Brush on SPI Black Epoxy over bare metal.

M

Michael Steinert

I decided to make this a new thread I had previously added to existing thread about spray Epoxy, and I will not be spraying it. My apologies for not starting my own thread to begin with.

Ok, I'm new to painting and will be the first to admit this. I plan to do as much of the stripping to bare metal and epoxy work myself that I can. I don't want to try to spray the epoxy, I have to many issues with the space to spray even though a have a 40x50 foot shop it's full of toys I don't want to get overspray on.

Before purchasing the quart size Black SPI Epoxy and quart size SPI activator I spoke to Barry about brushing it on. He stated this was done quite a bit in the recess areas around windshields and areas like this. I plan to strip my car one panel at a time and then apply the epoxy with 2 coats. I sort of borrowed a plan from here for doing this and modified it a bit but wanted some input:

(The car was stripped down to bare metal previously with Aircraft stripper and washed down with water to kill the acids, then hand dried and then rattle canned with a sandable primer only, just to move the car to another state. Mostly stripped just on the Body on the roof rear quarters and back of the car and around the windshield areas. The fenders shown on my profile picture are from another car and hood was not stripped at all. I reverse engineered this car with different year front end parts, and modified the rear with 70-72 Camaro tail lights among other modifications. It a 1975 car with 1971-1972 front end and modification up front too.

So here is my sort of borrowed plan for you to scrutinize:

Sand blast or hand sand with 100 grit to remove the old rattle can primer to expose the bare metal.

Clean with 700 or 710 wax & grease remover.

DA 80 grit on the panel or surface I want to paint.

Clean with 700 or 710 cleaner and wipe multiple times, Use two rags one to wipe on and one to wipe off.

Set paint area heat to achieve at least 65 degrees for the vehicle panel, and also heat SPI epoxy and activator in warm area at least 65 degrees.

Do a final wipe down with 700/710 and allow vehicle to dry for 30 minutes prior to application of epoxy on bare metal.

Mix epoxy 1:1 using a paint stick to stir epoxy first add activator and let sit for 30 minutes prior to brushing on epoxy.

Put Epoxy on thick if brushing it, not thin like spraying.

Apply epoxy with two wet coats with at least 30 minutes of flash in between each coat. (Brushing on or spraying make any difference for the flash times Barry?).

Keep vehicle at 65 to 75 degrees for 8 hours.

Wait 48 hours for the epoxy to cure then apply Rage filler directly over epoxy with no sanding.

I will apply my filler work within the 7 day window. After 7 days I will scuff the epoxy and sand the filler with 80-180 (not sure what’s right after 7 days) before applying more filler.

Once filler work is done I plan to brush two more coats of epoxy and sand as needed before worrying about any sandable 2k primer.

How’s this for a plan brushing it on Barry?

Hope it's okay

Mike Steinert

Michael Steinert, 10 minutes ago Edit Delete Report
 
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I would use brushing ONLY for small area coating& in progress welding, seams, etc. Brushing on is better reserved for unseen areas. Brushing on will require sanding a fair amount of it off to get back to acceptably smooth. Finish will have inconsistent thickness & not all dry the same rate , drying much slower due to extra thickness. An improperly applied base is a poor way to start out a labor intensive process.
If trying to control overspray exhaust fans will help, even if just box fans. Even a box fan immediately in the area with an ac filter taped to the backside will cutdown on the overspray. You can spray a little at a time & give short breaks for fan (s) to catch up, whether just spraying a panel at a time or a larger area. A large thin roll of painters plastic to cover surrounding areas.
Allow at least 30 minutes sitting time with epoxy & restir thoroughly. Can even mix night before & put in resealed container. Extra amount mixed can also set for days in sealed container & add small amount of reducer ,restir & use again later. Can bring in house to keep warm.
Quart will get you started , but won't go far for a whole car.
 
It could work, though there are types of rollers that would work better over large areas, buying some various tools and testing them on a junk panel will be important. The inconsistency in applied primer thickness would be a concern, as well as the plan to skimp on the heat. All projects we do with epoxy get a minimum of 65°F panel temperature for a minimum of 72 hours. Measuring temperature directly from the panel surface in various locations is very important. Generally the rocker panels will be coldest unless there is floor heat. Realistically, you should probably try your plan out on either one vehicle panel or one junk panel before committing to a course of action, do it all the way through, primer, filler, primer, and paint, and see if a satisfactory result can be achieved. Also, get one of these, or the equivalent:

http://www.coastaltoolsupply.com/product/INF-14-1000.html

You'll be glad you did.
 
