high build primer

[duramax55]

Hi was woundering how heavy a scratch or deep you can hide with 3 coats on steel and on bondo ?

[mongocanfly]

some high build primer will bury a dime in a few coats...
on mine I could cover 120g sanding scratches with ease in one coat

[my56chevytruck]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

some high build primer will bury a dime in a few coats...
On mine i could cover 120g sanding scratches with ease in one coat

ditto!!

[dracko]

I blocked out my filler with 80 grit and laid a few coats of Evercoat featherfill G2 on it. Fills 80 easily and sands great. Blocked that to 180/240 and laid 2K urethane over that, sanded to 600. Use guidecoat each time you change grits to make sure ya don’t miss any spots and highlight the lows.

[Foot Stomper]

Originally Posted by duramax55

Hi was woundering how heavy a scratch or deep you can hide with 3 coats on steel and on bondo ?

Whatever the TDS says.

[MARTINSR]

I did a few experiments with Featherfill back years ago. I love doing tests, to REALLY see what you can do.

I did a Harley gas tank that I made a display piece out of when I was a paint rep. I bondoed it, sanded it with 36 grit and put three or four coats of featherfill and sanded that up to 600 painting it a pearl purple and then cleared. I used it for years as a display and it looked perfect! I hung it up in my attic so it would get good and hot to affect it like it was on a car.

I later did another, a freebee repair on a Chevy pickup where I fixed it with bondo and sanding it with 36 grit, feathered the paint around it with 120 and primed it with Featherfill. I sanded it starting with 180, up to 600 and painted it black. I checked on it many months later and there was zero sand scratches from that 36! The stuff is friggin amazing!

And yes, you could bury a dime with it. Your typical factory paint job, primer, paint and clear is about 5mils. Four coats of featherfill gave me 21 mils! Yep, it's thick! It's literally like spraying bondo.

I am not really big on it unless you REALLY need it. Something with a lot of lines like a tail gate or firewall, that's the perfect place so you don't have apply bondo sanding it with fine paper. You can shape it out with coarse paper where it's easy to sand and shape and then apply polyester primer like Featherfill and then sand it like it's a skim coat of bondo, works like friggin magic.

Brian

[dracko]

Originally Posted by duramax55

Hi was woundering how heavy a scratch or deep you can hide with 3 coats on steel and on bondo ?

You mention steel and bondo, scratches from 80...or any grit, in steel are very different than filler, much deeper in filler. Also, not all primers are legit DTM. Might want to consider an epoxy primer like SPI before moving to a high build. HOK offers an epoxy high build that is supposedly the bees knees but I’ve never used it...hopefully someone on here can chime in that’s used it.

[nsb29]

Feather fill Is the same as slick sand just a thinner version I remember When slick sand was twice as thick for $35 a gallon the last Gallon I bought was $80 and at the local paint suppliers is over $100 and I imagine feather fill it’s probably the same price the best thing Is zero shrinkage I believe it was originally used on Corvettes to stop the die backs the feather fill comes in black I always use it on black cars love this stuff

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by dracko

You mention steel and bondo, scratches from 80...or any grit, in steel are very different than filler, much deeper in filler. Also, not all primers are legit DTM. Might want to consider an epoxy primer like SPI before moving to a high build. HOK offers an epoxy high build that is supposedly the bees knees but I’ve never used it...hopefully someone on here can chime in that’s used it.

SPI epoxy is DAMN high filling! It is NOT your epoxy priming norm that's for sure.

Brian

[duramax55]

thanks alot guys

[nsb29]

SPI definitely has some build to it I don’t think I would use it over heavy scratches like 80 grit onless I was going to top Top it with slick sand or feather feel i’d be afraid to come back to haunt me

[blazer2007]

What size of gun do you use ?

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by nsb29

SPI definitely has some build to it I don’t think I would use it over heavy scratches like 80 grit onless I was going to top Top it with slick sand or feather feel i’d be afraid to come back to haunt me

You are right, NEVER PUSH IT! Never ask the primer to do too much, that is a key. And that is why I abused that Featherfill was to push it's outer limits. After I did that, I knew that if I left it in a finer grit the primer would handle it for me.

