Primer questions

[chargedup68]

I am sure this question has been asked dozens of times, but here is my situation.  I am working on my car bit by bit and don't have the time or money to strip, fix, prime, and paint the whole car all at once.  I live in Washington State so leaving the car bare metal over a rainy winter doesn't seem like a good idea to me.  I have the general idea for the steps I need to follow to prep the car for paint, but I would like to know if anyone can suggest a good primer that seals the metal so I don't have to worry about rust showing up.  Also I am in the middle of replacing the floor boards and would appreciate any suggestions as to what I can put on the inner frame rails to prevent them from rusting also.

[68ChargerJMP]

On the inner frame rails, I would use something like por-15. As for the body, I would first make sure all rust is gone, then you could use something like PPG dp90, which is an epoxy primer, that can be applied to bare metal. The only thing about dp is that it has to be topcoated in 7 days or it has to be sanded or scuffed again before it can be topcoated.

[Drop Top]

If you don't have a rust problem I would use PPG's DP line of primer. DP 90 is a good choice. But any of the DP line will work. It just depends on what color blows up your skirt. POR-15 can be used. But its primarily for shooting over rusty areas.

[chargedup68]

Thanks for the replies I don't mind sanding the primer down my main concern is preserving the metal. 

[Silver R/T]

i would self etch primer it then surface primer it, thatll last through winter, or you can epoxy each panel too

[chargedup68]

I live down in Olympia, my wife is from up near PA.  I would like to do this car myself, otherwise I'll never learn how to do the stuff I don't know how to do now.  I have had the car for 3 years now.  I am in the Army and gone 6 months out of the year so this will be a long term project.  The car was a mess when I bought it and still pretty much is.  So far I have stripped the front end an painted it with POR15 to keep it from rusting, but when I have all th body work done I'll strip it down and paint.  I replaced part of the passenger side frame near the torsion bar mount, and threw in some tubular upper control arms.  I am working on putting in the passenger side floor now.

[chargedup68]

Flintstone side

[mopar_madman]

If you need a good low cost primer try Kirker enduro epoxy. Very good low cost epoxy.

[BigBlockSam]

i would self etch primer   

[Drop Top]

I personally Don't like self etch primer. I prefer to etch it myself first. This will clean the metal and open the pores so the bare metal primer will stick better. I have seen Self etch primer come loose and bubble because it wasn't clean enough in the first place. Any contaminant may cause the primer not to stick. We all know that the paint job is only as good as that first layer. After you shoot the self etch primer your going to have to shoot regular bare metal primer over it anyway. So your not saving any time or money. Because you don't have to buy the self etch stuff. This is just my preference and some people have had good luck with self etch primer.

[mopar_madman]

I personally Don't like self etch primer. I prefer to etch it myself first. This will clean the metal and open the pores so the bare metal primer will stick better. I have seen Self etch primer come loose and bubble because it wasn't clean enough in the first place. Any contaminant may cause the primer not to stick. We all know that the paint job is only as good as that first layer. After you shoot the self etch primer your going to have to shoot regular bare metal primer over it anyway. So your not saving any time or money. Because you don't have to buy the self etch stuff. This is just my preference and some people have had good luck with self etch primer.

I usually use dupont 5717s metal prep before going to epoxy. You get the etch and the protection. Plus some epoxy can be painted directy over or used as a final sealer over bodywork and filler primers, so you can stretch the value.