Thank you for All the replies.
I am starting with only one quart of Epoxy black and one quart of Epoxy Activator for now, as I do not want to end up with any old paint laying around.
This is pretty much a test to see if I can apply this Epoxy a panel at a time and see how well it works or not as an experiment.

I am not a professional painter, and I am also storing a Chevy show truck that belongs to somebody else in my shop. He spent around 30,000 on body work and paint for his truck, so the absolute last think I want to do is screw up his black mirror like paint job. I also have several cars and trucks and two boats and four motorcycles in this shop. I don't want any overspray or the possibility of overpray getting on any of them.
I am not looking for a perfect paint job on this car. I just want to be sure it is rust proof for now, the car is in bare metal in my house garage on the right quarter panel and the back panel of the car. I will need to do the roof and other left side quarter panel too. I don't feel I can move it back into my unheated shop without flash rust getting all over the work (sanded to metal areas) I have already done. I will probably leave the car in a sandable RAT ROD type of primer or paint when done with it, unless I can find somebody to help me paint it in my area that doesn't want both my right and left nuts to do the job!
I just want to be sure the steel is covered with a decent coat of waterproof protection for now. If this works, I will buy more paint as I need it. I don't mind sanding the Epoxy after it is cured to get it smooth, this was why I bought SPI Epoxy in the first place, as most Epoxy Primers are not really sandable at all from what I have read.
This car was my solution in the eighties for a car that got better gas mileage than my 64 Nova with a 327.
I stuffed a 275 HP Buick balanced and blue printed Even Fire V6 into my Vega using the stock 4 speed and rear end. I paid 50.00 for the whole car. Spent about 3500.00 building the V6 dropped it in myself and decided I didn't care for the body style of a 1975 Vega. I modified my front clip and my tail panel and just want to be able to drive it again. It hasn't been on the road since 94, but starts and runs fine, so I just want to get it sealed up so I can move it or drive it. Hope this makes sense.

I do appreciate the input from experienced painters, and thank you for replying to me.
 
If you can't spray inside then wait til summer and do it outside. No sense sugar coating it. Your plan is adding a lot of extra work and a poor end result.

Epoxy is low on overspray compared to clearcoat. Hang a tarp across the shop and spray one panel at a time to keep the overspray down.

You could also find a bodyshop that will put it in their booth and shoot it. Well worth it.
 
My first experience at doing this over the summer is don't fool yourself that the overspray will not go everywhere in the garage. You won't be able to keep it out of anything without more work in masking than it is worth. Plastic throw over things won't be enough, it will float under and through any void it can find. The epoxy is not nearly as bad as the clear or base but my cars that were outside have an overspray of epoxy on them from having the garage door open. I need to buff them out someday. If you have someone else's $30k paint job vehicle in there I would not do that.
 
Flash times are considering the thickness of the film from a spray gun. I would probably figure to wait at least 2 days to put a second coat if you need it. There are foam rollers that lay the paint down thin, and I have seen house painters treat their brush like it was a paycheck because there are some that are so good that you would think the paint was sprayed so investing in a good oil base brush would probably allow the paint to flow nicer than a cheap "chip" brush would.

The bottom line is try. Do what you can with what you have to try to learn every chance you get.
 
I am having a friend see if he knows anyone in the area with a spray booth that can shoot it for me. Last thing I want to do is get overspray in my shop. As always, I appreciate everyone chiming in on this subject. I will be doing a panel at a time, and will most likely start with the tail panel mods.
 
Could also attach 2 x 4's or other lumber to ceiling & attach tarps around area to seal off from rest of shop. Spraying just a small amount of epoxy at a time with moderate ventilation isn't so bad.
Doing a panel at a time or so will go much better for you overall in time spent if you spend a little time & money to get set up. Sometimes if you don't spend the time getting set up , you're just wasting time overall.
I think & hope you now realize how non productive trying to brush or roll paint would be for more than just a small area.
 
Just take it outside the shop, close the shop doors and shoot it outside. End result will be much faster, better, easier to work with in the long run. That's my take.
 
jon, The original poster of this thread last signed in here nov 30th 2016.:rolleyes::p
Good intentions though on advise, someone trying to brush epoxy on a whole vehicle is pretty non productive
 
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