Primer advice

I'm just about finished getting my '85 pickup stripped down to bare metal. So, this means paint time is getting near. What advice would you guys have for primer? I'm looking for the meanest, most resilient stuff out there. I never want to have to deal with taking stuff down to metal again.

Thanks in advance.

 

Go to your local auto paint supply jobber and talk to them. I painted a few cars and have used PPG Deltron products on all of them. Keep in mind that you need to protect yourself from the fumes and overspray especially if there are isocyanates in the primer/paint. For some, just one exposure is all that it takes to be sickened pretty bad. I'd also suggest staying with one product line as it'll significantly decrease the chance of a paint adhesion/interaction failure. Here's the method I typically use on autobody projects: Strip to bare metal, do metal work (replace panels, weld, etc...), coat with epoxy primer, filler and block, coat with epoxy primer, scuff if the recoat window has passed, high build primer, color, clear. It uses a bit of paint this way but I tend to have gaps in time when I can work on the projects. Laying down e-primer first seals the metal giving me time to do any additional body work later. New paints don't just stick by adhesion but they also chemically bond so there are time limits that need to be followed or you typically have to scuff the surface.