TYPES OF PRIMER

Regardless of your needs, we have the primer you’re looking for.  We carry Advantage, Matrix, and Refinish Solutions.  We have acrylic lacquer, urethane, self etching, epoxy, and more.

primer advantage

ADVANTAGE

primer Refinish

REFINISH

primer matrix

MATRIX

What Is Primer?

Car paint primer is important because it helps to smooth the body of the car or the part of the car’s body that has been exposed to the elements by removal of paint. It helps to keep the steel parts of the body of the car together, and it also helps the paint to stick to the car a lot better. There are only a few times that spray paint primer is necessary, and those will be discussed below. You will also find a guide for priming your car listed here so you can get started on the project.

New Cars

When there has been no paint on a body before, car paint primer is needed to help the paint stick to the bare frame. This primer provides the perfect texture for the paint to adhere to.

Replacement Parts

If you get a new replacement part for your vehicle, you will need to prime it again, because it is still bare metal. This will ensure a good paint job and will help the overall look of the car paint finish.

Bad Paint Jobs

If the previous paint job on the car is not very good, you may need primer to cover up the old mess-ups. This will provide a clean slate for you to work with.

Priming the Car

If you are doing a new paint job yourself, the first thing you are going to want to do is remove all of the old paint and primer. Look for any rust spots and sand them out either by hand or with a grinder. Fill the rut spots with a filler, and after it has dried, sand it smooth. You also should remove any dents there might be in the car. If they are small dents you can just use a hammer to pound them out. With larger dents you can always use a dent puller to get those out. If you do not want to sand your car, you can always buy a liquid stripper and apply that to the car to remove the paint and primer.

Wash to remove any dirt or dust caused from the sanding. Use an air compressor to blow out any excess water that remains after the car is washed. After you have done all of this, you can mix the primer and put it on the car. Tape up the areas of the car that will not need the required primer. This would be headlights, tail lights, mirrors, turn signals, and all things that you don’t want the primer on.

Take a container and fill it half way with paint thinner and add primer to fill up the container the rest of the way. Mix the two together with a paint stick until the primer is completely mixed in. After all of this, the primer is ready to be put on. Make sure to wear a respirator when you apply the primer. Then spray in thin layers until you get the desired coating.

How To

Surfacer vs. Sealer

The most important distinction you need to understand is that a primer surfacer is intended to be sanded while a primer sealer is not.

Surfacers are designed with fillers and pigments that make them easier to sand and powder when cured. The fillers also tend to do a better job of leveling imperfections. Surfacers have less concentration of resin and typically have higher volume solids than sealers. This makes the primer cut easier and prevents the clogging of sand paper.

Sealers are at the opposite end of the spectrum. They will have lower amounts of fillers and pigments and higher concentrations of resin. Because of the higher resin amount, sealers may often look smoother with less orange peel after curing. Sealers can be applied at lower film builds and have a topcoat applied after a short flash which is called a “wet-on-wet” application. Avoiding the sanding process can ultimately save time and the money spent running a bake cycle.

That being said, sealers do have the ability to be sanded and surfacers can be applied “wet-on-wet” with a topcoat. Depending on your final finish requirements and facility throughput, these factors may not make a difference. It is important to note that the chemistry of the primer you are utilizing doesn’t necessarily have an impact on its surfacer or sealer capabilities (epoxies and urethanes can be sealers and surfacers).

Take the time to evaluate the primer you are utilizing and ask yourself if it is the right type of product for your facility and if you are using it the way it is intended to be applied.

© Copyright 2016 Made By: Kevin Vennard