Some refresher questions about paint and welding

[bhowden]

I have had many vw's over the years but have been away from the hobby for about 15 years. Technology seems to have changed since my last paint job! I have a 74 181 as a project car and will be working part time on it over a year or so. My current plan is to work on a corner at a time so I am assuming I will do any metal work, epoxy prime, fill and block sand for paint prep and then prime again before moving on to the next spot. I have never used epoxy primer before and was wondering how poisonous it is. Most of the two part paints seem to be much worse than the old enamel stuff with dire warnings about positive ventilation masks. Since I have a beard, regular respirators do not work very well. Because of this I will not be doing the final paint but I would like to be able to do small areas of primer. Any suggestions?

2nd question: What sort of primer should I use over the final body work? Is epoxy the right stuff to use or can I just get away with the surface/ filler primer? Will it absorb water or is it safe to leave for 6 months to a year before top coating (assuming it is over epoxy)?

Final question for now: All of the metal shaper types talk about metal working until no filler is required. While this is beyond my skill level, I can see how that could be done where you can get behind the patch but lots of areas on a new car are blind. If you weld in a patch and cannot get behind it, how do you work it smooth enough to get away with no filler? My current plan it to gas weld where I can get behind the patch and MIG weld the blind patches. Since I am pretty well useless at butt welding VW sheet metal with the MIG, I am planning to use an offset flange on the hole and over lap the patch with the flange. This seems to reduce the distortion as well but makes the area way to stiff to do much more than just fill with filler. Am I missing something here?

Brian

[ck85abc]

You should be able to use your buildup surfacer then primer seal it. Then before you paint it scuff the entire care with as fine of sandpaper or like that you used on the surfacer.

surfacer = absorb water

sealer = does not absorb water

I am not a professional and my word should not always be taken as fact. Talk to the place were you will by the primer and see what they say. A even better Idea would be to ask to read the spec sheets of the primer you want to use.