i am going to repaint my integra and i was curious if i need to put the sealer before painting on areas with body work and bondo only or if i primer the whole car does the even need sealer then?

 

I felt bad because no one responded to your thread, so I thought I would come in here and throw down my two cents. It is a common misconception for people to think that sealer is a particular type of paint. 'sealing' the car is more like a verb and less like a noun. Know what I mean? You can 'seal' your car with whatever you want. Some people use epoxy primer, some people use regular polyurethane 2k reduced as a sealer. And some people will shoot straight primer without reducing it. Although I won't do it that last way.

Reasons why you would 'seal' a car:
After you do all of your body work, lets say in this situation, you're going to be painting the entire car with another color. Lets also say that you're car is black to begin with. If you repair the dents and stuff, and they spray regular primer in just those areas, then prep it up for paint, and lets say in this case you're going to be painting it red. If you just go straight over the entire car with the paint, the areas that have primer (gray) are going to be at the end of the day, lighter then the red that went over the existing black. So to re-cap, sealing the car RIGHT before you paint it, gets the whole car to be the same exact color, and thus maintaining a consistent color.

In addition to that, when you seal a car, you protect it from the elements. So if there is a little tiny piece of bare metal showing that you didn't see, it gets covered by primer helping to protect it. Also, when you seal, when you go to put your paint down, you are shooting on an unsanded surface, which some people prefer, because then there is less of a likely hood of seeing scratch marks through the paint.

And lastly, if you seal, you promote adhesion by creating a chemical bond between the surface of the car, and the paint. As opposed to just the paint to the surface.

I can't think of any other reasons.

My rule of thumb? Just seal it, it's not going to hurt your project.

 

When you choose a sealer, determine what color your painting the car then pick a sealer/primer that has a similar shade. If your painting it a light color, use a light sealer, if the car is going to be a darker color, use a darker shade of sealer. If you paint the car a light color but use a dark sealer or vise versa, it takes more paint to cover up the primer.

I use epoxy primer. I say seal it, especially if you live in an area that has harsh seasons. You wont be sorry. Yes, more work and money, but in the long run its worth it.