Body Filler

[garvice]

Been doing rust repairs on my 1600 and getting to the stage where I'm almost ready for the sand down and body filler stage. I am going to use wattyl super etch as a primer. Been doing a lot of searching and getting myself confused, so got a few questions for the pros.

 

1. Was going to sand back to metal as much as I can.

2. Was going to spray with wattyl super etch.

3. Was going to apply body filler (won't need much)

3a. I can't work out what brand to use? Any recommendations with the wattyl super etch?

3b. Am I right putting super etch under the filler? Lots of conflicting information out there, some say before, some say after.

4. Was going to re-spray with super etch after sanding the filler smooth.

4a. Should I be using a regular primer/surfacer instead of the super etch at the stage?

 

Thanks in advance guys.

[thriller]

If I was to do mine again I'd more strongly consider an epoxy primer.

 

From my fairly novice understanding...

 

An etch is only really there to allow the primer to 'lock' to the metal underneath better. Like a primer for the primer, so ideally you're meant to paint it over pretty quick, and whether or not you can apply filler over/under... about as many opinions as there are options.

 

Whereas epoxy sounds like you can epoxy-prime, leave it for a while, fill, prime, then paint pretty safely. Because it's non-porous. So comparatively,  porous etch, then porous filler over the top you'd want to keep it pretty moisture free & paint over it ASAP. But from the sounds of things, epoxy seems safer if you're not going to be painting within a few months.

 

Fooor example... I used Wattyl Super Etch on 1/2 of my roof (was stuck with mechanics so I stripped back some paint to do something useful with my weekend) and on a 1/4 panel. Etch primed, then primed with normal primer same day. Few months later & there's evidence of oxidization showing. I always keep a car cover on, though it's only a carport & we get some pretty frosty nights.

 

So when I'm ready for painting I'll strip it all back to metal, etch, prime & cart it off to be painted ASAP.

 

 

FWIW the tin normally says filler on bare metal, so that's where my chips are.

[garvice]

So potentially, etch primer, primer, fill, primer?

 

What filler did you use?

 

My garage is pretty good humidity control but not perfect.

[Retro Z]

Providing the metal is clean, dry, rust free and roughened up for adhesion id use filler directly on the metal. I like to use 'Upol Flyweight' its a little bit more expensive but sands easy and dries with minimal pin holes etc. '3m Gold standard'is also good from my experiences.

[thriller]

Sorry I should have clarified better! I'll be going back to bare metal, filling (hopefully don't need much!), etch primer, then hi-fill/normal primer(can't remember which order or if hi-fill negates need for normal :/). Then sanding sanding sanding sanding & off to a booth we go

 

Must say, hats off to you for the effort on that 1600!

[garvice]

Thanks for the brands RetroZ, I'll look at those brands.

 

Thanks thriller, the 1600 is my first attempt, so wanted to show myself that I could do it all. Just a cheap quick build.

[scott]

Be careful with acid based etches as you can't bog over these with bog. I use PPG epoxy then wait a hour and bog directly over it without sanding. Once bogging is done I recoat it with epoxy then wait 30min the apply primer

[zzzzed]

+1 for the upol

[garvice]

Thanks guys, I'll dig up that data sheet for upol and see what it says about compatibility with etch primer.

[imackz]

+1 for the upol

 

Agree, upol make great stuff