is there an issue with having just primer on it without paint? I almost want to just leave patch panels with just primer instead of spending a whole lot of money on paint. I want to use my rig for a long time too, and I feel like I would be too careful if I spent a whole bunch of money on paint matched paint
It depends on what's under the primer. If you just primed over paint, that's the best scenario. Primer is not a sealer so liquids like water will penetrate through it, down to bare metal or bondo if that's whats under it. It's also not good with UV so it'll go chalky pretty fast. You can probably use some sort of sealer over the primer if you want that look. I've never done it though. It would be an interesting experiment I suppose.