Sealing and painting question

[ledpen]

What is the best procedure for sorting out inner arches and engine bay, I'm restoring a 1.2 merit and have the wings off and engine bay is completely stripped, I plan on striping the paint off engine bay, seam/stitch welding it and them apply some seam sealant, now what is the best primer to use next I've been told red oxide on know rot area eg battery section etc, but after these areas have been treated with oxide should I prime over the top with standard primer or just use red oxide all over? Also after primer I will obviously paint it the same colour as the car but would it be worth while to clear coat after paint?
Next question is inner arches I plan to strip them back to bare metal I will red oxide them, can I go ahead and stone guard over the red oxide or do I need to shot it with some paint after the oxide then stone guard? Sorry for long winded question but long winded answers would be good also

[ade]

theres different opinions in the order you should apply the paint/sealent. primer is pourous so itll absorb moisture over time. Make sure all paint applications are compatible with each other. If stripping to bare metal you ideally need to ensure the surface is properly treated then use an etch primer or epoxy based primer to protect the bare metal. You could apply a red oxide or zinc primer next. The etch and zinc primers are primer based and can be oversprayed with topcoat.

Applying sealent (grey stripe for example) should be done between the primer and top coats (if you look at your existing sealent its always covered in paint). apply this to the joints working in a deep as you can. Smooth the outer edges with a good layer (not too thick) and smooth down with a finger or similar applicator (use a caulk gun if you can get it in tubes otherwise a thick brush will do). Once set you can then prep and paint the surface with however many layers of paint you need.

For the wings/immer wings (I assume you mean front wings) - the inner wings can be treated in the same way as any other part except after painting you should treat heavy impact areas with a stone ship or stone guard. Vauxhall used to use a rubber compound which both protected against stone ships and sound deadened the area a tad - you can buy equivalent stone guards of varying types.

So - etch printer for bare metal, then I'd go either red oxide or zinc primer, sealent, top coat and lacquer (if needed) then stone guard or similar to finish.

Some stone guards can be painted (some remain tacky so check) - so you could apply stone guard after sealent. Just check manufacturer instructions.

Hope this helps

Ade

[ledpen]

That is a great reply mate thanks for the information