[Joes1966GTO]

Hey everyone. Because of the horrible filler and paint work by a previous owner, I am taking the entire car down to bare metal (in sections), making repairs, filling, and then covering with a coat of epoxy primer. Then, the goal is to follow up with the 2k high build primer and fine tune the body from there. The plan is to paint the car in Montero Red eventually. My question is, that even though the epoxy is going to be covered by several coats of high build primer, is the color of the epoxy primer (black or gray) really important to the finished paint? I can spray either, but have heard several conflicting opinions from some know-it-alls, and I'd rather get the straight answer from you guys. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Sick467]

The important thing about final primer color is that it should be consistent. Some folks will tint their primer to be a few to several shades from the final paint color to keep modeling to a minimum (bleed through of the underlying primer color). Amateurs, like myself, over compensate with extra paint thickness while experts are going for the exact amount of paint thickness to cover the underlying primer. Given that you will cover the first coats of epoxy with high build and NOT leave any sanded through areas that would leave odd color swatches and you lay enough color on to fully cover the primer layer, you should be fine.

I prefer using gray primers due to its strong contrast to the colors I have used...white, gray, med blue, & some black accents. Darker colors would do better with a more black primer color. Red is right there in between.

The real primer/paint question is, will you be shooting base coat / clear coat? BC/CC systems would require some wet sanding of the base coat and which color will you be able to pick up with your eyes should you start sanding through to the primer. My eyes pick up the gray primers quicker than the black. Either way, more base coat would be needed should you sanded through.

 

[PontiacJim]

Hey everyone. Because of the horrible filler and paint work by a previous owner, I am taking the entire car down to bare metal (in sections), making repairs, filling, and then covering with a coat of epoxy primer. Then, the goal is to follow up with the 2k high build primer and fine tune the body from there. The plan is to paint the car in Montero Red eventually. My question is, that even though the epoxy is going to be covered by several coats of high build primer, is the color of the epoxy primer (black or gray) really important to the finished paint? I can spray either, but have heard several conflicting opinions from some know-it-alls, and I'd rather get the straight answer from you guys. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Not so much on most colors. What you will read is that the base coat/primer color can have a bearing on the color coat. Lighter grey will make the top coat "brighter" and a dark grey will make the top coat "darker." I honestly don't see this an issue or concern with most paints UNLESS, you are using a candy color like red, blue, green, yellow etc. as these types of colors are a very thin "transparent" colors where the base coat can reflect the light through them differently, thus providing a different hue/tint to the color.

Most colors are "opaque", or solid, so unless you are doing some custom paint job, or tinting a clear to apply over an opaque color for effect, it should not be an issue.

 

[Joes1966GTO]

Great advice....thanks @Sick467 and @PontiacJim !

 

[armyadarkness]

Great advice....thanks @Sick467 and @PontiacJim !

It's very important with guitars, but there's never a rule.

If you tried to spray pearl white over black primer, you'd achieve better results by spitting into a hair dryer, but aside from wasting the expensive paint to try and hide it, there's no reason you can't. So, if your neighbor gives you free primer, then use it, regardless of color.

Both Jim and Sick nailed it.

 

[Joes1966GTO]

@armyadarkness - Well Jimmy, I can tell you that my neighbor isn't giving me ANYTHING (except maybe an ulcer!) so I guess that I'm on my own with that one. I appreciate the input. I'm not going to be painting Ace Frehley's sunbrust Les Paul anytime soon, so I guess that I'm safe going with the gray primer on the GTO.

 

[armyadarkness]

Here's when it matters

 

[Joes1966GTO]

@armyadarkness - Wow, Jimmy.....great work!!!

 

[armyadarkness]

Very hard to appreciate in pictures, but thank you

 

[Noangelbuddy]

@armyadarkness - Well Jimmy, I can tell you that my neighbor isn't giving me ANYTHING (except maybe an ulcer!) so I guess that I'm on my own with that one. I appreciate the input. I'm not going to be painting Ace Frehley's sunbrust Les Paul anytime soon, so I guess that I'm safe going with the gray primer on the GTO.

Your neighbor is giving you an ulcer? Maybe it is time for header cut-outs?

 

[Joes1966GTO]

@Noangelbuddy

 

[ponchonlefty]

if you are painting the whole car. the color of the primer wont be a problem. if you are trying to match a single panel that's where it matters.