I am looking to start sanding , primer my fiero . If eventually i wanted to paint it white ... could i use a black spray can primer ? (want to ride around stealth for awhile) . also .. for patching holes , bumps on the panels (not bumpers) do i use regular bondo ? thanks , happy 4 th

All I can tell you is the darker the primer, the harder it'll be to paint the car white. As far as stealth mode goes, I guess it depends on how long you're going to ride around like that, and ask yourself if it'll be worth the extra trouble in the long run. BTW, I think white is a great color on the Fiero. My '88 was white and looked great!

If you want to ride around in stealth mode there is nothing wrong with a spray bomb primer. It will have to all be sanded off before you put real paint on it anyway.

quote Originally posted by jscott1: If you want to ride around in stealth mode there is nothing wrong with a spray bomb primer. It will have to all be sanded off before you put real paint on it anyway.

but dont you have to have it primered before you paint it ? what do you mean have to be sanded off ?

The reason you primer a car is so that the paint will have something to stick too. Primer soaks up the paint for a quality hold. If you ride around for a few months with primer on it will suck up all the dirt and road tar that gets thrown at it. So pretty much you will have to re sand then re primer it (because the new paint wont stick to all the dirt that is stuck in the primer) right before painting it.

[This message has been edited by netpro55 (edited 07-05-2005).]

Some primers will not have a problem being sprayed a long time in advance and being used on the road. You will just have to clean it alot more before spraying you color coat. The reason to sand off the spray can primer is because it may not be compatible with the paint you are going to spray. Use a primer that is recommended for the paint you will be using.
I sprayed one of my parts with a different brand primer and it turned out good. However that piece seems to chip MUCH easier then the pieces I sprayed with the proper primer.

Thanks Netpro55 and Caladin, you put into words what I was thinking. The spray bomb primer is just for looks until you can get the time and money to put real primer on it. So you will have to sand all that old primer off. You will hit it with real primer right before painting it.

I spray bombed my car all black just because I got tired of looking at multi-colored panels.

quote Originally posted by bsculptor: I am looking to start sanding , primer my fiero . If eventually i wanted to paint it white ... could i use a black spray can primer ? (want to ride around stealth for awhile) . also .. for patching holes , bumps on the panels (not bumpers) do i use regular bondo ? thanks , happy 4 th

If you really want to prime your entire car, get yourself a good quality primer from the same place you are going to get your paint. You can get a black primer to stealth out the car, yet still have a decent primer for painting. When you are getting ready to paint, you'll need to sand off most of that primer because it will pick up and hold impurities that will really screw up a paint job, such as the road tar mentioned. When you have that sanded most of the way down, then you can spray the car with a white primer and then the white paint. Primer is cheaper than paint and the white primer will cut down costs for the entire job. But, it's always fun to stealth out a car before painting.

Mark

There is something cool about seeing an all flat black car going down the road, huh?

[This message has been edited by jscott1 (edited 07-05-2005).]

No one mentioned that typical 'spray can' primer is NOT compatible with auto paints. Most will wrinkle up and peel off like stripper when automotive paint is applied over it. Like Mark said, just buy a quart or two of real primer. I pay $25 for a gallon of Evercoat primer surfacer and it thins with just laquer thinner.

quote Originally posted by jscott1: The spray bomb primer is just for looks until you can get the time and money to put real primer on it. So you will have to sand all that old primer off.

Roger, I said that spray bomb primer would have to come off, in addition to all the reasons stated earlier, incompatibility is another reason. No real painter is going to paint over anyone elses primer anyway.

My friend primered his car two years ago, and got it painted at a good shop.
He did a really great job wetsanding it down before he got it painted.

Two years later.... its paint job still looks like it rolled out of the factory.
He just used cheap grey primer.

thanks for all the replies ..
I will be using the Evercoat spray can .. i have used it on other things .. and it sands the best , i have tried every other brand out there .

Some spray can primers are laquer and you can paint over them, they just arent thick enough to fill any surface flaws.