Project Cheap Camaro #6: High-Build Primer Surfacer Prepares Body for Paint

The Cheap Camaro has come a long way since its days as a hacked-up derelict found in a trailer. The paint job, being developed in collaboration with students at Alliance High School, is now closer than ever to completion. By the time spring break arrived in March, the team had already achieved critical progress, including aligning all panels and blocking out the epoxy applied earlier to a flat surface.

Block-Sanding Reveals Imperfections

After skim-coating the trunk lid with contour filler, students took turns smoothing it with 80-grit sandpaper on a long block. However, even with most of the Camaro’s sheet metal being new or in good condition, high and low spots became apparent during the block-sanding process. To address these imperfections, the team turned to polyester high-build primer-surfacer—a sprayable alternative to traditional body filler like Bondo.

Jay Harden, Matt Kincaid, and I worked with the students to sand the primer, but the arrival of spring break introduced a new semester and a new group of students. This meant starting over with the basics, making high-build primer the ideal solution: thick, forgiving, and easy to reapply if necessary. The primary trouble spots were the roof panel and rear sail panels, where new quarters met the original roof skin. However, to ensure uniformity, the entire car received a poly coat.

Disassembly and Alignment Preservation

Before spraying the body, the team had to disassemble the vehicle, removing the doors, fenders, hood, cowl, and trunk lid. To maintain the hard-won alignment achieved earlier, Kincaid and the students devised a method to preserve it. They drilled 1/8-inch alignment holes through hinges and mounting flanges, using 1/8-inch steel rods to lock panels into their exact positions upon reassembly.

Holes were drilled in each door hinge where they met the body, as well as two more through the hinges at the underside of the trunk lid. With these alignment rods in place, reassembly became a straightforward process, ensuring the panels would fit perfectly when the car was put back together.

"You can think of poly like a sprayable body filler: Bondo in a paint gun. This stuff is great for first-time body people, because it goes on well and builds quickly, helping to fill in whatever low spots you’ve got."

— Project Cheap Camaro Team