I'm 75 and been building 4x4's and toys since I was 15. been using mostly name brand paints, ppg, mostly. I learned in the 80's to use epoxy primer under all filler and to sand blast whenever possible to etch the metal and clean it. I have not sand blasted any sheetmetal except two 1942 ford jeeps the required a lot of metalwork though. I have blasred small parts in a cabinet that I didn't use a lot of pressure on. I have used ppg's epoxy primer even on aluminum with great success. I tried por15 with some success mostly on the bottom of vw pans topcoated with bedliner, but probably will not use it anymore. you can buy restomotive's por15 second coat primer to get other paints to adhere but that really gets expensive, I tried that process on my 79 jeep truck on the inner fender panels and radiator support and to me doesn't seem any better than a real good epoxy non sanding primer first coat. If the surface is clean and etched it will take a hammer or sandblasting to remove it. I never tried a paint remover on it though. I never was interested in powdercoating anything that might get dinged up or need changing or repairing. Once a good 2 part epoxy is on if you can top coat it before it sets up the top coat is usually stuck on as good as sanding to rough up the surface. If you do sand through the primer it will need to be touched up before a top coat is put down or the sealing out of chemicals is lost in that area. A lot of ppg finishes are still good 20 years later even those out in the weather. I even did my tractor with ppg finishes. Actually powdercoat is cheaper if you are paying someone else to do the labor than you doing the painting yourself if you use good quality paint. oh yeah someone asked about gloss. por15 is very glossy and slick, I think that's why paints don't stick to it very good. also any paint might be more glossy than expected if the humidity or temps are cooler. most paints that are not two part might be damaged if you use a ac flush that gets on them or carb cleaner or for sure dot 3 or 4 brake fluid. I don't think those solvents will harm por15 though but I really don't remember as the jeep is the only one that mightive got the brake fluid on it. I really only use dot 5 on all my trucks and autos that set a lot.
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