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I am almost at the end of wetsanding my Ghia but I have a major dilema right now. I would really like to get the car painted soon(I might not have the chance later) and right now, there's about 3 coats of primer but hey are different colour(s).
Light gray and underneath dark gray. Original primer is I believe light red. ou can see it from the photo.
Question:If I get it sprayed like that, will the different primer bleed through? The colour I'm going with is dark silver(vw silverstone gray off new Passat and Gti)

I'm no bodyman by any means here but after doing my '64 for over 100 hours and being shown the basics by a professional I would feel over the entire body. Any slight imperfections should be gone over again untill its baby butt smooth. I'm sure you checked for any tiny dots that could look like rust? Right? The car needs to be done at least twice with a base primer(yellow stuff if you go to bare metal) then the gray. I think a gallon is only $12 and my beetle took 5 canisters with the gun. After the first coat go over the car in 120 grit then wipe it clean with the cleaner then shoot it again and sand with 400 grit. By now you should see any imperfections. Me personally,I would take it down to the first layer just to make sure there is no surface hiding under the other coats. If there is uneveness in the layers, it might show though the paint depending on how many coats and so on. Hope this helps.

dude by looking at that picture i can guarantee you aren't ready for paint. The reason being you have went through two layers of primer to get to the red primer and the layers are nowhere near feathered out enough. My advice would be to prime with a high build primer and spray a guide coat over the whole car. Then DRY block (WITH THE LONGEST BLOCK YOU CAN FIND) with 360 grit paper. The guide coat will show you any imperfections meaning it will show where all the low spots are.Then reprime and wet sand with 400 again using a block. I know this sounds like a lot of extra work but what's a good paint job worth, hurrying or doing it right the first time.

OK, guys I think I have been misunderstood. I know the whole, close your eyes and feel it routine, went through that.
I'm not asking about it "feeling" uneven, I'm asking about the fact that primers are different colour. If sprayed, will it affect paint so it is different shade. that's what I'm worried about.

The top coat IS high build primer.

Also, more images for reference, the one I showed ain't good since the car looks really rough.

I would have the entire car in one color of primer. Ask Overspray, he should know.

yumyumchoppers wrote:dude by looking at that picture i can guarantee you aren't ready for paint. The reason being you have went through two layers of primer to get to the red primer and the layers are nowhere near feathered out enough. My advice would be to prime with a high build primer and spray a guide coat over the whole car. Then DRY block (WITH THE LONGEST BLOCK YOU CAN FIND) with 360 grit paper. The guide coat will show you any imperfections meaning it will show where all the low spots are.Then reprime and wet sand with 400 again using a block. I know this sounds like a lot of extra work but what's a good paint job worth, hurrying or doing it right the first time.

word for word what choppers said! Looks like you finger sanded it from the pictures (Not Good) But to answer your question and your happy with it the way it is, clean, seal , and shoot it, Use a good sealer and you should be fine. as far as the finger marks , It won't help.

Thanks
I realize that I would need to get on the high build primer and guide layer again to straigthen a few things but there are other circumstences, meaninig - no can do.

Batan

I wont to paint my beetle silver. How much will the silver paint cost you a gallon and where are you getting it ?




Ryan

It was $137 canadian(about 110US) but I don't remember for how much, could have been 4 pints. I will check for you. It is acrylic enamel.

Don't paint it in that condition.

If you must, spray on a DARK sealer (I like DP40, but use what your paint and previous primers are compatiable with), 3 coats, with flash time between, and then paint if you must. One thing it'll do is even out everything, since that dark WILL cover and not allow the underneath to bleed. Another thing it will do is seal the primer below and not allow water or chemistry to come through or get in. Lastly, and probably most importantly, it will show you every wrinkle, dip, bend, bubble flaw and screw up in the body, espeically when it's about 1/2 way through flash time so it's still pretty glossy. Nothing shows flaws like dark gloss. Then you can make an informed decision about whether to continue with paint. If you decide to paint, at least you know what you are getting into. If you decide to wait, it's sealed until you can continue with the bodywork.

Rushing the prep for a paint job is a sure fire way to get a bad result.

Or you can go the Volksrod direction and use a flat or semigloss dark (green, blue or burgandy would be cool) and not worry about it.

OK, then everybody agrees that we need a coat of sealer/primer. my next question is, how should I prep that last coat before final paint?

i reaaly wouldn't paint it until you prime and block one more time. Then seal it with a good grey sealer since you are painting it silver. The sealer is a wet on wet so you don't have to sand it. Just don't wait too long then spray your color.

Flash only.

If you are determined to not hi-build primer it and block it again (one more time really won't hurt, epsecialy if you do 3 coats then sand it gently with 220) then the sealer can go on and just flash between coats, and the last coat would just flash before paint, just like you only let it flash between paint coats.

If I were U, and I had to move it, sell it or store it, I would seal it with 3 coats and not paint it. That way, if you are able to get back to it and finish it right you won't have lost any ground to moisture or grime. You said you don't have any options, and I guess none of us understand, because there are always better options than putting good paint over bad prep.

Ok, everything brings me to my second question. The car will be pretty much summer daily driver and not a show car obviously(although will attend shows) so some ripples in the 43 years old metal are acceptable. What is NOT acceptable is lie yumyumchoppers mentioned before - badly feathered edges. That said, what is a good way to feather individual areas(the ones that went all the way to red primer)?

use the longest block that will fit the panel. The longer the better. I also use different size radiator hoses to do inside radiuses like fender flares.