I have all the detachable body parts ready to sand to paint. I'm working on the main shell and have the all the low spots filled with body putty so it's time to shoot the high build primer.


With the fenders, doors, sunroof and trunk lid I shot two coats of high build, block sanded them with 180 grit and then shot two more coats on them. The orange peel is the real issue since the low and high spots are worked flat.


I'm considering shooting 4 coats on the shell, wet on wet, and wondering if thinning the 4th coat a bit might result in less orange peel.


Can anyone experienced with such nonsense give me advice on whether or not to thin the final coat of high build? Will it help? Will it hurt the final product? Dry time isn't a factor. I don't care how long it takes I just want the car done right.


BTW: I'm using a guide coat to make sure I sand enough and just enough.

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84 300SD
85 380SE
83 528e
95 318ic

I've not a clue, you know way more than I do about this; but, would love to see some pics when you can. Which car are you doing and what color?

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"Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strength" - Eric Hoffer

I ripped apart my white 84 SD and put the engine/transmission in my black 1985 SE body. The interior is a mix and match from several cars including my SD. I love the diesel engine but hated the white body. All the interior got SEM paint on the vinyl and SEM dye on the leather. The front seats must be replaced with new leather, someday.

I love the black body for color and that it was fairly low mileage. My brother owned the black car which sat under a tree for decades. The body was better than fair condition but he buffed the paint off in some areas leaving the primer showing.

After a couple month of learning to weld I cut and patched the rear of the rear outer wheel wells along with the bottom section of the rear windshield. I did a pretty fair job of hiding the weld lines and pecked a few spots with a hammer and dolly then body putty took care of the rest.

Evidently the car sat under a walnut tree or sat partly under a roof for the top of the cabin and hood had about 60-80 dings. Some were clearly visible and some showed up while sanding. I block sanded the original paint for a seal coat of 2K epoxy primer.

I believe the body is ready for the high build but this old man is about sanded out. I wanted to thin the urethane 2k primer to try and lessen the sanding. Just wondering if it will work.

Thank for asking.

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84 300SD
85 380SE
83 528e
95 318ic

The TDS shows three component into the batch of high build, one of which is a reducer. I dropped by Finishmasters and was informed that reducing the primer up to 10% was certainly within spec and would help filling in the orange peel.


I hate sanding but my motivation is that when I sand with paper which cuts orange peel like that produced when HB primer is not reduced I often, way too often cut through the HB primer and the epoxy primer to the bare metal.


My hope is the I can avoid most of the orange peel and use a much finer grit paper to do the first pass of sanding.



I've learned that when you use abrasives like sandpaper and various grinding tools that starting with the finer grits then going to the lower is the safer way to explore. Damage will me minimized using that technique.

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84 300SD
85 380SE
83 528e
95 318ic