Auto body repair & detailing: Painting panels, ford f 350, replacement fenders

Question
Gary,
I am currently doing a frame off restoration on a Ford F-350. I purchased replacement fenders, using original hood,cab and doors. The cab is completely stripped interior and exterior. doors, hood, fenders,dash, wiring harness. The cab and hood are being soda blasted to bare metal. My plan is to prime entire cab, paint inner fenders, inner doors, jams and underside of hood. Then place cab back on frame and assemble all parts. Only after that paint exterior with ppg base and clear. My questions are can I paint over the black factory primer of the new panels or should i scuff and reprime? I am going to use epoxy primer. Also I am going to sand and polish to a show class shine. How many coats of clear should I apply to have enough to wetsand and polish. color is going to be Deep water blue pearl coat. Last can I paint the bed at a later date or am I risking color being off to cab.

Thank you,
John

Answer
Hi John,

I will tackle each question separately below:

1) I recommend that you scuff and either re-prime or you can use DAS V-Seal to seal the panels before you paint, Or you can use DP Epoxy as a sealer and paint over it.

2) Depends on the clear-coat you are using, If you are using DCU2021 with DCX61 Cat. I recommend 4 "WET" coats. The first 2 coats allow to dry and wet sand using 800 grit, then apply the second 2 coats and wet sand with 1500 and progress to 2000 and then 3000 or 4000 grit. This will give you that show car shine pop that you are looking for.

3) For best color match I definitely recommend paint everything at once. However, I have painted a few rigs in pieces before. One thing I look at is how much metallic is in the formula. Solid colors and pearl finishes are a bit easier to match than metallic finishes when panel painting. If you choose to do this be very meticulous with air pressure settings on your gun, solvent selection for your base-coat, your spraying technique, and temperature your spraying in. Try to keep everything as close to the same as possible to ensure the best color match possible.

Good luck and I hope this helps out