Thread: Rattle can primer

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I have a spot or 2 on my car I need to work on. Is it acceptable to use rattle can primer? If so, any recommendations for a light gray?
Also, I had to buy a new gas tank cover panel. It's fiberglass and fits between the rear fenders. I have seen some cars where this panel is screwed on and some not. I'm wondering if it's ok to fiberglass this panel in to each of the fenders.
The panel I received is about 4 inches too long. I assume it was made this way to allow for cutting to fit. The other panel was riveted on before and there are a bunch of holes in the fenders. I assume they had planned on covering the rivets with something compatible with fiberglass. I figured why not just glass both ends on the underside and finish the top. Opinions? I'll show a pic of the missing panel so you can see what I'm talking about.

What kind of paint job is going on the car? If the car is being done in rattle can also, then by all means, rattle can primer to your heart's content. If you are spraying the car with automotive paint products, the solvents used are likely to soften or cause wrinkling/lifting with any rattle can primer. One of those getting what you pay for things... If someone else is painting it for you and they hear you used rattle can primer, they will want the body stripped bare just because of those issues.


If you're just wanting to cover some areas as you work on them, get a quality epoxy primer and just mix what you need and put it on with a low nap roller. You'll be sanding it later anyhow, and it will give you a paint product that will stand up to anything else sprayed over top...

Originally Posted by MP&C

What kind of paint job is going on the car? If the car is being done in rattle can also, then by all means, rattle can primer to your heart's content. If you are spraying the car with automotive paint products, the solvents used are likely to soften or cause wrinkling/lifting with any rattle can primer. One of those getting what you pay for things... If someone else is painting it for you and they hear you used rattle can primer, they will want the body stripped bare just because of those issues.

It's not going to be painted with a rattle can. The paint came with the car and I like the color so I'm going with it. It's my understanding it's urethane. Is there any primer that's acceptable that doesn't require me to buy a spray gun.

I may have to let the one that paints it take care of the dings.

Originally Posted by Suthunman

It's not going to be painted with a rattle can. The paint came with the car and I like the color so I'm going with it. It's my understanding it's urethane. Is there any primer that's acceptable that doesn't require me to buy a spray gun.

I may have to let the one that paints it take care of the dings.

I would NEVER use rattle can primer on a car that's going to have a brand new paint job. If you use something that's not compatible, you'll be out a bunch of $$$. Also, how old is the paint that came with the car? Pre-mixed paint is not good forever. Finally are you sure you have enough? I strongly recommend that you let the painter look at your car and the paint you have and ask for his advice. If you make a mistake, you'll pay a lot more for rework than if you let him do his job in the first place.

Originally Posted by Henry Rifle

I would NEVER use rattle can primer on a car that's going to have a brand new paint job. If you use something that's not compatible, you'll be out a bunch of $$$. Also, how old is the paint that came with the car? Pre-mixed paint is not good forever. Finally are you sure you have enough? I strongly recommend that you let the painter look at your car and the paint you have and ask for his advice. If you make a mistake, you'll pay a lot more for rework than if you let him do his job in the first place.

I didn't know about the primer, that's why I was asking. I'm not sure how old the paint is. It's being held in a controled environment but I was going to run everything by the painter before having him use it.

Any opinions on fiberglasing the panel in?

Hey there Suthunman, first, welcome to CHR!!
As for the primer, many guys here use the epoxy primer from these guys Southern Polyuerthanes, Inc.. You can order from them or they may have a jobber in Little Rock. Either way, give them a shout. You can usually speak to Barry the owner and he's very helpful plus makes great products! Like MP&C suggested, you and mix up a little and roll it on with a foam roller to get quality protection. It will get sanded smooth when prepping for paint.

As for the tail pan, I suppose you could 'glass it to the fenders but wonder if there might be a time that you would need to remove it for some kind of repair back there. If that's a possibility, it might be better to figure some method of hidden fasteners or something. Perhaps someone with more body experience will have some more specific ideas, Hope that helps a little!!

Originally Posted by randyr

Hey there Suthunman, first, welcome to CHR!!
As for the primer, many guys here use the epoxy primer from these guys Southern Polyuerthanes, Inc.. You can order from them or they may have a jobber in Little Rock. Either way, give them a shout. You can usually speak to Barry the owner and he's very helpful plus makes great products! Like MP&C suggested, you and mix up a little and roll it on with a foam roller to get quality protection. It will get sanded smooth when prepping for paint.

As for the tail pan, I suppose you could 'glass it to the fenders but wonder if there might be a time that you would need to remove it for some kind of repair back there. If that's a possibility, it might be better to figure some method of hidden fasteners or something. Perhaps someone with more body experience will have some more specific ideas, Hope that helps a little!!

