Painters please help! It's home and painted!

[dodgert68]

Try SPI epoxy, you won't regret it. It's BETTER than PPG DPLF epoxy. PPG does have good base (deltron) and their clears are not bad but they're way too overpriced. You can get better product for less money imo.
I use Finish 1 FP410 2K HS Urethane Primer vs PPG K36(another overpriced product) I get it at very good price and it build excellent.

I wouldn't recomend SPI if you plan to leave it exposed for any length of time. I finished a car once in SPI epoxy light gray and left it exposed outside for about 5 months. At that time the primer was starting to breakdown due to the lack of UV protectant. Ended up wet sanding the entire car appied one more coat SPI expoxy and then B/C.

[b5blue]

  I've got 2 gallons of Eastwood epoxy to prime and seal. The topcoat will be Kirker white single stage soon to follow. Then the plan is rust repairs in bad areas, about 15% here and there on the car. I know...it sounds goofy and bass aackwards but I'm halting the degrading generally all over as most of the car is pretty good. The white is just the protector and base for the blue later.   

[69finder]

  I've got 2 gallons of Eastwood epoxy to prime and seal. The topcoat will be Kirker white single stage soon to follow. Then the plan is rust repairs in bad areas, about 15% here and there on the car. I know...it sounds goofy and bass aackwards but I'm halting the degrading generally all over as most of the car is pretty good. The white is just the protector and base for the blue later.   

Actually you've got a good idea.  Projects can get stalled at any point. Plus if it's protected (and yours will be) it can be put outside, trailered etc without worry.  I see LOTS of guys strip their cars to metal, and wait for the metal work to get finished.  Usually something comes up and the poor car winds up rusting way worse than if it was left alone.

I like your idea!!  Plus, having it in one colour is VERY good motiviation

[b5blue]

Thanks, yea I have to drive it regular or I go nuts! 

[b5blue]

The epoxy is started. My cheap Harbor Freight HVLP worked well with a 1.4 tip. I got the drivers side stripped and coated. Now for some filler, do I sand with 150 grit prior to applying filler or just go over unsanded epoxy? 

[1BAD68]

Pictures?
Sanding depends on what the can says. I'm using kirker epoxy and it says spray right over but if you wait more than 5 days you have to scuff first.

[billfury]

Just make sure you have a good mask on and wear long sleeves. That epoxy fog gets all over. I had on short sleeves and felt my hairs on my arm stick.Hers a picture of my buddy spraying my 72.

[superbirdtom]

The epoxy is started. My cheap Harbor Freight HVLP worked well with a 1.4 tip. I got the drivers side stripped and coated. Now for some filler, do I sand with 150 grit prior to applying filler or just go over unsanded epoxy? 

you can put bondo right over unsanded epoxy if its a couple days old.      Just take a new red scotchbrite pad and go over it one pass.  wait for the bondo to cure for a whole day before sanding.  that way it will bond  very well.

[b5blue]

Thanks again Tom! It's a full 7 day cure today.  (1st pic)
  The prep for shoot will go slower as I had "just" last week off. I got all the repaint topcoat off the other side and most of the primer and factory topcoat on the front fender with a razor blade scraper today. (2nd pic)
 

[jaak]

Looking good Neal 

Jason

[b5blue]

Thanks Jason!

[superbirdtom]

Thanks again Tom! It's a full 7 day cure today.  (1st pic)
  The prep for shoot will go slower as I had "just" last week off. I got all the repaint topcoat off the other side and most of the primer and factory topcoat on the front fender with a razor blade scraper today. (2nd pic)
 

for the future   to strip an entire car in a day or two. (the exterior) all you need is a electric buffer with speed control and a 8 inch soft pad for it.   then you start out with 80 grit round 8 inch stikit paper.   RED     and start stripping.  for the areas you run into deep  bondo save those areas for last ,and use 36 grit  RED stikit disks   .   I can do an entire exterior of a car in a day only because ive done so many.   this of course is a home remedy but works great.  for tight areas  use scotchbrite wheels or roloc discs.  We ran into a bedside that needed to be stripped at the shop a few months ago  and I wanted to show   the new kid how  to strip 3 old coats of paint off of it.  It took me an hour   to do the bedside.then  sand  with  80  d/a  . just look online or at paint store for 8 inch soft pad. that screws onto a buffer.    lookin good

[b5blue]

  Thanks for all your advise Tom it's much appreciated! The first side (The one in epoxy.) was/is really the worst of it and I've been teaching myself how to get it filled in with body filler. It's already so hot down here it kicks off FAST!
  I'm getting better at spraying the epoxy flatter, your tips were spot on so I'll have much less re-sanding to do. 

[b5blue]

UPDATE:
  I'm getting ready to try the Quantum 1 Slow repair body filler. I found a deal online @  www.nationaltoolwarehouse.com  that made the difference, 6 cartridges of Quantum 1, 12 swirl tips, an Evercoat HD cartridge gun (Really nice caulk gun.) and a free XL Quantum 1 tee shirt. Total came to 100.85 shipped and it got here in 3 days.
  The "slow" should give me the working time I need, I'm keeping the stuff inside the house in the A/C so it starts cooler, that did help the Rage Gold from kicking over so fast. I also found Evercoat Maxim medium set bonding adhesive, it can be used with the same gun (Any standard HD caulk gun will work, no "special gun" needed.) so I got 3 cartridges from "Fox Run Tools" online at the best price, again just over 100.00. This stuff has a working time of 30-40 minutes and is fully an epoxy adhesive with a 1 to 1 mixing. Each tube comes with 2 tips for mixing.
  The rain is my big holdup now, we are in the season so progress will be hit or miss. (As I'm on a covered carport.)

