New here, about ready to order and I have questions/clarifications

DanMcG said:
Is that ready to spray epoxy? Thanks.
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Yes, for sure. Now that I think about it more, the front end was done in all epoxy but the roof, doors, cab sides and a spot on the back panel got both epoxy and urethane primer. The back panel did not get stripped and primed complete, most of it was fine having been shaded by the bed its whole life. This truck had the big bolted on urethane flares in front, that increased material a little.
 
So my first experience spraying the epoxy: did the bottom left rear corner since I had the bed upside down. All the Ospho was neutralized, 80 grit preparation, and there was some everglass fiberglass filler on a couple of rough looking spots that the instructions said to put on first. So I put that on and worked it as best I could. That stuff is TOUGH.
Cleaned with prep all and the waterborne.

Sprayed the corner tonight. I don't have one of those fancy schmancy guns yet, so I whipped out the trusty old Sharpe Model 775.
Sprayed like a champ. I don't see how it's possible to run this stuff. Looks great, and my work isn't as bad as I thought it might be.

I did three coats as the instructions said to do. 30 minutes in between. When I went to clean my gun, there is some chunkage starting to happen in the bottom.
So basically it was in the gun for the 30 minute induction., 30 minutes after the first coat, 30 minutes after the second coat and probably another 20 or 30 minutes after the 3rd coat before I went to clean the gun. But I got it all clean and it's fine. Pretty happy with this so far.
 

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So currently my thoughts are to let this stuff dry pretty good, block it a little bit and see if it needs any more bondo. I'm pretty sure one place is going to need a little bit.
My question would be if it's a week or two before I get around to that, would the scuffing be good enough to put the Bondo on top of? And then at that point I suppose I would block that and put 2K on there and block it some more and then seal it once I'm happy with it?
 
Next time around don't put any filler on bare metal, their directions are simply to prevent return of their product and are not best practice for longevity. Fiberglass reinforced fillers are porous and not weather resistant, so the metal underneath them will not be protected in the long term.

As to your question, it's generally fine to put filler on sanded epoxy outside the recoat window, unless it's really aged epoxy, then you'd want to block the old stuff and spray another couple coats to start fresh. A couple of weeks to a month is no problem, but the epoxy definitely has to be well sanded to get adhesion at that point.

P.S. If when you are sanding, you might go to metal, in which case best practice is to re-apply epoxy and wait to apply filler.
 
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crashtech said:
Next time around don't put any filler on bare metal, their directions are simply to prevent return of their product and are not best practice for longevity. Fiberglass reinforced fillers are porous and not weather resistant, so the metal underneath them will not be protected in the long term.

As to your question, it's generally fine to put filler on sanded epoxy outside the recoat window, unless it's really aged epoxy, then you'd want to block the old stuff and spray another couple coats to start fresh. A couple of weeks to a month is no problem, but the epoxy definitely has to be well sanded to get adhesion at that point.

P.S. If when you are sanding, you might go to metal, in which case best practice is to re-apply epoxy and wait to apply filler.
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Okay, thanks. The Everglass stuff says it's waterproof, so I figured I was good to go there, plus the instructions for the SPI epoxy say to put fiberglass filler on bare metal, but not plastic filler.
Anyway, theoretically no "weather" should get to it since the epoxy is sealing it, right? Unless it does so from the backside. Which would be a problem no matter what. That part of the bed was kind of rough, and at this point I didn't want to buy that lower panel and weld it in, so I blasted/ospho'd/wire wheeled/etc the best I could, and hopefully it's done. If it ever comes through, wouldn't be hard to do that one panel, I guess.

If I go to metal, I guess I'll dust some more on it.
Now, as to the 2k....no filler on top of that, correct?
 
@Pacfanweb you are absolutely right about the advice in the tech manual, and I am striking it out of my post as misinformation. I am the one who is not following the tech manual in this regard, nor will I in regards to filler on metal, because I have personally witnessed what happens.

No filler on 2K if you can possibly help it. Shops do it all the time but it is not best practice.
 
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Here's a little side note: I spilled a little bit of the epoxy on my garage floor. Which has been coated with epoxy for years, and that stuff's impervious to pretty much everything. But I didn't want it stained. So I tried Prep All. That got the drops up, but the part that was starting to dry on the floor was still there. Then I tried the waterborne SPI. Didn't do any better.
Had a can of brake clean right there, tried that and that melted it right off immediately. Easily.
So if you ever spill any and you need to get it off the surface, brake clean might be a good choice.
 
Pacfanweb said:
Here's a little side note: I spilled a little bit of the epoxy on my garage floor. Which has been coated with epoxy for years, and that stuff's impervious to pretty much everything. But I didn't want it stained. So I tried Prep All. That got the drops up, but the part that was starting to dry on the floor was still there. Then I tried the waterborne SPI. Didn't do any better.
Had a can of brake clean right there, tried that and that melted it right off immediately. Easily.
So if you ever spill any and you need to get it off the surface, brake clean might be a good choice.
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Why wouldn’t you just use lacquer thinner or urethane reducer ?
 
Page 12 of the tech manual under fillers says; Fiberglass filled fillers or other structural products are used before epoxy primer.
 
DanMcG said:
Page 12 of the tech manual under fillers says; Fiberglass filled fillers or other structural products are used before epoxy primer.
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You're correct! I never received this years manual. I only have last year's. My apologies.
 
I blocked the corner section tonight with 180. It sands very nicely. I am very pleased not only with the product, but with my own work. I grew up in a body shop, hated bodywork. Which is why I went into the service business. Wish I'd have stayed in bodywork, but oh well. I kind of enjoy it now, and the old skills are starting to come back a bit.

Regarding the fiberglass filler, I am going to find some of that "plastic honey" stuff and thin it a bit. It's very chunky and harder to spread. But I do need to use it on a couple more rough places along the way. I assume the honey can be used in this product as well.

I have about half a mind to buy some more SPI epoxy in a different color and alternate them. Then again, my wife would just say I have a half a mind and be done with it.
 
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