I'm going to be attempting body work and paint on a 1990 camaro. I want to buy my primer/paint, but before I do so, I need to know what primer I should buy. I want to take the body down to bare metal, as well as remove all the paint from the bumpers/gfx. From what I've been reading during my research, I want a DTM epoxy primer/sealer at least for the metal. I don't know if this will stick to the bumpers on the car though. I would like to only buy one type of primer for the whole car, as I'm on kind of on a tight budget right now. Someone with experience please help, it would be much appreciated. Also another question- what are the bumpers on the car made out of?

I used ppg self etching primer. I did NOT get my car down to bare metal except in a few spots. It worked fine on the plastic bumpers as well as the metal. Paint came out GREAT even in my garage and bugs flying around and stuff. Best 100.00 paint job i ever did. Its HOTROD Low Gloss black. Kinda primer looking but abit of a shine to it. like the hotrods in the 50s. As far as bumper material? hmm good question. Its plastic or something. LOL dont really know im sure someone here will correct me.

5 star primer sealer is a good product and will work great on urathane or metal.Talk to a good autobody supply shop and they will set u up,.You can spend a crazy amount of money on some of the high end epoxy primers.the one I mentioned is very user friendly.

Honestly, even though there are quicker routes, go to Southern Polyurethanes website. I think BakerPBE.com sells SPI stuff as well. Best stuff and extremely cost effective.

I would get a couple cans of Bulldog adhesion promoter. Its a clear primer made to stick paint to flexible things.

For paint? Napa Finish-1. And ask them for the old 15410/15420 clearcoat under the new finish 1 name (they changed the name from TecBase to Finish-1...the TecBase stuff will be near the end of its shelf life). If they cant cross reference the clearcoat for you to put it in the new label, I'll look it up for you, I have a chart somewhere

Gallon of OEM color 250, gallon of clear 100 and gallon of epoxy primer 140...done

If you go to bare metal, I would not recommend trying to use one type of primer for the entire car. You need to put a filler primer on the car (such as k36) so you can block it. I would never just put filler primer over bare metal. You should put a self etching primer down on the metal and then shoot the filler primer over that.

Self etching primer isn't meant to be used on plastic bumpers as far as I know. It is made to actually etch itself into bare metal through some kind of acidic process (not sure on the details). A filler primer can go over the bumpers without any problems. They also make a flex additive for painting flexible parts such as bumpers, but its up to you if you want to use it. I would also recommend spraying the bumpers with adhesion promoter as mentioned in a previous post.

Hope this helps

I used PPG's dplf sealer then block wet sanded. Then I primed with PPG ncp primer then block wet sanded then sealed again with dplf sealer. wet sanded every layer. The ncp is corrosion resistant and will fill almost any scratch. Some go as far to call it spray filler. the sealer will keep the filler from trying to breath through your paint.

You are going to need to use an epoxy primer to prevent rust on bare metal. Then sand that down and spray either a primer surfacer or sealer.

i bought an epoxy primer that is a sealer as well. http://www.paintforcars.com/epoxy_primer.html
i'm using this companies products for my paint job. the reviews seem good (although what company would ever put bad reviews on their website). i still don't know if i can use this on my bumpers or not. i wrote to their customer service and they told me this primer will do the whole car. i hope it works. i still need to get a flex addative. i cant find any on their website though. does anybody know how much flex addative i need?

What you purchased is great for priming the surface before painting but it isn't a primer surfacer it's a primer sealer. It doesn't have any filling capabilities. In other words you can't block it out, it doesn't fill scratches or minor depressions. It's probably an excellent place to start but I don't think it's going to be the "one primer for the whole car" that you were hoping for.

looks like i'm gonna need another primer... i might check napa for my 2nd primer.

