If I'm sanding my car to bare metal what's the best primer to use if I'm not accessible to a paint gun

 

rattle cans will do ok if you dont let the car get wet .. most primers will absorb moisture and rust right under the primer .. if you go to metal just dont let it get wet if you cant cover it anytime soon ...

 

If you go to bare metal you need a sealer which you can get in rattle cans from most car paint shops

 

You could always try Gibbs Brand Lubricant, they have been running a bare metal car now for years with only coats of this spray. Its amazing. I have links for it on my blog-
http://onemanandhismustang.com

 

do yourself a favor- a buddy showed me this 30 yrs ago...

get a quart of ospho or some other phosphoric acid 'metalprep' from your local ACE hardware or paint supply house... sand a piece of tin, wipe ospho on one half, rinse 15 minutes later, sit it outside overnight... the ospho side will be mint, the other orange.

if in a humid climate especally, as soon as the air hits bare metal, it starts to rust... might not become visible for a day or three, but it starts the instant moist air meets fresh sanded steel.

ospho, then paint with a decent primer, get the topcoat on as soon as you can, it will last a loooong time. without etching first, often bubbles will appear under the paint within a few years- with ospho, forgetabout it...

a good self etching primer over fresh steel does a good job, but over ospho- even better.

I wont paint anything without ospho since seeing how well it worked all those years ago...