Primer dry time?

I am painting my tank and well I have the bondo work done ont the big stuff and now I have sprayed it with primer buthow long does the primer take to dry? After a day of sitting, the primer stills seems to be wet! Its in the 40s in the eve and 70s in the day here so I dont thinnk that it is too cold, any sudgestions?

What did you do to prep the tank before priming and what kind of primer did you use?

Uncertain whether applicable in this case, but was mentioned in an earlier thread that most rattle-can primers were unsatisfactory, with recommendation that a professional automotive brand be used with a spray gun for best results. Don't recall if this applied to drying time.

Good Luck!

Awright !

I just sprayed on the clear coat on my tank.

The primer I used was ok to wet sand after a few hours, and ok to dry sand after one day.

I was able to re-spray every 15 minutes or so, to get the primer really thick for sanding. I prolly put on 10 to 15 light coats, and 4 or 5 really thick coats.

I am curious if you stripped down to bare sanded metal, or if you left some of the original finish on. Perhaps there is a reason that the paint is not drying. (Duh, ya think?) humidity, temp, ventilation, can shaken enough.

It should not smudge after a day already. Does it come off on your finger if you rub it??

Best of luck man, as I said before I am painting as well. Let me know how things are going, as will I.

bountyhunter wrote:

jrjstuff wrote:

I am painting my tank and well I have the bondo work done ont the big stuff and now I have sprayed it with primer buthow long does the primer take to dry? After a day of sitting, the primer stills seems to be wet! Its in the 40s in the eve and 70s in the day here so I dont thinnk that it is too cold, any sudgestions?

Both cold temp and humidity slow drying time. If your marriage will survive it, you might want to bring it in the house and put a glow heater near it to slightly warm it and dry the air around it.

As for primer in general: you should let it get rock solid dry before you wet sand it and topcoat it, or it may 'shrink out" after it dries thoroughly. That's why some body work looks good after it's done and a couple of weeks later you see the sanding lines and edges of the body work. Most primers get dry enough to sand in a half day but may not be dry all the way through.

Im using rattle can primer too, in the garage with no heat, and the temps are hovering about 50 day and 30-35 at night. Where your painting should be above 50f, and humidity is a big factor. Dont paint in the garage when its humid or raining out if your garage is the same temp as outside. I use a little heater too, and the area where i paint is a corner that i can heat up a little more than the outside. make sure to turn the heater off when actually painting, PLEASE! Primer usually dries to recoat in about 20 minutes if everythings alright. After a couple minutes i usually turn the heater on but keep it far enough away and redirected that it doesnt blow any dust onto it. Patience and take it slow.. @ things i dont have or cant do..

Well yesterday I set out again! This time with water in hand and so good ole wet/dry and I had no problems. I am guessing that during those few days it was getting pretty cold in the eve so it never dried, I am not sure. None the less I am making progress. I really cant afford to have it sprayed so I will be rattel canning it but I am spending conciderable time on the prep to allow that inexpensive alternative a chance to look good! I will post some pic of my progress after work!

Oh yea, I had stripped it down to bare metal. it had some pretty large dents on both sides and I wanted to fill the emblem mounts in anticipation of later projects!

Sounds exactly like my situation, dents and emblems included. (also got side panels, headlamp cone, gauge cones and tail.)

I am finished with the clear coat now and am going to wait a week before 2000 grit sanding and buffing.

The metal flake rattle can green looks great, it was 12 dollars a can though and I went through three cans for all seven parts. Hopefully that is enough.

Qdude, post some pics of your work if you get a chance. I love to see how yours turned out!

I gotta figure out how !! Q

Qdude wrote:

I gotta figure out how !! Q

You had mentioned that before. Try starting a new thread on it. Maybe someone here can help you.