3. Treat bare metal with a self etching prime or a direct to metal none self etching epoxy prime We recommend 2K primer by SSP, part number SSP9000 and SSP9000B as hardener. Self etchers have acids that penetrates into the metal and is recommended to fully dry before coating it with a surface primer. Normally shops use it in a wet on wet format with a good urethane primer on top. The direct to metal prime can be built up so it takes care of both steps mentioned above.
4. Guide coat and long block with 80 to 150 grit sand paper.
5. Guide coat and water block with 220 paper and again with 400 paper.
6. Ready to base coat. Recommended a base for checking all work. Let dry and sand with 1000 sand paper and then check for any waviness that might have been overlooked. If imperfections are there repair and re-prime
getting the surface back ready for final coat. Note: all parts are recommended to be painted separate, metallic or solids.
7. Base coat car and clear coat. Recommend a 1.3 hvlp gravity gun and also limiting the material flow to a minimum. This allows for an even coat every time and makes for a glass like appearance rather than a uncontrolled clear that looked wavy at the end even though sanding and buffing. Also you may, depending on paint manufacturer, reduce the clear by approx 10 to 15% in addition to normal mixing. This makes each coat thin and even, obviously needing more coats of clear just like in the old lacquer days. We recommend SSP8000 Clear coat and your choice of SSP hardener, fast medium or slow, SSP8000A or SSP8000B or SSP8000C.
8. Baking paint with multiple coats of clear might not be recommended depending on what company you use.
9. After paint is complete, let car sit in even sunlight, not just in the shop, for at least 3-4 weeks. You can always sand with a little 1000 grit to help the surface breath and dry better even though that method still isn't proven.
10. When ready to color sand and polish and if you followed the recommendation above, you can literally use 2000 grit paper following it with the same paper over and over again until the cars starts appearing shiny. Remember the clear coat at this point is probably very hard to polish so the extra dead sand paper you use will help in building up the gloss so the polishing time is reduced. Most shops might start with a 1000 grit and build it up to a 2000 grit before polishing. This works but the clear coat was probably not evenly shot needing the extra sanding. The final result should literally look like glass.
We felt we share some information with the auto body industry. Note: everyone uses other procedures that they have been using for years, but the most important part of restoration is not the final result, but what happened in between to get to that result?Shops that use poly primers(bad choice of primer) think it is a hard primer when dries, but it is far from that! It has a characteristic of soaking reducer from the base coat and letting it out later creating a shrinking appearance in the finish. Also when reworking areas if the car comes back for repair, the poly prime sands faster than self etch, base color or clear, making the feathering of the repair having a step or ridge rather than even feathering. When re-primed with poly again, it is sure to shrink around the repair! If you want to experiment, shoot base and clear over poly primer, let dry for months. Then take a razor blade and sheet off the base and clear coat off the poly prime. Do you think that's ok for that to happen? No it has trapped moister in-between the prime and the base making it inferior. Urethane primers do not do any of this mentioned above. True they are harder to sand, but there is no job that is easy. Also shops that buff a day or 2 later after painting are not caring about the final result that is sure to shrink. We are suggesting these ways because we read about other helpful hints in other magazines where the helpful hints from renown authors and shops referring people to use cheap methods, making the whole restoration inferior. Is this what the owner would want on his priceless car? We feel other auto body related magazines should not publish information that not only is incorrect, but makes the author and the shop, even though famous, look foolish.
Note again: we are not mentioning any brand of paint. This is not to advertise or push a certain paint line, but to help the industry push forward. If we all worked together, we are sure to prosper and advance in our industry. So if there are any inquires any time from wherever, please go to www.shopsmartsupply.comfor free customer support or call our support hotline even though you purchase from another source. This customer advice brought to you by SHOPSMARTSUPPLY. We must all work together. Look out for a shopsmartstore near you or inquire about franchise opportunities.
