Weekend warrior advice needed

A

AssasinActual

Looking for opinions on an upcoming project. I have done some auto body/ paint before, but here is my senario. I have a 2002 silverado that I will be welding in new wheel arches. Problem is that this is my daily driver, and I dont have a garage to park in. I mostly have weekends to work on this, and I obviously I cant weld in arches, filler, primer, paint in a weekend. What is your guys opinions on getting a coat of spi epoxy on (which I love) after repairs, then coming back the next weekend, washing, light sanding, then 2k (or another coat of epoxy then 2k) and paint. Possible adhesion problems on the epoxy? Bad idea overall? Open to any and all suggestions.
 
With that situation, I would personally set reasoanble goals for each weekend, something along the lines of: remove and replace the wheel arch, then get 2-3 coats epoxy on the first weekend, do body work and get 2 more coats epoxy on the second weekend, then seal and paint the third weekend. That way you aren't trying to rush things and making a mess or cutting corners (no pun intended). You can plan ahead and make the proper arrangements for tools or equipment you may need to borrow, get all the materials and have them onhand, and you won't be working yourself to death trying to beat the clock. Of course if things went extremely well and you were able to make more progress, great. Just my opinion of things.

Kelly
 
carolinacustoms;35905 said:
With that situation, I would personally set reasoanble goals for each weekend, something along the lines of: remove and replace the wheel arch, then get 2-3 coats epoxy on the first weekend, do body work and get 2 more coats epoxy on the second weekend, then seal and paint the third weekend. That way you aren't trying to rush things and making a mess or cutting corners (no pun intended). You can plan ahead and make the proper arrangements for tools or equipment you may need to borrow, get all the materials and have them onhand, and you won't be working yourself to death trying to beat the clock. Of course if things went extremely well and you were able to make more progress, great. Just my opinion of things.

Kelly
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What would be the best chemical to clean the initial epoxy coat to get off dirt, road grime, etc before the next coats are applied?
 
Simply wash the area with dawn and water as if you were cleaning it up after paint. then hit it with wax and grease remover, let it dry and then start sanding for filler or what ever you need to finish the area. The epoxy is water proof, but I did not think to mention to use the black if it will be outside unprotected for long before paint. The black has UV protection in it that the other colors don't have (unless I misunderstood, someone please correct me if I am wrong here) and will hold up better to the elements.
 
If you are following Bob's plan, UV protection will not be an issue no matter what color of epoxy you use. You will be fine driving the truck for a month or so in epoxy.
 
Thanks for the clarification Strum, I didn't want to pass along bad information, and new the black would be ok for a while.

Kelly
 
I think starting with one wheel opening at a time might help determine how much time each step will take. Cut, weld, prep and prime just one and see how it goes. This makes it less likely that you'll have to drive it with part of the work unfinished.
 
Sounds good guys, I was hoping for these very comments. SPI epoxy primer seems to be some tough stuff.
 
I'd think one wheel arch a weekend patched and leveled and sprayed w/ epoxy in kind of a pre paint step should be pretty do-able, two may be pushing pretty hard and those late Sunday nights on the daily driver are no fun.
 
I'm planning on spraying base/clear on the entire quarters after repairs are done, due to the fact that the paint is a metallic, which I've heard is hard to blend, at least for a rank amatuer like myself. Would it be a good idea to scuff the entire quarter, then spray epoxy sealer coat over entire quarter and then base?
 
AssasinActual;35956 said:
I'm planning on spraying base/clear on the entire quarters after repairs are done, due to the fact that the paint is a metallic, which I've heard is hard to blend, at least for a rank amatuer like myself. Would it be a good idea to scuff the entire quarter, then spray epoxy sealer coat over entire quarter and then base?
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Plan to paint the whole side of the vehicle if you put primer less than about 18" from an adjacent panel. If you don't blend the color, it won't match, you can bank on that.
 
crashtech;35957 said:
Plan to paint the whole side of the vehicle if you put primer less than about 18" from an adjacent panel. If you don't blend the color, it won't match, you can bank on that.
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So I would just prime repaired areas, scuff remaining/original paint of the panel, then base and clear the entire panel? Sorry for the continuing questions, I just wanna get this right the first time.
 
Mostly right, but you have to taper off (fan out) the base coat well before the edge of the panel, so that the last 6-12" of the panel nearest the one you don't want to paint will have no base coat, only clear on top of the existing (finely sanded) finish. How about we tackle that when the time comes? Just try to keep your rough grits and primering as localized as possible, and we'll help you set it up for paint once it becomes more apparent what needs to be done.
 
crashtech;35963 said:
Mostly right, but you have to taper off (fan out) the base coat well before the edge of the panel, so that the last 6-12" of the panel nearest the one you don't want to paint will have no base coat, only clear on top of the existing (finely sanded) finish. How about we tackle that when the time comes? Just try to keep your rough grits and primering as localized as possible, and we'll help you set it up for paint once it becomes more apparent what needs to be done.
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Sounds great, thanks for the advice, I'll post when I get to the paint portion of things (may be a while depending on how things go.):nightmare:

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crashtech;35963 said:
Mostly right, but you have to taper off (fan out) the base coat well before the edge of the panel, so that the last 6-12" of the panel nearest the one you don't want to paint will have no base coat, only clear on top of the existing (finely sanded) finish. How about we tackle that when the time comes? Just try to keep your rough grits and primering as localized as possible, and we'll help you set it up for paint once it becomes more apparent what needs to be done.
Click to expand...

Sounds great, thanks for the advice, I'll post when I get to the paint portion of things (may be a while depending on how things go.):nightmare:
 
Getting ready this weekend to weld in my new arch panels. What, if anything, do you guys spray on the inside of the panel for future corrosion prevention? Rubberized undercoating? Epoxy Primer? Nothing?
 
Epoxy primer is the best, I think. You may follow that up with rubberized undercoating or bedliner after paint on any inner fender areas exposed to rock chipping.
 
Hey crash, can I "tint" white epoxy primer? Here's the deal I have about a 1/2 gallon of white epoxy primer left from previous project, that needs to be used. As mentioned before, this is my DD, so I'd like to try to tint from white to a gray, so it wouldn't be as noticeable. Is there a safe way to do this? I do have some gray 2k.
 
Well, you could buy a quart of black SPI epoxy and mix it with the white. That's the only way that is safe.
 
Well, updating my project, got my arch panels in, body filler on and painted. Used spi epoxy, spi 2k, ppg dbc500 (1 coat), ppg deltron and topped it off with spi u.c. Turned out pretty good, was my first time welding in body panels so I had a fair amount of grinding, filler, sanding to do, but overall not horrible for a guy who doesnt know when NOT to tackle a project. Mucho respect for you real body guys, it really is an art form requiring patience that I barely have.
 
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