Nervous about epoxy as a sealer

[shine]

i keep my paint in a cabinet or an old ice box. i keep everything in ice boxes. stuff in the ice box never gets cold. but then i live in texas. even with the cold my shop is 40+ in the morning without heat. takes about 10 min to warm it up.

 

[jcclark]

Doesn't anyone on here use infrared lights to keep a panel warm?
Seems the easiest to me, for just a panel or two anyway.
Even a halogen light can keep a single panel warm real easy.
I don't do overalls so a light works real good for me.
About 3 hrs under the light makes epoxy sand like 3 days old.

 

[Arrowhead]

i keep everything in ice boxes

That's what I call my garage

Doesn't anyone on here use infrared lights to keep a panel warm?

I have 3 w/ 500w bulbs in them. I use them all the time to keep the panels warm when doing filler work.

 

[dbohemian]

Premix the sealer 2-4 hours in advance and make sure the epoxy itself is warm (I often warm it up to 120* during the induction stage), use slow reducer in it and I usually mix it 1:1:1 for one thin slick coat. Keep the heat on all night, denib the next day and shoot the paint. Can't beat the durability.

I have been letting the epoxy induce for a long time. Like Barry said, sometimes 24 hrs, if I know what i will be doing ahead of time and it just works that much better. Smoother, no separation. Same mix as Bob for a sealer. works great.

 

[Arrowhead]

Ok, I think I have a plan of attack.

Since I have a regualr job Mon-Fri, I'll have everything sanded to 320 (as per the other thread about sanding for sealer), mix up a batch of epoxy on a Thursday night and let it induce for 24 hr, shoot one coat of reduced epoxy as sealer on a Friday night, shoot the color on a Saturday and then shoot the clear on Sunday.

It's that easy, right?

 

[Bob Hollinshead]

Yup, and this will give you time to denib as needed for each application as you go. What color?

 

[Arrowhead]

Thanks Bob, for some reason the epoxy sealer has me freaked out. The mustang I did, I just went from primer to color.

It's going to be '55 Tbird blue. I painted the trunk and interior so I could get a feel for it and so it could be masked off.

 

[Barry]

Perfect, that interior, will outlast the owner of the car, Nice job!

My wife 57 interior was done that way in 95 or 96 and I pulled the carper about three years ago and it was still perfect, done the same way you did it.
By the way on the 55-57 the floors and trunks are very abused areas, since the cars leaked since new and there is no stopping the leaks, just ask me as I have tried everything I know, over the years.