Thanks for the tip!
I hadn't thought that much about the need to take that panel off. It would probably be better to make it that way though.

Haven't done this for some time but I'll bet you can still have rattle cans filled with the correct primer at the PPG store. It is costly but works better than a roller deal. Remember that primer is just that. A coat of paint that prepares a surface to hold the finish you intend as the final finish. For the most part primer will not completely protect metal or any other material. That is what the paint coat is meant to do. I have a friend that painted his frame with rattle cans filled with the correct primer and DuPont Imron. Looks great after about eight years. It can be done, if you really want to...

Originally Posted by twolaneblacktop

Haven't done this for some time but I'll bet you can still have rattle cans filled with the correct primer at the PPG store. It is costly but works better than a roller deal. Remember that primer is just that. A coat of paint that prepares a surface to hold the finish you intend as the final finish. For the most part primer will not completely protect metal or any other material. That is what the paint coat is meant to do. I have a friend that painted his frame with rattle cans filled with the correct primer and DuPont Imron. Looks great after about eight years. It can be done, if you really want to...

You're picking up a thread from several months ago which is fine, as long as you realize what you're doing. True epoxy primer is a two part mix, primer and activator/hardener, and there's on way that it can be "loaded" at your paint store. A good auto paint store does stock epoxy primer in a rattle can, but it's a product that has a pushbutton "trigger" to release the activator, and once activated you have a limited time to spray the product and there is NO shelf life after it's activated. Anything unused will be a block of primer in an hour. Your friend that rattle canned his frame may have used a primer compatible with DuPont Imron, but I'd bet dollars to dimes that it wasn't an epoxy.

Like Robert said above, get a good primer, mix enough to do the job and put it on with a roller if you can't do better.

I know this is a old thread but if smeone finds any use from it great, you might look into a little Preval sprayer for small jobs, just Google Preval sprayer, they are available at Sherwin Williams (and other stores) and I have used them with good success as long as the paint is thinned properly, they are cheap and can be cleaned out and sprayed again. you can purchase epoxy & spray it with the sprayer as well they will cost you about 10 bucks and the aeresol charge can be purchased seperatley. And no I would never use standard rattle can primer underneath anything, if it isn't catalyzed its gonna shrink!

Originally Posted by Matthyj

I know this is a old thread but if smeone finds any use from it great, you might look into a little Preval sprayer for small jobs, just Google Preval sprayer, they are available at Sherwin Williams (and other stores) and I have used them with good success as long as the paint is thinned properly, they are cheap and can be cleaned out and sprayed again. you can purchase epoxy & spray it with the sprayer as well they will cost you about 10 bucks and the aeresol charge can be purchased seperatley. And no I would never use standard rattle can primer underneath anything, if it isn't catalyzed its gonna shrink!

Matt's suggestion is an excellent one. The little PreVal sprayers have been around forever - I used one to spray a motorcycle gas tank back in '73 - and they do a great job. They're cheap, they work, and they can be used again and again if you take time to clean them up after using. Great post, Matthyj!!

Prevals work good if you thin a little more than necessary. Rattle can paint does not belong on the exterior of car for anything more than temporary rust prevention, which gets sanded off later. Brackets and such and inside panels I think it works just fine.

Originally Posted by del56

Prevals work good if you thin a little more than necessary. Rattle can paint does not belong on the exterior of car for anything more than temporary rust prevention, which gets sanded off later. Brackets and such and inside panels I think it works just fine.

Rattle can primer works if you're spraying compatible rattle can top coat over the primer. If you're using quality automotive paint, then you need a compatible primer or you risk having a bad reaction between primer and paint, which may be a delayed reaction.

In my experience ive noticed that rattle can self etch does a really excellent job as a bottom coat. As everyone is saying it's going to get sanded off reguardless so if worrying about adhesion issues with automotive paint later in the future is your worry I would honestly say it's no big deal and here's why.. The self etch is going to be sanded down with 180 on a DA and over the self etch the automotive painter will apply a high build primer.. This high build primer is made to cover and adhere to damn near anything.. After this step the painter will sand with 180 and then 400 for best results. Now since this high build primer is 2 or 3 part it would be 100% compatible with any automotive finish over the top and you more than likely would definitely not need to worry about any kind of wrinkle or shrinkage in the spray can self etch. Over the high build would be sealer and then your base. Definitely not in contact with any contaminants from the original spray can self etch. I hope this helps anyone else confused about the process, though everyone does have their own methods and techniques.