As far as temperature goes it really doesn’t matter, I did my 74 beetle in the dead of winter, it was like -20 deg Celsius, I had a portable heater in the garage and 2x 1500W flood lights, I was warm enough. The charger I did this past September in about 25 deg Celsius and it was really humid with no difference, where when I sprayed a single stage on the 71 beetle I had to use the proper temperature reducer. As far as getting this paint to stick, all I can say is that it is made to be painted on BARE and RUSTED metal. The stuff sticks to rubber, glass, anything, like sh*t on a blanket (if you have kids you'll know what I mean !!! lol). I have no issues or question in my mind that this stuff sticks like crazy to bare metal. I'm sure it would stick on epoxy primer if you sand it with 800 grit before. I have never had any reaction to anything that I’ve painted over, I’ve painted motorcycle gas tanks and plastic covers, 3 cars, over base clear, the front fenders on the charger are fiberglass, no issues. I’ve painted over automotive primer on my 74 beetle where I had exposed metal and knew I would leave it exposed for a while and didn’t want it to rust. I painted right over bondo, where I had a few really minor scratches and dents that I couldn’t bang out, no issues. I had a drop of the paint on glass, it was really hard to get off, I was afraid to use a razor because it could scratch my new windshield so I used a credit card and it was really, really hard to get off. I painted the door jambs, under trunk lid, under hood, everything. Try one panel and see it if works, u have to experiment with it, it took a lot of trial and error for me to get the "technique" down pat. my car is by no means a show car, but I couldn’t justify a $5000 paint job after just buying the car for $11000, buying new bumpers, door handles, emblems, all rubber, windshield, brake booster, heater core, headliner, carpet, door panels, brakes, ect....I spent all my money on the aesthetics, and mechanics, not to mention the car. I kind of rushed the charger because I HAD to drive my dream car as soon as I could. My 74 beetle I really took my time with and it is and looks like a $5000 paint job. I used a foam brush to paint the jambs and tight spots, and just ran the foam roller over it to smooth it out. I used tremclad flat black in a spray can for the rear tail panel on the charger.
Here are a bunch of close up good high res pics I just took of the car and the supplies I used and a few other pics of the beetle’s I painted:
If you have a show car that you've rotisserie nut and bolt restored and have $40000.00 into it then get it painted by someone for $10000.00. If you want a nice, clean, good driver, cheap, easy to do paint job yourself, have the time and patience then try this method. I could strip and prep the car in 1 day since all the body work is done, and have it professionally painted any time if I want. If you have the equipment to spray it on, then by all means spray it on, it would turn out just like any other automotive paint job, only the paint would be a lot cheaper!!!, not to mention you don’t need primer, primer sealer, reducer, ect…. I didn’t want to borrow a compressor again, lug it home, get over spray everywhere, tape the whole car, worry about dust and do a ton more work associated with spraying; been there done that!!!!. Using a roller makes it super easy to do, but it is tricky. This method is not for everyone, but it’s the way I did it!!! My 74 beetle as I mentioned earlier was painted in 1999, I’ve since put 35,000mi, the paint still looks like the day I did it. I did not intend to make my car a show car, just a nice driver, it’s not laser straight, dent free, or perfect, but it sure gets me thumbs up where ever I go and I only spent $50 on supplies, and that ain’t to bad at all.
