next step in bodywork
 

ok, I've used an orbital sander 80 grit to get 80% of the 2nd coat of badly cracked paint off the car where it is smooth and needing minor filler to fix some areas. My goal is to get the car roadworthy and a nice weekend driver, NOT a show car or frame off resto.

My timeline for it's budget final paint is April or May so only another 4-5 months away.

what is the prefered next step? Do I shoot the car with primer, then use filler where needed, then shoot another coat of primer before I paint it? or in the current condition, do I use filler, then just shoot a coat or two of primer before paint?

I am planning on shooting primer in my garage but final paint would be done by a shop (like maaco).

Did you hit any bare metal??? (I cannot tell from your pic)
I would think priming it with an Epoxy Primer will seal up any bare metal or if not, it will give you a good foundation to start with for your filler/high build primer. I use House of Kolor KD2000 Epoxy Primer. Its also a high buider primer too. Kind of a hybrid.
Then after that seal and then paint.
My two cents.
-Don

^^ also what I would do.

How long can it sit in primer before final paint? Car is kept in closed garage.

Sounds like I should prime it now then do filler then prime again after filler is done?

Epoxy primers are great coats to have on a car if it's going to sit a while. The only thing you have to do when the epoxy primer is outside its topcoat window which varies brand to brand is scuff and clean (actually clean/scuff/clean). Then topcoat with filler or high build.

Epoxy primer after filler is good practice. Fillers are know to be hydrophilic - they absorb water. So yeah, sandwiching that filler with epoxy primer is a good call.

If you have only removed 80% of "badly cracked paint", I would strongly suggest you remove the other 20%, cracked or not. ANY paint film that is cracked is shot, and would not make a good foundation to apply subsequent coats over.

Agreed^^^ and you may want to get some Ospho or something on there asap!! Rust forms quick!

If it were mine I would take it all the way to bare metal and shoot it with epoxy primer. If you had issues with cracked paint there is no way to tell what you'd be covering up.

Everyone does it different. Usally based on the products they use and based on the instructions.

I was instructed to put filler (aka bondo) on bare metal only as it sticks to the metal and feathers around the edges better.

I also took my car down to bare metal and used a two part self etching primer from Sherwin Williams. I worked in a damp area and it worked awsome at keeping the rust away. I was changing colors to removing all paint was a must.

Once you do something the right way it difficult to do a budget job.

I agree 100%!!!!

sounds like I'm going to break out the sander for a fun weekend of sanding! I'll post some pictures of my progress over the weekend.

A V-grinder with 80 grit will strip a car fast. I still recommend some type of coating to cover the metal once it bare.

I also prefer to put filler on bare metal, but I would for sure get it covered asap. It WILL rust if it hasnt already. I would get it bare and either get some ospho on it, or some epoxy primer. I prefer to not use etch because then you cant use anything else with acid in it or it will react. Also there is better build with epoxy to start filling in the scratches.

I would get something on it, then just sand whatever it is off when adding filler in that area, then just spot it back in.

Also if you have area with rust pitting you almost HAVE to use a sand blaster to clean the metal or rust will come back. Gotta get the rust up out of the pits. Thats where ospho can come in handy again. It will neutralize the rust.

The number one thing to do here is to get it stripped and protected. If you are doing it in spare time, do one panel at a time. Strip the fender bare, and ospho or epoxy (or both) before moving to the next panel.