Failed Primer Coat

I guess I misjudged the humidity yesterday and I've got a bad primer coat now.

This is my first paint job and I'm trying to follow this method from over at KTOF.

I sprayed a couple coats of black sandable primer on yesterday. Today I wet sanded it with some 600 grit and thought all was well. I was getting ready to lay down some color and sprayed it with a little pre spray (grease & wax remover). When I wiped it the primer coat just smeared all over the place.

One side cover is fugly, but luckily I stopped before prep spraying the other one.

They'd been drying for about 24 hours.

Any advice? Do I need to strip yesterdays primer off or will it eventually dry?

was there any paint on previously sometimes paints will make the primer soft and the prime can just be scraped off i had this happen to a couple side covers i got online was going good until i had the prime on i could scrap it off with a finger nail and it had set for a couple hours

becareful if the parts you are painting are plastic if you use a stripper it will make the plastic soft so you will need to let them harden back up after you get the old primer off

I was always taught to do a bit of sanding before I put down any primer. Roughing it up just a little with some 200 grit dry sanding, to help the primer grab on to it. And then after the sanding, I was taugh to wash it with soapy water to get any grease, dirt, and dust off. After it dried, then I'd prime, let that dry, wet sand with the 600 grit. Then I'd do 1 coat of color, let it dry completely, wet sand again, another coat of color, let that dry, wet sand again, and then clear coat it, (making sure I DID NOT shake up the can of clear coat before spraying it).
I don't know if this is over-kill, it's just the way I was taught to do it.
Good luck.

Thats a decent write up, but you should use a 2 part urethane clear on the tank so gas doesnt ruin the finish. You can buy it in a special aerosol now, just google 2k aerosol.

You dont need a cleaner after sanding, just get a pack of tack rags.

Kidkawie wrote: Thats a decent write up, but you should use a 2 part urethane clear on the tank so gas doesnt ruin the finish. You can buy it in a special aerosol now, just google 2k aerosol.

You dont need a cleaner after sanding, just get a pack of tack rags.

X2
rattel can paint will fade in color quikly if u dont.

Chaotic Reason wrote: I was always taught to do a bit of sanding before I put down any primer

Yep, I sanded everything before putting down the primer.

Kidkawie wrote: ... use a 2 part urethane clear on the tank so gas doesnt ruin the finish... You dont need a cleaner after sanding, just get a pack of tack rags.

I've seen the 2 part clear and was planning on buying a couple cans after I saw how the paint came out (but before putting it back on the bike).

If I can safely skip the prep spray on the primer I might be OK. I'll need to put at least one more coat of primer on everything before I start my color though.

Local hardware store has these for pretty cheap - I used them and not a grease/wax remover.

3M Tack Cloth

I've been using both the prep spray followed by a tack cloth. Per the steps in the KTOF write up in the original post. I'm a total noob at this, so good to know I can skip the prep spray. I'm between coats right now, so we'll see how it goes.

I would say (not a pro, personal opinion) if you are wearing gloves and using a tack cloth, the only critical place the spray is needed is before the primer. Also, as was pointed out to me when I did my paint, regular can primer soaks up moisture, so spraying primer while it is humid might trap water under your paint and rust the tank from the outside in. 2 part epoxy primer solves this issue by giving you a true seal between the tank and the rest of your primer coats, as I understand it.

Wouldn't be a bad idea to run a window a/c unit where you are spraying just to remove some of the humidity.

Thanks for the help guys. The primer seems to have held up fine and my color coat is sticking as it should.

I'm having trouble getting a glossy finish out of the rattle cans, but I'll start another thread on that.