epoxy question

A

aldefed

Promoted Users
Hello,
So I am to the point of doing my final sandblasting and epoxy priming my car body this week (which is mounted on a rotisserie). So the goal is to get the entire body in epoxy and then do a compete assembly of the car on the finished frame to make sure everything aligns properly. After I am happy with that, take the car back apart, remount the body back on the rotisserie and continue the body and paint work. Since this is going to be a process over a years time, how many coats of epoxy should I apply to the sandblasted body?

Thanks,
Al
 
I have learned here 2 coats on anything smooth like the entire exterior is sufficient. 3 cotes on more difficult to spray areas such as a frame or undercarriage is wise to ensure good coverage.

Also induce the epoxy for a half hour or more before spraying and allow 1 hour flash time in between coats. Just after completion of each coat of any type of paint I always empty the gun and run some urethane reducer through it until it runs clear. This is especially important when you're spraying something with the short pot life like polyester and 2K primers.
 
Mil build is what's important for rust prevention so it's not telling the entire story to speak strictly in numbers of coats. It really will depend on the quality of coats applied. Two coats from a gun with an anemic fluid volume setting and moving fast along the panel are going to be completely different than even a nice single medium wet coat.
 
Thanks for the responses. What I'll do is apply 2 coats of epoxy to what I can get sandblasted for the day. After the entire body has 2 coats, I will apply 1 more coat to the entire body at the same time.
 
aldefed said:
Thanks for the responses. What I'll do is apply 2 coats of epoxy to what I can get sandblasted for the day. After the entire body has 2 coats, I will apply 1 more coat to the entire body at the same time.
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If it's fairly dry, you store it inside at the end of the work day, and you don't handle it, you can wait and spray the whole thing at once. Even if it takes you longer than a few days it would be better to blast it, and then go over any questionable areas that have been previously blasted and then epoxy it. I don't like the idea of epoxying part of it then blasting some more. YMMV.
 
Duplication in labor the main reason. If you are going to do some of it and then wait an extended period then yes priming what you've done would be a good idea. If you are priming because you are not going to get all the blasting done in one day then it's not necessary. If you can't get it all done at once, store it indoors when you pause. Be careful not to handle it, if you do have nitrile gloves on. The next day continue blasting. If you have minor flash rust when you finish, you can epoxy straight over that. Epoxy will choke it off and it is not a problem. That comes straight from the Boss (Barry).
Your vehicle though so do as you please. :)
 
ok, makes sense. I was going by that the bare blasted steel should be coated ASAP. I will see how much I can get done in a few hours and decide which route to go. Thanks for the help.
 
aldefed said:
ok, makes sense. I was going by that the bare blasted steel should be coated ASAP. I will see how much I can get done in a few hours and decide which route to go. Thanks for the help.
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If you live in a place that's not super humid, bare blasted steel can sit for quite a while before it starts to flash rust.
 
I myself am in the middle of blasting and stripping my sheetmetal.
I have a door stripped to bare metal still mounted to the body. I have a small box fan on low blowing on it for a week now and have zero surface rust. And I am in the middle of the Florida Rainey season.
Car is in a carport and not in a garage.
I have my blasted fenders in an air condioned building and have rust on multiple spots from sweat drips.
 
So I am just about done sandblasting the body, I should finish by the end of the day. Being I have so much to spray and need full access, I may spray it outside, it will just be easier to move around out there. Is there any issue if I am in full sun when I spray this? I just want to make sure this won't have any ill effects for the epoxy.
 
I would spray inside. Aside from being too hot that epoxy overspray will drift far if you have neighbors close by.

Don
 
dhutton01 said:
75 degrees!!! You lucky dog! :)
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We sprayed some epoxy on the VW project Wednesday. I turned on the furnace and set the thermostat at 68 to make sure the temp stayed above 65 overnight. In August.
We may get a little rain (same annual inches as New York) and we may have some "bran muffin" weirdo politics, but I like the geography and climate.

Screenshot_20220812-123112_Weather.jpg
 
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aldefed said:
So I am just about done sandblasting the body, I should finish by the end of the day. Being I have so much to spray and need full access, I may spray it outside, it will just be easier to move around out there. Is there any issue if I am in full sun when I spray this? I just want to make sure this won't have any ill effects for the epoxy.
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You don't want to spray in the direct sunlight. If the panel is really hot the epoxy will not lay down correctly. The few times I have done it in the sun in the summer it makes a mess. If you can spray in the shade it will work well, just not in direct sunlight.
 
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