I don't believe in leaving anything courser than 120 and preferably 180 prior to primer.

Brian

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by blazer2007

What size of gun do you use ?

Depending on the primer, a 1.5-2.0

Brian

[dracko]

Originally Posted by blazer2007

What size of gun do you use ?

I think I used a 1.4 for SPI and a 2.2 for featherfill

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by dracko

I think I used a 1.4 for SPI and a 2.2 for featherfill

Yep, you are right, I have a 2.3 for the polyester primer. It depends on what I am doing with the SPI. On the outside where I want a higher quality and proper flashing to be sure no issues, I use a 1.5. On the inside of of things and stuff that isn't so critical I use a 2.0 so it will cover fast.

Brian

[nsb29]

The only thing I would put over 80 grit is Bondo LMAO I always start out with the Epoxy on bare metal and then either feather fill or slick sand within the manufacturers timeline so I do not have to scuff the epoxy if while blocking it out I find a low I use filler when I am done blocking down to 180 grit I give it another coat of Featherfeel or slick sand for my finel blocking starting with 220 and finishing with 600

[nightrider388]

High build is misused a lot of the times in my opinion. It gets used where people don't want to do proper body work. If you put a shell of thick filler over a large area or entire truck, eventually it will get a chip and moisture will creep. A full show car and never driven, maybe you wont have that trouble. I just hate seeing people do all this nice metal work and rust repair, then cover the entire truck in a sprayed coat of filler.

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by nightrider388

High build is misused a lot of the times in my opinion. It gets used where people don't want to do proper body work. If you put a shell of thick filler over a large area or entire truck, eventually it will get a chip and moisture will creep. A full show car and never driven, maybe you wont have that trouble. I just hate seeing people do all this nice metal work and rust repair, then cover the entire truck in a sprayed coat of filler.

This is VERY true, don't abuse it! Like I said, when I pushed it that was as an experiment! You are very right, DON'T PUSH IT!

Brian

[nsb29]

Originally Posted by nightrider388

High build is misused a lot of the times in my opinion. It gets used where people don't want to do proper body work. If you put a shell of thick filler over a large area or entire truck, eventually it will get a chip and moisture will creep. A full show car and never driven, maybe you wont have that trouble. I just hate seeing people do all this nice metal work and rust repair, then cover the entire truck in a sprayed coat of filler.

I don’t know that I entirely agree you don’t want to use anymore than it takes to make it right but it doesn’t mean that it is going to chip any easier a chip in the paint is a chip in the paint what I have found is if you use a soft primer you know like the easy stuff to sand you’re more apt to get a chip than if you use a primer Like SPI or a polyester I had a guy tell me one time that sanding SPI or slicksand was like sanding concrete but it won’t give way under your paint If you have used a good Epoxy primer moisture don’t creep But that’s my two cents

[nightrider388]

Originally Posted by nsb29

I don’t know that I entirely agree you don’t want to use anymore than it takes to make it right but it doesn’t mean that it is going to chip any easier a chip in the paint is a chip in the paint what I have found is if you use a soft primer you know like the easy stuff to sand you’re more apt to get a chip than if you use a primer Like SPI or a polyester I had a guy tell me one time that sanding SPI or slicksand was like sanding concrete, moisture don’t creep But that’s my two cents

Everyone has there way of doing it. It has it's place and uses. It's just spray on bondo that is full of talc and fillers. Its porous. I never said it chips easier than paint. If the paint chips off that is attached to this spray filler, moisture will get in it. I'm not knocking anyone who uses anyway they want. For me, I don't want layers of polyester filler covering my whole vehicle. You can watch youtube videos all day where people cover an entire car with it. To me that's no different than skim coating the whole thing with bondo. Where this stuff was first used was over smc, fiberglass and over body filler to cover pin holes and minor imperfections.

[nsb29]

So what do you use now that you have told us what you don’t use