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AMD panels

Cudachuck

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Do these panels need to be stripped down to bare metal and primed with the rest of the car ? Thanks
 

Juan Veldez

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My front and lower valance were painted directly over the "black" AMD panels without notihing more the a scotchbrite rub down. My painter said that was just fine.
 

moparmike1974

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Not all EDP is created equal. General rule is hit it with laquer thinner. If it softens or wipes off then you want to strip it all off. I like to hit it with sand paper and see if it flakes off. The good edp will feather out. The junk will flake off. I generally strip all of it off to be on the safe side.
 

moparroy

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Second that - it depends. I think the PPG paint handbook / notes I found said to test with lacquer thinner as well - if it rubs off black then strip it - if it stays fast and no black color comes off with LT then its a good base to leave it as it will have been applied on near virgin metal to stop rust and will keep it sealed. I used mostly goodmark metal due to availability in Canada and it all passed the LT test so I left it unless I had to spot weld that area or something then I removed it locally only. AMD stuff is generally better than goodmark so I would think its good - probably made in the same place - but test it.
 

moparmike1974

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I should also note that I have actually seen surface rust under EDP. It was probably there before it was put down. Just another reason to go ahead and strip it off.
 

Cudachuck

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Second that - it depends. I think the PPG paint handbook / notes I found said to test with lacquer thinner as well - if it rubs off black then strip it - if it stays fast and no black color comes off with LT then its a good base to leave it as it will have been applied on near virgin metal to stop rust and will keep it sealed. I used mostly goodmark metal due to availability in Canada and it all passed the LT test so I left it unless I had to spot weld that area or something then I removed it locally only. AMD stuff is generally better than goodmark so I would think its good - probably made in the same place - but test it.
So if you install quarter panels and leave it on, what do you do to the rest of the bare metal? Do you add extra primer to bring to the same thickness?
 

moparroy

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Not sure what you mean by "rest of the bare metal"?
If you install a full quarter or quarter skin the bare metal might only be in areas to be welded. After welding you would likely apply an epoxy primer coat or two and perhaps a high build primer before filler to smooth joints. The e-coat is not very thick. I did not notice any edges after the primer coats. If needed I suppose you could sand lightly on the high build primer. My painter asked if I wanted the welds in the rear wheel lip smoothed with filler but I said no - I prefer the raw look as its closer to the original spot weld look IMO.
 

Cuda Hunter

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Shouldn't the entire E coat be removed?
If you have bare metal everywhere else on the car, it would seem to reason to remove the only e coating on the car so the entire base of the car is the same.
 

moparmike1974

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Sand on it, if it feathers you can just scuff and shoot. If it flakes off, remove it all. Not all E-coat is created equal. AMD is usually ok but I have come across some that had poor adhesion.
 

moparroy

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I think you can make an argument either way (remove or not). For sure test it chemically (LT) and mechanically (sanding as per mike). If either of those fails then yes must be stripped. If not - and if it looks good then the question is will you do more damage or more good by removing it. That depends on how quickly you can cover the bare metal once stripped. PPG says oxidation on bare steel starts within 1 hour at 50% humidity. In my amateur shop I found that timing hard - to get metal covered quickly after stripping / sanding - usually a day at least or more. So I went on the assumption the factory coating was more timely / better than I could do - so more likely to have sealed and protected virgin metal than I could in my garage. Even though there is no visible signs of rust on metal even after weeks or months sometimes - unless the humidity gets higher in my garage - its pretty cool and temperature stable if the doors are closed.
 
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