Body Work

[Collin]

Wanted opinions here......Used Z Grip body filler as my initial body filler, sanded, then coated with a primer sealer. Going to do another coat of the z grip and then finish with a putty. What putty did you guys use, and did you putty right to the z grip or other product, or did you putty over another coat of primer. Just looking for what steps you used to go from metal to final product paint....


1. Z grip...then sanded
2. Primer/Sealer
3. Should I putty here or Prime again before Putty?

 

[george68hemirr]

I STARTED SCREWING AROUND DOING BODY WORK.......PUT IT ON SAND IT OFF.....PUT IT ON SAND IT OFF.....I SAID WHY AM I SCREWING AROUND WITH THIS......I HIRED A BODY/PAINTER......he did it in my garage.....it was well worth the money....

 

[Jim S.]

Years ago when I worked at a body shop we used to treat the bare metal with phosphoric acid (The must for rust) can be found in a hardware store. Let that sit for 30 min. and wiped it off. No need to rinse because it is water based. Waited 1 hour, then we did the "dura glas" or what now is called Z-grip. Just seems to stick better to bare metal. Next was PPG DP40 epoxy primer. After about 4 hours, then we sprayed 2 coats of 2K high build urethane primer. 2 hours later came the evercoat glazing compound to fill the pinholes. Granted the Z-grip has to be close to start or more of that will be needed which will be O.K. Then we misted a glaze coat of flat black enamel from a rattle can before block sanding. If we burned through to the epoxy when blocking, then another coat of high build was applied. Then blocked again. After all that a "thinned" coat of epoxy was applied, we added about 30% MR186 Omni reducer to the mix still using the hardener. After another 4 hours we were ready for the basecoat. Of course you have to clean and tack before every coat of anything. We used House of Color post sanding cleaner but, anything will work as long as it leaves no residue.
Moral of the story is........What George said.......... :yesnod:

 

[Collin]

Thanks for the advice! My dad does bodywork really well, he just was a little rusty on whether or not to putty before or after primer with the new products. He is my hired body work guy, I don't have the money to hire someone from the outside to do it. So this will hafta do.

 

[Hoosier Bird]

Most products today can be applied on metal or primer.........My method is to epoxy prime first.....then start body work and I don't really pay much attention till it's time to wetsand the high build...........original prep is the most important and you never want any kind of bondo applied so that there isn't something behind it.........never let it be exposed from the back......never fill a hole with it........weld the hole shut and then fill the low spot.....It will last longer than us. Last thing is to seal all body work and then I give it a high build with block sanding, then wet sand before color goes on..........

 

[SomeCarGuy]

There is some great advise here. I have done some minor bodywork and you want to have an "envelope" of primer around the filler.