Thread: The Right primer

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Okay, need to pick a few minds. I have cleaned up my 51 fleetline and am no ready to work on the body to offer some protection from the element. The car had been sitting in a field for about 10 years and then was garaged. It has surface rust on the hood, top, and trunk and amazingly does not have any cancer. Any suggestions as to a good primer to use so the car does not begin rotting out and to help preserve the metal till it is painted. I also have been thinking about the rat rod look as well.

Sand off as much rust as you can, then prime with Pettit Rust-Lok. It's a 1 part brush on primer that can be brushed over light rust and if you do 2 coats will seal out moisture almost as well as an epoxy paint. The stuff sticks to anything, especially your hands, has decent solvent resistance, isn't very expensive ($30 a quart but gets very good coverage). You can get it at most boating equiptment stores. When you're ready for paint, sand it smooth and do your normal painting regiment on top of whats left.

I would say you have two options:

Strip/sand with 80 grit sand paper, then either....

Prime with a self etching primer, or...

scrub with red scotchbrites and metal prep, then prime with a two part urethane primer.

I use the second system, myself.

Those etching primers are porous and the car will continue to rust after you apply them, I do not recommend you use them.

76GMC, Thanks. I didn't know they wouldn't keep moisture out.

ya using self etching primer "Variprime" after thats done you want to prime over that with either lacquer primer or uro primer i prefer lacquer since its easier to wet sand

Lacquer primer is not waterproof either. In fact, it is porous and contains talc which absorbs moisture! To be weatherproof, you need either urethane or epoxy based primer/sealer. Variprime or other self-etching primers are good for penetrating the rust, but then you need something on top of it to seal out moisture. Maybe SprayTech will see this thread and offer his expertise...

I used lacquer and enamel primers for the first 25 years I painted, and they both can cause serious problems.

Urethane primer offers so many advantages, I won't use anything else. I have not had a single failure since switching to it about 15 years ago, and I work seven days a week! It doesn't shrink, allow moisture in, the adhesion is great, and I don't even use a sealer, unless I need a different color under the base, or if I bodywork on top of the primer. I can't even think of any way it could be improved! No, it doesn't sand as easy, but I use 360 with no problems, and it goes fairly quickly.

thanks for the tip ill have to try that