Scuffing old paint to 600 on 95 Ford Van and repainting - Use Epoxy Primer as Base?

7

777funk

I'm thinking of using the Black epoxy primer as a base coat and clearing with two or three coats of the cheapest clear I can get.

My van has pretty faded black paint and worse yet, it was a 15 passenger airport shuttle. It's got fade around where the stickering/decal/lettering from the company who used was at. It looks pretty bad.

time for paint. I spray guitars for a living and use NC lacquers for that. I'm not familiar with the SPI Line but I'd like to try it on this.

Can I do the following and expect at least moderate success:

-Scuff Sand the existing paint to 600 with my National Detroit inline and Mirka Abranet
-Spray Black Epoxy Primer as the base
-Use the cheapest SPI clear in 2-3 coats
-Sand any dust nibs to 600
-Spray 2 more coat of clear

Would this be likely to hold up?
 
It will work, but you should spray one coat of epoxy 1:1:1.5 after sanding, before clearing. It's usually not a good idea to clear directly over sanding marks unless it is sanded clear being re-cleared.
 
crashtech;16783 said:
It will work, but you should spray one coat of epoxy 1:1:1.5 after sanding, before clearing. It's usually not a good idea to clear directly over sanding marks unless it is sanded clear being re-cleared.
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In my steps above I have epoxy after scuff sanding and before clear. So I'm assuming that I don't need another coat of epoxy before my clear is that right? Once again:
-Scuff existing paint to 600
-Epoxy in Black as base
-2 to 3 coats clear
-Dust nib sand (not sure what grit to use for this - maybe finer than the 600 listed above)
-2 more coats clear

Will that look decent? I've never used a black epoxy primer as base.
 
[QUOTE='68 Coronet R/T;16787]You should spray a test panel with the epoxy. The gloss level changes with the amount of reducer you add.[/QUOTE]

Thanks. As far as gloss, wouldn't the majority of gloss be in the clear that'll be going on top of the black epoxy primer being used as the base coat?

by the way, great tip on trying a test panel first. Practice on scrap.
 
Sounds like a durable and economical way to go but it won't be as dark as a black paint. I bet 400 or 320 grit would work fine for the prep stage.
 
Personally before I did a test panel I'd do a test spot on the van with a buffer and see how it looks.
 
Not knocking your suggestion about checking for gloss. If the van buffed out and looked decent why bother painting it, unless it's just an opportunity for the experience.
 
[QUOTE='68 Coronet R/T;16802]Not sure I understand how that is any better than a test panel?[/QUOTE]
I think he's saying before doing a paint job, try buffing the old paint. He's right. But read my next quote in a second here.

nastynotch347;16804 said:
Not knocking your suggestion about checking for gloss. If the van buffed out and looked decent why bother painting it, unless it's just an opportunity for the experience.
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Yes I did buff and it actually looked good:) My wife was impressed. However it only lasted about 6 mos to a year. Then the faded paint came back. This van used to be a black shuttle van that made round trips to St Louis and Kansas City's airports. All the decal/lettering isn't faded like the rest of the paint. So it's left fade marks and doesn't look good a year after buffing.
 
My experience with the black epoxy is that it will be deeper and have more gloss when applied unreduced.
Like a base coat you won't sand it prior to spraying your clear so the color you have is what you will be clearing. Yes clear adds gloss but doesn't change the color.

Spraying a test panel gives you the ability to experiment some without having to compromise the finish on your vehicle.
 
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