Will epoxy seal lacquer from solvents?

A friend has an 81 Chevy short bed half ton pickup he wants to paint. Truck was a supervisor's ride at a public utility and has the utility's custom color from the factory which is an awful shade of light blue. The body is dead perfect and rust free. Inside of the bed looks like it never had anything it it heavier than a bag of groceries. He bought the truck at a company auction 35 years ago and it has been stored inside since then.

Anyway, he plans to strip the body with 80 grit but he asked me if he could get by on the cab interior surfaces by scuffing with coarse Scotchbrite and sealing with epoxy to prevent the solvents in urethane from attacking the original lacquer and ending up with a mess. I don't know as I've never needed to do the inside of a truck cab so I told him I'd ask here. He intends to use SPI epoxy.

He's not wanting to build a show truck but rather just have something that doesn't look like a refugee from government surplus. Thanks and any advice appreciated.
 
If I remember right, all the trucks were enamel back then, cars were lacquer. Being it is the inside, I would not worry about stripping it if it still looks good.
 
If I remember right, all the trucks were enamel back then, cars were lacquer. Being it is the inside, I would not worry about stripping it if it still looks good.
Thanks. When I looked at it a while back I thought it looked like dead enamel rather than old lacquer. Just assumed GM and the time frame it would be lacquer.

I've often wondered, when someone orders a couple hundred pickups or a bunch of police cars painted some non standard color, how do the handle the painting. Assume they run them all in succession thru normal paint line, but never knew or read how it's done.
 
I have an 83 el camino that in 1998 I sprayed epoxy over the solid factory lacquer paint, sanding through repainted door panels though. Still have some of the parts painted then that I haven't modified yet and other than 1 little retarded splitting spot above door handle that must have been an old repair, it's done great for nearly 24 years. As long as the substrate you're sealing over retains its adhesion, it will be fine
 
I have an 83 el camino that in 1998 I sprayed epoxy over the solid factory lacquer paint, sanding through repainted door panels though. Still have some of the parts painted then that I haven't modified yet and other than 1 little retarded splitting spot above door handle that must have been an old repair, it's done great for nearly 24 years. As long as the substrate you're sealing over retains its adhesion, it will be fine
Thanks for that info. Because the truck has a non standard color on it, I'm thinking I need to tell him to try some lacquer thinner on it to see for sure whether or not it'll melt the finish just to verify it is enamel rather than lacquer. Good to know though that the epoxy will seal either one from attack by solvents in subsequent products.

This truck has base level trim, so there's yards of exposed painted surfaces inside the cab. He'll be a happy camper to know he can get by without stripping the inside. I looked this thing over pretty close, and other than replacing the grille where the utility cut a couple holes to mount flashing lights, there's nothing on it that needs replacement or any body work. I even offered to give him the $1350 he gave for it 35 years ago, but for some reason he passed on my generous offer :)
 
So I'm going to ask basically the same question here, Just for some confirmation and piece of mind.
I'm cleaning the interior side of my 85 chevy truck doors and was hoping to just scuff and spray some color on it, but wiping it down with some lacquer thinner to remove the bulk of the dirt it's also taking the paint off. That being said, I should plan on a coat or two of epoxy? I'll be painting with Auto Art motocryl SS.
Lacquer thinner won't remove enamel correct?
 
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