I'm a Noob and I want to Prep and Paint my FJ40.. Have Questions!! (1 Viewer)

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May 27, 2012
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Boise, ID
I've been reading threads here in the paint and body forum for awhile now, trying to gather as much knowledge as possible. I recently purchased an FJ40, and it's in need of a paint job. The body has a lot of bad filler and a decent amount of rust. I refuse to have a project car that never gets finished.

I want to do as much of it as I can myself. I also want to be cost effective. The more money I can save, the quicker I can finish it.

So, that said.. Here is my very rough plan, followed by a few questions:

-Start grinding. I plan to grind the interior down to the metal and the exterior to.. Well only as much as I have to. I want to find the rust.
-Cut off whole panels and weld on new ones from SOR. I know the rear quarters and the outer kicker panels need to be replaced.
-Pay a body guy to straighten a few places where the body is bent. (The vertical post at the rear of the passenger door is bent.)
-Primer everything. Prep for paint.
-Take it in to a paint shop to be shot with paint
-Apply monsterliner to interior

So here are my questions for now:
1) I'm going to be stripping paint over a period of time. Some parts will be bare metal, some wont. What can I put on that will buy the most time? It will be some time before I can afford the paint, but I want to start prepping. Is there a product I can put on both bare metal and paint? I keep reading epoxy primer is the way to go.
2) Is it possible to do all the primering without using a spray gun? Using a gun is not an option for me. I will have the paint sprayed on at a shop.
3) I could have the interior knocked out pretty quick. There's not a lot of expense there for what I want to do. I simply want to strip down to bare metal, primer and line with Monstaliner. But it seems like it would be better to do it last. Is it not advisable to do the interior first?

Well that's all for now. I will have more questions as I go, but I hope to be able to keep them within this thread in order to keep from putting a bunch of extra threads on the forum.

Following are a few pics of the FJ. There is a close up of some choice lumpy filler work, and the interior with crappy roll on lining. Looks goofy now because I have the top on and no doors until I'm able to get a hand getting the yop off at my storage unit. I'll use a better camera once I find the cable for it..
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Almost anything you spray from a rattle can will not be compatible for topcoating an automotive 2k system. The automotive paint solvents are aggressive and will eat into the non-catalyzed rattlecan paint and cause lifting and other problems. Don't do it. You could use rattle cans just where you needed it to keep new metal patches from rusting, only spraying the minumim area needed - then plan to strip this off, or pay someone to do it, before you are have it primed and painted with the real deal.

Some automotive primers and paints can be applied with a high quality roller and have reasonable to good results. Do some research and see if this may be an option you want to try.

You could also rattle can the whole cruiser, many have done this as well and the results can be impressive, but the rattle can paint will not be as durable as a 2-part automotive paint. anything spilled on the paint like gasoline, or other automotive fluids may quickly discolor or dissolve the paint. That said, rattle can paint can be easily touched up. You will have much faster UV discoloration, fading, and chalking with a rattle can vs. 2-part automotive paint.

Don't strip anything to bare metal unless you know the paint needs to be stripped, and you are ready to topcoat with your final paint products. In many cases, the factory sealers, primers, and paints on your car is the best underlayment and rust protection you can get so again, it’s not always wise to strip it all down to bare steel. If it’s been repainted, then you may have no choice but to take it down to at least the factory coatings, or worse case, bare steel.

I would do a lot of research on the paint products you are thinking of using and see if they 'fit' your plan. Go to some paint supply stores and talk to the counter person and tell them what you are planning to do and see what they recommend. I would also talk to the shop you are thinking about paying to do the final paint to make sure whatever you do is compatible and not costing you more time and money in the long run.
 
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An excellent resource I found are the videos at Kevin Tetz's Paintucation OFFICIAL SITE I have all his DVD's and they are VERY helpful. They also have a discussion board. The main video on how to paint your own car has a lot of really good information.

If you have a compressor, you can get a cheap spray gun for the primer. I've made spray booths from plastic sheeting and box fans. For primer the quality won't matter (ie. if you get some dust/runs etc) since it will be sanded before your final paint. You probably could brush/roll primer (again, it will be sanded before topcoating so it just may take a little more sanding to get it smooth) but I'd check with the primer manufacturer to make sure.

Epoxy primer is the best. You may need to also use a sandable primer on top of that (a "high build" primer).

I've had good results with Eastwood's Metal Wash (Eastwood - Auto Body Repair Tools | MIG Welder | TIG Welder | Plasma Cutter | Auto Body Supplies & Accessories) it etches/phosphates bare metal and protects against flash rust for a pretty long time for any exposed metal that you can't immediately prime.
 

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