[jtcc78TA]

Need some info...I am sanding the paint off the body of my 78 TA. It's Martinique Blue and I am not going to change the color. What I need to know is, once I have sanded the paint down to factory primer, what do I need to apply to the body from there? Do I shoot Epoxy primer and then Urethane? Or do I need to apply self-etch first? This is my first resurrection...any advice will be great!!

[jtcc78TA]

Need some info...I am sanding the paint off the body of my 78 TA. It's Martinique Blue and I am not going to change the color. What I need to know is, once I have sanded the paint down to factory primer, what do I need to apply to the body from there? Do I shoot Epoxy primer and then Urethane? Or do I need to apply self-etch first? This is my first resurrection...any advice will be great!!

[Carl]

I would suggest that you get the April/May and June/July 1998 Muscle Car Review. In there they tell you how to paint your car the right way. after they stripped the car they shot it with self etching primer. Then they did the body work on top off that.The primer they used is PPG DP 40LF. Hope this helps. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[jtcc78TA]

I appreciate the info, Carl. Did they sand the car down to bare metal? I have done a lot of reading, and some books state it's better to strip it down to bare metal and others say strip it to the factory primer and press from there. But they never tell you what to apply after you strip to just the factory primer. I would think laying down Epoxy primer from there would suffice...what do you think? I will try to get a hold of those magazine articles...Thanks again!

[RossGN]

High Performance Magazine did a series over a period of about 2 years on restoring the body on a '77 TA. You can order the back issues...pretty good basic stuff...good articles on quarter repair, door adjustment, painting the flairs etc.
I'm in the middle of my first F body resto and fouund the articles very helpful. You're welcome to borrow them if you like (I'm here in W.F.)

[ January 01, 2002: Message edited by: 0 ]</p>

[jim darlington]

If your going to sand the car down to the factory primer , you should sand it to bare metal . Sometimes there may be hair line cracks in the factory primer that you can't see . If the cracks are present , your paint job will crack !!
It's always best to take a car to bare metal and start over . The old cars have old tech in the paint systems . It's 30 years old and won't last like todays paint systems .

[Carl]

If it were me I would srip it down to bare metal. You only want to go through this once. todays producys are so much better than when the car was built. Also the factory primer could be hiding things that you are not aware of[RUST]. I did the same thing about 3 years ago. Went down to the primer and now I have to do it again. Wont EVER do that again. There was some rust and I didnt see because of the primer. Like they say Rust never sleeps. Also when you srip it all the way down you see what you have. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

[jtcc78TA]

I appreciate all the help fellas!! I definately only want to do this once, put the car back together and enjoy the hell out of it!! [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

[steveopolus]

Check with some of the better specialty body shops around you. Media blasting does an excellent job stripping a car. You can leave glass ETC on the car as the small plastic beads do not hurt it. There is a shop near me that will strip cars by media for about $450. Get the car back preferably the same day and wash over and over again with prep sol or equivlant. Shoot with etching primer to seal the bare metal. Perform the body work and use epoxy primer over that. Once ready for paint shoot again with epoxy primer thinned to be used as a sealer. Then spray paint wet on wet over the primer.With todays base/clear, You will never have to paint the car again. And the chip resistance is fenominal if done this way.