To Seal or Not to Seal Is The Question

ahhgaragetime

Promoted Users
I'm unsure if I need to seal my car prior to basecoat or not? The data sheet for the 2K primer says its not required, but the perfect paint job document recommends it.
Here's the context:
Car was taken down to bare metal with some lead remaining in few factory spots. Bodywork consists of:
2 coats epoxy over bare metal, rage filler, 2 coats epoxy, 2K primer, a few small areas of UPOL Dolphin, 2K primer again in a few areas.

Currently the 2K has been wet sanded to 600 and it looks good. FYI super happy with all SPI's products and documentation!

I don't have any grey epoxy primer left over.

The basecoat is an orangey yellow over grey primer.

What should I do? Buy another quart of epoxy primer and spray a coat reduced down? Or is it not necessary in my situation?

To make matters more complicated, I'm renting a booth and don't want to pay for an extra day for the sealer to dry if possible. My preference is to shoot the primer in my garage and then lightly scuff right before going into the booth.

Thanks in advance, I'm a newbie!
 

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Epoxy mixed as sealer increases adhesion and chip resistance, so it's a good idea. It does not take a whole day for the epoxy to dry if it is properly reduced.

It is not necessary, that's true. Millions of cars get repaired by basing on top of 2K primer. Usually what helps adhesion in normal collision repair is that the 2K primer may be anywhere from just a few hours to a couple of days old, so the basecoat solvents can bite into it more because the primer is fresh. If the primer is well cured, it will be more solvent resistant and the base won't stick as good.

Nobody here can decide this for you, it's a quality issue that will go unseen and maybe unnoticed other than the sealed vehicle will chip less and just be tougher. This has saved our butts during reassembly, we've done things that should have chipped a normal paint job but by using the right procedures it was tough enough to take some abuse.
 
Epoxy mixed as sealer increases adhesion and chip resistance, so it's a good idea. It does not take a whole day for the epoxy to dry if it is properly reduced.

It is not necessary, that's true. Millions of cars get repaired by basing on top of 2K primer. Usually what helps adhesion in normal collision repair is that the 2K primer may be anywhere from just a few hours to a couple of days old, so the basecoat solvents can bite into it more because the primer is fresh. If the primer is well cured, it will be more solvent resistant and the base won't stick as good.

Nobody here can decide this for you, it's a quality issue that will go unseen and maybe unnoticed other than the sealed vehicle will chip less and just be tougher. This has saved our butts during reassembly, we've done things that should have chipped a normal paint job but by using the right procedures it was tough enough to take some abuse.
Thank you for this. See, I misunderstood the purpose of the sealer and wasn't even considering adhesion. Newbie, like I said. I thought sealer was to prevent colors from repairs underneath coming through to the basecoat.

I do want the best adhesion, so I will go the sealer route. My 2K is fully cured or close to it.
Thank you and I'm glad I asked. Seems like cheap insurance to seal.
So If the epoxy is reduced 25% then I can shoot the base after 4 hours? Or sooner?
Thanks
Tom
 
Sealer is also insurance that none of the body work is going to come back thru and effect the top coat.

I take Sealer as cheap insurance, and intercoat clear before masking as cheap insurance.
 
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