Body Work & Metal Shaping; Part 3

"body">once the primer is in the gun, plug the gun in to
Ok boys and girls, now that you have the filleryour air source, and pull the trigger to the first
put in the car, and finished to 180 grit sand paper,setting, where just air is coming out of the gun,
it's time to shoot the primer to the body workand look at the pressure gauge on the gun, this
areas, and the first thing that you want to do isshould be set at 30 - 35 psi for proper paint flow,
make sure that your spray gun is 100% clean,next you'll want a piece of masking paper, or
you don't want to aim the gun and spray a bunchsomething that you can do a test spray of the
of crap on the car, this one the best ways that Igun on, you'll want to hold the gun from 4 - 6
can think of to make your job harder when itinches from the spot that your spraying, now
comes time to sand the primer, smooth primer isthat you have the gun at about the right distance,
a basic necessity for a good out come on youryou can pull the trigger, what you'll be looking for
paint job.is a spray pattern about 6 inches wide that has
After you make sure that your gun is clean, youfull coverage, or no bare spot in the middle of the
can begin to mix the primer, I recommend thatspray pattern, ok now that you have this done,
you use a urethane or epoxy based primer foryou can begin to spray the spots that have body
the best results, now when it come to missingwork done on them, I usually get 3 coats of
that primer, you'll need to follow that instructionsprimer on the spots that I have worked before
on the can of primer that you buy, or ask thespraying the entire car with 3 coats of primer,
people at the store where you purchase thewhen you spray the primer you'll want to wait
primer what the mixing ratios are for theabout 15 minutes between coats of primer, so it
particular brand that you bought, and also ifwill get the correct adhesion between coats, don't
you've never mixed paint or primer before, youthink for a minute that spraying paint or primer is
may want to ask them to show you how toeasy, you will run it on your first try, until you
read the mixing cup, as this can be just a bitfigure out the speed that you need to move the
confusing to t first time painter.gun along the car at, if you move to slow, you'll
When mixing the primer the first thing that youget runs, to fast and you won't get enough
want to do is, get out the mixing cup, and readproduct on the car, now that you have your
the ratios on the side of it, be sure that youbody work areas under primer, you'll need to wait
understand how these work, if you don't, then dofor the primer to tack up, and then you can
yourself a favor and drive back to your local paintprimer the entire car, with no less then three
store and ask again, these guys really do knowcoats of primer.
their products, and their usually glad to help you,Ok now that you have the entire car under
some will have a 4:1:1 mixing ratio and others willprimer, you can spray the guide coat on the
have a 2:1:1 ratio depending on the manufacture,primer, basically guide coat is just a special black
in a nut shell this is how that ratios work, for thispaint that makes it easier for you to the how
article let's say that the product paint mixing ratiolevel and smooth the paint is, what the guide coat
is 4:1:1, this would mean that in the mixing cup,will do is, after the primer has dried for 24 hours,
you'd first pour the primer, and on the mixing cupand it's time to sand, you'll bust out a hand
find the 4:1:1 ratio, make sure that you pay closesanding block, usually these are made out of
attention here, now that you have located thewood, and they come in a range of sizes, your
correct ratio, you can add the primer to thegoing to load the block with 180 grit sand paper,
mixing cup.and sane the car in an "X" pattern to assure
Depending on how big the spots that you need tosmoothness, now that you have the sanding
prime are you can mix as much as you need, soblock loaded, you begin to sand the primer, and
let's say for this article that you just have someyou will go through the primer on the first sanding
small spots, let's say three of them about 6of the car, so don't worry about it, what you'll
inches wide by 6 inches tall, so you take a look atnotice first of all is that some of the guide coat is
the mixing cup, the area is relatively small, so younot coming off of the car.
pour the primer in to the mixing cup, until itThat is because the guide coat is staying in the
reaches the second mark on the 4:1:1 ratio thislow spots, if these areas won't sand out, then
means that you have your 4 parts of primer thatyou'll have to add some more metal glaze those
the manufacture calls for, now you'll add theareas, and again, don't worry about this, you will
reducer to the mix, remember that the mix isbe adding more primer to the car, once you have
4:1:1 so it works out to a ¼ mix, this wouldgotten the whole car sanded, and there is no
mean that you add the reducer up to the nextguide coat left, your ready for your final prime,
mark in the 1 column and then max it with a stirand if your looking for a ultra smooth paint job,
stick, and last but not least add the hardener toyou need to pay close attention to how smooth
the mix, and it will also be up to the next line inthe car is before you do the final prime on it, this
the 1 column, and then stir it until every thing iswill make all the difference to how your paint
mixed correctly.looks, you can't spend to much time on this part
Ok now get your spray gun, and put a paint filterof the process, good prep means good paint.
in the top of it, and pour the primer in to the gun,