All you need to know about bodywork paint primers

Paint primer for bodywork is an essential product for all bodywork specialists. It is used when preparing the surface of your vehicle. It is the undercoat that isolates the base and ensures excellent adhesion when the paint is applied.

How do I use a bodywork paint primer?

To use a Paint primer, it's important to follow a few important but necessary steps for optimum results:

Step 1 : Thoroughly clean the surface you wish to treat. This step is essential to ensure that the product adheres well to the surface.

Step 2: Refer directly to the technical data sheet to follow the instructions for proper preparation of the bodywork primer.

Step 3: Get a spray gun and adjust it according to the instructions on the product data sheet, then apply the product to the surface of your car or motorbike.

Step 4 : Respect the drying time depending on the product used.

Each Paint primer has a specific use, so here's a summary of the different primers:

Topping paint primer

Trim primer is one of the most popular and widely used primers used by bodybuilders. Trimmer primers are used solely to treat the surfaces of your car body. These primers are two-component, which is why it's important to use a suitable hardener and thinner. To obtain a clean, smooth surface, we recommend that you sand your primer after application.

 

Tech'team tip: filling primer has the particularity of being thick, which is why we recommend using spray gun nozzles of 1.8 to 2.5 mm.

 

This Mobihel filling primer has a high filling power (up to 180 µm) and can be used on various metal surfaces such as steel, iron, zinc and aluminium.)

Apply 4:1 with Hardener and 10% Thinner.

Plastic paint primer

Plastic Paint Primer is used ONLY on plastic surfaces, hence its name. The plastic must be unpainted and transparent in colour. The advantage of plastic primer is that it's ready to use straight away, with no need for hardener or Thinner.

This plastic primer from the Mobihel range is ready to spray. It dries very quickly. This product adheres to all exterior plastic surfaces: bumpers, motorbike fairings, side strips....

Epoxy paint primer

Epoxy paint primer is used only on unpainted surfaces. It is one of the best-known primers in the bodywork world, particularly for renovating classic cars. This type of primer offers excellent adhesion and is highly resistant to all hydrocarbons.

This 2K epoxy primer from the 4CR range offers excellent protection against corrosion. We recommend a spray nozzle of between 1.2 and 1.6 mm.

Fast drying, depending on air temperature:

• Between 10 and 20 minutes at 60°C
• Between 30 and 45 minutes at 20°C.

Tech'team tip : this epoxy primer is used in a 2:1 Mixing ratio with its 0451 reagent and 10 to 25% 0505 Thinner.

Airdry® Paint primer

This two-component paint primer can be applied to a number of surfaces, including sheet metal, galvanised steel and aluminium.)

Before using airdry paint primer, the surface must be thoroughly cleaned and sanded for a clean, precise result. This product is very effective for Spot-repairs and major repairs. Once the product is dry, the primer can be sanded after 20 minutes. It can also be used with a Hardener and a Thinner.

This Mobihel 2K High Solid Airdry primer dries very quickly, providing a good base for the Topcoat. It also has excellent filling properties.

Anti-gravel

Anti-gravel is designed to protect your car's bodywork from all kinds of rust and splatter. This type of product has several advantages:

• Easy to use
• Dries very quickly
• Gives a good grip on sport
• Weather-resistant

Anti-gravel generally comes in three colours: white, grey and black.

In this category, we offer you Anti-gravel from Mobihel. This product is made from modified rubber to protect door sills and wing arches. Resistant to salt, moisture, oil and petrol. Once completely dry, the product is ready to be coated.

Wet-on-Wet Paint Primer

This type of primer is perfect for saving time. Thanks to its speed, wet-on-wet primer requires no sanding and is ready for painting after just 20 minutes drying time.

In this category is Mobihel's 2K 3:1 wet-on-wet primer. This product is a combination of undercoat for your car body, and provides protection against corrosion.

The undercoat is applied using the "wet-on-wet" process, hence its name. The undercoat is applied wet-on-wet, hence the name, or as a sanding undercoat ready to be sprayed on after the use of a Hardener.

Washprimer

Washprimer is an easy-to-apply, fast-drying primer. It is chromate-free and has excellent anti-corrosive properties. Several substrates are suitable for this type of primer, including: metal, galvanised sheet metal and aluminium.

Tech'team tip: it's important to thoroughly clean and sand all surfaces to be treated before applying the washprimer.

This wahsprimer from Mobihel is available in 1L. It is applied using a spray gun and a brush.

• Spray application: 1.3 - 1.4 mm
• Brush application: 50 seconds

We recommend 2 to 3 coats for best hold.

Tech'team tip: we recommend a film thickness of 50-60 μm.

UV paint primer

This type of UV-curing primer is specially designed for Spot-repairs. It has an extremely fast drying time, drying in just 5 minutes under UV light, which saves you time on your work.

We recommend adjusting the spray gun to 1.2 - 1.4 mm.

We recommend Sikkens UV self-surfacer, available in 750 ml. This product can be used on a variety of surfaces, including steel, aluminium and anodised galvanised steel. It is important that the surface to be worked on is cleaned using a suitable product. This product has the advantage of being transparent, so surfaces dry quickly and completely.

Acrylic paint primer

An acrylic primer is one-component, dries very quickly and is easy to use and sand. We recommend this product for work on small areas of your car body. However, this acrylic primer can be used on several surfaces: bare sheet metal that has been degreased and sanded, and polyester putty.

This acrylic primer from MaxMeyer is perfect if you want a product of this type.