Its to early to tell but I wonder it works as well as they claim.

[CHILI442]

I had my car media blasted over two years ago and it really hasn't started to rust. I haven't done anything special to prevent it either. My garage is fairly well insulated and has a thick floor, so it stays cool. If we get an unusually warm day I wont open the garage door since I don't want to the car to get condensation on it. Other than that I don't worry. I even pull my other car in the garage after being in the rain or snow.

[72camarors]

I would spray it with an etching primer if it was going to be left bare for any length of time. You can wipe it back off with thinner when you are ready to do the body work if needed. The slightest bit of even surface rust will be a big problem in the future if painted over. Better safe than sorry!