Sealer Methods and Color Uniformity

J

jakelandry

New Member
I am sorry for the confusing title. I am currently compiling a list of everything needed to paint my project car (first all over paint job but worked in a body shop in my younger years cutting in parts). I believe I have everything figured out with the exception of the sealer step. I plan to go bare metal>epoxy>body work>2k primer>block>seal. My primary concern is to have a uniform WHITE finish prior to base (SPI Red). The 2k primer comes grey, but I am concerned that it could be a darker shade of grey and I want to spray the red over white. From my experience with spi white epoxy in the past, it's coverage would likely yield a non-uniform color (especially in reduced format) unless you were to spray numerous coats of it. I am clearly not an experienced painter, but I would assume numerous sealer coats would just add texture you're trying to prevent. If anyone would like to weigh in on the following options, I would be grateful:

Reduced Epoxy sealer - Would a single sealer coat provide a uniform enough white surface?
Actual sealer - Although not typically recommended on here, i assume it would have more pigment than epoxy?
One of the above methods plus an initial base coat of white - This really seems like the most simple solution but i don't see it recommended frequently on these forums.

Thank you for any input you are willing to provide.
 
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Sounds like you've done your homework and are trying to do a great job.
One note, many here like to spray epoxy over the final filler for a high quality restoration type job, essentially "sandwiching" the filler in epoxy.
And, it's likely you will have some sand throughs to metal anyway, so just planning on a final epoxy coat, after filler work is done, makes sense.

Sounds like you are committed to spraying the red over a white sealer of some type. I seem to recall other guys shooting the red base over grey primers and it coming out great.

But, if you are committed to white, here are a few thoughts.

  1. Use the white epoxy as a sealer, just don't reduce it. The only reason to reduce it for sealer is to speed up the recoat time or to extend the material. You should be able to get consistent coverage with a coat or two of unreduced white epoxy.
  2. Or, if you are not confident in getting a consistent coat with the white epoxy, using white base would work. It is just another product to buy, but if that is OK with you it will be fine. The white base is a pure white for sure and maybe that is what you are looking for. I shot it over black base, for SS stripes and it covered the black just fine so I know it will cover your grey primers.

hood final paint.jpg
 
Thank you very much for the detailed response and picture. Always nice to see people backing up claims with data or supporting info.

I am not necessarily fixed on having a pure white canvas so much as color uniformity. I’ve never seen a red paint sprayed over white but have always heard it yielded the deepest result. That combined with the fact that I have to do a sealer coat anyway seems to put me into a position where I need to ensure that the sealer does not contrast heavily with the primer color to avoid overall color deviations. In my mind if I had to get it all one color, it may as well be white.

As for spraying two epoxy coats, I do not think I have the hand to lay them down as smooth as a sealer or reduced epoxy. I have a couple of ok guns (lph 400, 80, and a tekna base coat) but I am definitely not experienced enough to just spray two wet coats of epoxy right before base. I guess I was under the impression that the epoxy was being reduced to make it atomize and texture less rather than to reduce the recitation time. It seems I may have further research to pursue now.
 
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