Eastwood OptiFlow Roll on Primer, Eastwood OptiFlow Roll on Primer Experience Options

[mgarrison]

For anyone interested in the Eastwood OptiFlow roll-on Primer product, I wanted to share my personal experience with it. Full disclosure; I have not done any body work or paint since HS 40 years ago. Back then I helped prep my '69 Saab Sonett for a color change using enamel paint, color sanding & buffing. I thought I would try the OptiFlow to avoid the mess of spraying primer, and the cost of buying a primer gun/tip.

I watched the Eastwood and other videos on YouTube. I printed out and read the instructions start to finish, and then reread the step I was on - I wanted to follow them as close as possible (I tend towards OCD with details).

The Optiflow works basically as advertised, but I feel like their demonstration videos may have had some behind the scenes "magic" to them you dont get to see. When compared to my personal experience, and a couple other videos, the OptiFlow in the Eastwood video seems thicker, and much less prone to run - that was the biggest issue we had with applying the OptiFlow; if you use basically any pressure at all on the foam roller or the foam brush they suggest using, the product runs all over the place. It's so thin I would describe it between water and skim milk. A serious challenge to work with, at least with all the edges, seams, etc. on the 914!

Anytime the roller hit an edge, seam, or opening the product ran where you did not want it. These two examples in particular show how well it "flows":


The finished texture is a bit disappointing...It's possible we rolled it out too much, or maybe had too much/too little product on the roller, I really dont know. A major challenge was encountered anytime you had a spot the roller did not fit into. In this case its where the sail meets the rear fenders. I ended up with a "ridge" of product that will need to be sanded down.


Any surface that was not easily accessible, or flat was quite the challenge to roll out effectively. And again, the tendency to run was difficult to stay on top of!


Here's a couple more examples of how easily and often the product got away from us.


After filler work, and block sanding I'm thinking I may just spray the final coat of primer. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

Just wanted to share my experience...YMMV (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

[mgarrison]

This video at the 6:00 minute mark shows just how thin the product is, and the types of challenges we faced with it running:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA3cu6aAUjc

I have no knowledge of them, or relationship to them but it was reassuring to see a similar experience - I initially thought I did something wrong mixing, etc.

[Montreal914]

Thank you for sharing.

What type of paint/coating did you use for the black interior surfaces shown on many pictures? Was that applied with a roller/brush too?

[mgarrison]

Montreal914, that is the Upol epoxy Raptor bedliner. It was sprayed on with the Schutz gun that comes with their kit.

More about it in my build thread, bottom of page 5, and page 6:
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...43765&st=80

Mike

[Montreal914]

Thank you for the info! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[Tdskip]

Thanks for sharing this.

Is the idea just to get a protective coat of paint on the car?

[mgarrison]

No, the idea behind the Optiflow primer is to save $$$ by doing most of the paint prep work yourself, at home, even if you dont have a compressor and spray gun. In theory, the car would be ready for paint once you complete the Optiflow primer process. I tried it because my 914 is in the side yard, not a dedicated garage/shop. I rolled the 914 into our one car garage, primed it and then when it was dry enough, rolled it back into the yard. I wanted to avoid having to mask off the garage/move a bunch of junk to be able to spray the car - not sure it was worth it based on my results.