How long can I leave epoxy primer

[TonyBrough]

I am rebuilding an MGB that has been left for years and I am trial fitting the wings / doors before movi g on to the next job, either electrics or engine.

All welding is now finished and I have filled where I have replaced panels. I am doing this at home and space is a bit tight in the garage. The car was painted in red oxide or similar, which I am taking back to bare metal.

If I paint all the panels in epoxy primer after taking them back to metal, how long can I leave the primer before prepping it for the cellulose top coat?

Cheers

Tony

 

[steveo3002]

as long as you wish it wont suffer , just key it up when ready and add whatevers needed on top

 

[TonyBrough]

Great, thanks steveo3002

 

[Burdekin]

I was asked by our old Fabric Maintenance supervisor to put three plates outside at our cottage as a trial, the plates were coated in different brands of epoxy primer. The cottage is about 50 metres from the sea and I suppose the plates have been there for 3 years now and there is no rust on any of them. But saying that you need to make sure you get 100% full coverage and no thin areas, we get rust coming through when using epoxy on piping when it’s not applied properly.

 

[henry Kadzielski]

Good morning.
All paint manufactures have film thickness specifications, both wet and dry. They are there for a reason. If you under apply then the surface will corrode. If you aoer apply then it affects the curing time and also it can 'slump'. You need not ask how I know this, the answer is obvious

 

[rcx132]

I asked Jotun about this recently. They said that if I leave the epoxy primer more than a month then I should "key" it with sand paper before next layer. The technical manual actually tells you maximum overcoat times in addition to the minimum ones.

But things might get more complicated as you're using two different paints from two different paint systems, assuming the celly paint is different brand from the epoxy primer. In which case you might be better off letting the epoxy primer fully cure and then apply the celly. Best bet is to phone the paint manufacturer.

The technical manuals specify how long to fully cure "fore service".

I might be in the same boat as you. I'd like to paint the bits of the car I've stripped but I think the coats need to be applied within a time frame to chemically bond to each other, so I will have to do it all in one go.

 

[steveo3002]

If you're doing bodypanels then you will be sending as part of the process so no matter