I'll report back on my opinion of how these products work/behave as I use them in the weeks ahead if anyone is interested. 

[b5blue]

  With the exception of the front valance and the rear tail light area the OUTSIDE of the body is stripped including the roof that WAS coated in Eastwood's Rust Encapsulator. I would still be grinding were it not for Tom's great advise! (Thanks!) I got a coupon from Harbor Freight for their "7 inch Buffer/Sander" for 29.00.
A bunch of 80 grit, days/weeks of fighting rain (Including "Debbie's beating") and mosquito attacks, covering the car with a 18X12 tarp and trying to hide this work from the HOA and I'm ready to start attacking all the little rust spots with OSPHO and a sand blaster this weekend.
  The H.F. HVLP gun has worked out so well I picked up 2 more on sale for 12.99 each, NO fogging with the HVLP's, it puts the epoxy where you point it. It just took some experimenting to get the gun adjusted and get use to the epoxy kick-over pot life. (It stops laying down and gets orange peel heavy.)The Eastwood epoxy sands real nice once fully dry and tested areas show very good adhesion. (So did the Rust Encapsulator, it protected all my earlier roof prep and put up quite a battle removing it!) 
  After the body is in epoxy the plan is to start cutting for rust hole patches and trying the Evercoat Quantum 1 (slow) body filler and Maxim panel adhesive. It's odd after all these years of looking at my crappy b5 blue paint job to see the car mostly steel! I'll post picks soon, the interesting part is coming up, cutting the Dutchman filler a sail-sides out to replace and splicing in the rear 1/4 window edges that are rusted out with patch sections from Bill and Steve. (The other patches are fairly small on the doors front lower section, passenger front fender and front lower of the rear quarter.)   

[c00nhunterjoe]

I enjoyed reading through this. Sound a lot like what I just went through. Looking forward to the progress pictures. 

[b5blue]

God am I sick of grinding paint!    I found 7 layers on on the sides! 

[c00nhunterjoe]

That's how mine was. Of all the colors I never found the origonal eggshell white. It was green, red, blue, red, and orange, then I had a layer of black on top of that. All the colors were even except the one fender was missing the 1st layer of green and red. It started life purple.....lol.

[b5blue]

 

[b5blue]

Here is a few shots......

[jaak]

Looking good, Neal 
Keep the updates coming 

Jason

[b5blue]

Hey buddy! Thanks for your help also! 

[b5blue]

  The body has 2 coats of epoxy now. I kept prepping/stripping as the weather was terrible for spraying, rain, rain ,rain. I have 10 days off starting the 3rd so hacking out the Dutchman, inside of the sails and trunk gutters starts Friday. I've set no target for progress after this last series of delay/set backs due to weather. (I do hope to get worst spots repaired though!)  I'll take pics for everyone as I go.

[b5blue]

  Quarter repairs are in. The lip and area under the belt line trim for the rear side windows was mostly rusted away but hidden. Bill and Steve sent me sections of old quarter panels for repair. (Thanks guys!) I ground and sandblasted them then coated them with Rust Encapsulator. I used Maxim 100813 panel adhesive with 22ga sheet steel as a backer strip. (So the thickness's match.) I have a "flange tool" but the overlap is only 1/2 inch and instructions call for 1-1 1/2 overlap ideally. Using pointed sheet metal screws and drilling small pilot holes first I fitted 2 inch strips of the 22ga to the body then fitted my patches. I removed everything and cleaned/stripped and prepped then glued the whole mess together. I took a tip from Tom and filled the screw holes with the adhesive after letting it cure. 

[b5blue]

  Well after months of high 90's blistering heat and rain soaked weekends combined with my pesky Jeep Cherokee's habit of oddball failures at the most inopportune times I've started back on the car. (I swear the Jeep gets jealous of the Charger!)
   The Eastwood epoxy is holding up very well, covering the car with a large tarp from Harbor Freight helped keep it cleaner, dryer and out of the sun that shoots straight up and all the way to the back of my carport every morning. For awhile I was getting up at 5 AM running a few loads of body filler on the weekends but just gave up, it was just too hot. The filler would harden too fast, I was throwing more away then was getting on the car. Spraying more epoxy was impossible as I was dripping sweat everywhere and with 100% humidity I could not dry the compressed air in my lines enough.
   Now I'm "jigsaw puzzling" in the areas around the trunk in preparation for replacing the trunk filler panel and inside of the sail panels. The extensive rust around the rear 1/4's trunk lip edges and trunk gutters gave me fits trying to sort out. I ordered new AMD gutters only to find the new parts were not shaped as I hoped. They are correct it's just the tie in area was so rusted and patched I had no clue how the factory mated these parts when new. All I can do is patch and hope for the best as clearly later full new 1/4's along with the trunk floor and so on are just not in budget for a few years. (It's a lot of farting around and fudging with sorry ass fixing by most standards but it will just have to do.) Pics soon.