Depending on how you strip the paint off the car, and wether there is any bodywork, the primer sealer you purchased may be all you need for most of the car. If there is bodywork that needs to be primed and blocked then a primer surfacer should be used. If after you strip the car any panels that are straight and smooth and need a minimum amount of surface prep, what you purchased will be all you need. So if there isn't a lot of bodywork, you may not need much primer surfacer. And what you purchased is perfect for sealing just before you apply your color coats if you thin it with some of their urethane reducer.
Since I'm old school (old), when I strip a car I prefer to use a metal conditioner (metal prep) on any bare metal and then primer surfacer over the whole area. Metal prep is the way we did it before self etching primers were available and it works very well, but now can be a little hard to find. Self etching primer has taken over but faster isn't always better ... or cheaper.

Most etching primers are lacquer based (junk) and not necessary any more. I use mechanical adhesion (sanding with a DA or by hand) and shoot epoxy over that. Epoxy is waterproof and with the right 'scratch' on the metal...sticks just fine...look at POR15...its an epoxy. After the epoxy, I sometimes use a 'high build' primer aka Primer/surfacer. Ive never used anything like Slicksand though...spray on filler. I prefer to do my bodywork on the metal not in bondo. You CAN blocksand an epoxy, but it needs to cure for a couple days and most dont have really stellar filling properties.

My car was anything but straight so I did a lot of panel beating, welding holes shut, 2 coats of epoxy and skim-coat of bondo, blocked that all smooth and then shot the 3rd coat of epoxy, let that cure, wetsanded out some trash, 3 coats of GM 8555 black.

The bumpers and Ground FX I wetsanded smooth with 400 (feathering out chips) or 600grit, wash and dry them really well, wipe with solvent and then a tack-rag. Now, 2 coats of Bulldog Adhesion Promoter, followed by the black or Gold and then the whole works was cleared with 15420 air-drying urethane clear (thank you Napa).

Flex Agent? This will need to be compatible with your paint system, which means order it when you order the paint; No playing Mr Chemist and using House of Krylon flex in your PPG basecoat....BAAAAAAD Mojo. Most value-line paints the Flex agent will evaporate out of the curing paint within 48-72hrs. Most modern paints are very flexible when properly mixed and cured, the flex is just added insurance when stretching bumper covers and other floppy bits into place. Just dont POUND the base/clear on. Adhesion promoter and 2-3 light coats of base and 2-3 of clear. Thats IT. Pile it on and it'll crack no matter what you add to it. Some of the more expensive paints (Glasurit, RM etc) use a flex that actually changes the paint at a molecular level. Dont sweat it though, just make sure you have the really flexible stuff mounted on the car reasonably soon after its painted, even if just mocked up. I didnt get my nose-cone on for like three weeks after it was painted...Do it on a warm day and go SLOW and no worries.

I wouldnt use an automotive primer on the Urethane/plastic bits. BullDog or any aresol adhesion promoter is actually a clear primer and designed to make paint stick to flexible stuff and you topcoat right over it. Be warned; Adhesion Promoters are almost always a wet-on-wet system, which means you spray it on, wait something like 20mins and paint your basecoat. APs dont have much of a re-coat window. Also, if you get a run or put the AP on too heavy....the paint wont stick. AP's need to go on in a light, very even coat. If you do get a run in the AP, let it cure and sand it all off and start again. I would reccomend painting your bumpers first in the day to allow for more time should this happen.

Nate

If your factory paint is okay, and you just have a few door dings and whatnot to fix, Id fix all your skinned knees on the old girl, get the bondo even with the surrounding metal, wetsand the whole car with like 400 grit, shoot 2 coats of epoxy and then your base/clear.

i've got some rust area's i need to fix before paint... also i don't think i mentioned this before, the car is light blue right now, and i'm changing to white. thats the reason i want to take the car down to bare metal. i pulled my engine 2 days ago, and i'm getting everything out of the engine bay to paint it with por 15 (semi gloss black). i'm also going to paint the floorboards with the por 15.

again check out the 5 star it is very good stuff.You can mix it as high build or use it for a sealer coat when u scuff your existing paint. It is waterproof? not sure but it contains epoxy.I was told to mix a mix it at 4.1.1 for urathane it is flexible.This stuff was recomended by a good painter.Its about $70 for the quart and activator also requires reducer so you get about 2 quarts usable.XTREME DTM High Build Primer - Gray - 5 Star Autobody Products