I just last night stripped my engine bay. There is absolutly nothing in there, no wires, engine, anything. Im changing the color of the car from black to (as of now)white. My question is, can I use primer from a spray can instead of primer sprayed on from a gun and get the same effect? Im going to have the color and clear sprayed with a gun, but I could do all the prep/prime at home if i can use rattle can primer.

 

I went through this same question when I restored my car years ago. At first I used the rattle can primer (on some of the undercarriage and part of the engine compartment). Then My body shop buddy who was teaching me how to do paint and body work advised me to ditch the rattle can primer and use a good two part primer. His advice was proven good when fifeteen years later I had to redo the areas where I had used the rattle can because it had not held up like the areas where two part primer was used. Using the real stuff is more expensive but imho it is worth it especially if you plan to keep the car.

 

Whichever way you go, make sure you lightly scuff-sand the bay and clean the heck out of it, getting rid of every bit of rust and contamination by oil. antifreeze, brake fluid, battery acid, etc. before priming.

 

there probably wont be any paint left on my engine bay before it gets painted, let alone rust any fluids/rust! lol thank you for the tip on the primer!

 

Good luck with it, Youve got me remembering how it was to do mine, be prepared for some sore fingers! There are lots of nooks and crannies that have to be sanded, dont get in a big hurry.......

 

ive been heavily working on the car for about 8 months now, no since in rushing anything now! All i want is it to be done by DDRR next year. If i dont take it down to bare metal, what grit should I be using to sand the paint?

 

I will second the use of a good 2 part primer....its way better than rattle can...do yourself one BIG favor now, before you do anything paintwise inside the engine bay. Degrease everything, several times, start off with a cleaner such as simple green or purple stuff, get off everything you can see that even resembles dirt or oil/grease. Then get a wash solution (basically silicone remover) from your paint store and clean it with it. Do ALL this BEFORE you sand or grind anything. Another tip, if you dont have to go to bare metal, dont, new primer/paint will adhere better to scuffed paint than to bare metal, unless you want to etch prime the bare metal....

 

there are a few un needed bolt holes left in my bay from removing things I dont need. I was going to weld them shut. I'd like to not take the whole thing to bare metal, but i thought since I was doing that with the bolt holes I might as well. So you're saying that I shouldn't? Should i just grind around the holes, weld, grind smooth, and then use that skim coat/finish bondo stuff in the tube to blend it in? Can you guys tell im not a body guy? LOL

 

also, on the drivers side of the car by the clutch master, what are the three relay looking things for? I think they are all for AC controlls, right?

 

I would avoid going to bare metal where possible....if you want to fill holes, not much you can do about the paint on surrounding areas, the heat is going to lift it. Small areas (fist size at biggest)you may can get away with no etch primer,and just use a good filler primer after you weld and grind to smooth things back out....remember, the area you are painting has been subject to heat/cool/fuel/oil/grease for heading on 30 years...the paint that has there has survived, if you dont get a new bond with the new primer and paint, you will be rsdoing it later, and it will be a much greater pain then. Might cost a bit more, but the clean/clean again/clean again/etch bare spots/prime/paint deal is the best way to insure that you are done for good....

 

+1 on etch primer over bare metal. I'd avoid the rattle can stuff. It doesn't hold up as well as a quality 2k primer, and it also it won't be chemically compatible with whatever base you are putting over it. If you do need to use rattle can (perhaps you don't have a primer gun or compressor) then Dupont makes an aerosol version of their Nason urethane primer that can be found at Dupont suppliers. It's rather inexpensive and compatible with a lot of Dupont basecoats.