Fender Louvers, primer recommendation?

[Roger G.]

I am nearly finished stripping and sanding my fender louvers, looking to prime them soon. My first thought was to use etching primer but to my surprise I'm reading this is a bad idea. Anyone had experience with priming the fender louvers? What primer is most recommended? They're too much work stripping and sanding to risk doing them over again...

[Dick W.]

Re: Fender Louvers, primer recommendation?

Self etching primer, properly applied, will promote adhesion to the louvers. There are no problems using it under lacquer or modern two stage paints. We always used PPG DP series self etching primers. Depending on the color of the topcoat, we would use DP40 under dark or black colors, there are several other numbers depending on the color.

[Wayne W.]

Re: Fender Louvers, primer recommendation?

The factory would have used Zinc Chromate, but it is hard to get and a little dangerous, so these days we use epoxy primer which in some cases contains some zinc chromate. Use a very thin application.