I got my flatbed on and nearly complete but before i put down the wood deck i want to paint it and maybe the back half of the frame while im at it. First off is it just a waste of time to paint the frame and if not, any suggestions on paint? Secondly i got metal paint for the flatbed it says not to use primer, its virgin steel but im more of a welder than painter so not realy sure what to do(product labels have lied to me before). So any one who knows anything your help is much appreciated.

 

If it were mine, I'd paint the frame and all the metal on the flatbed with POR-15.

 

rustoleum from wally world works prety good

 

Both of the above will work. Post up tons of pics! Hopefully you took some as it was being built.

 

I agree with 95

POR-15 is the way to go.

 

holy crap on a side note POR-15 has a exhaust manifold restoration kit. awesome.

 

We always use a red oxide primer but have heard nothing but good about the POR-15.

 

a base of selfetching primer will do about the same job as POR-15 you can use what ever you want over the top. it mixes 1:1 and i think i paid about $60 for the last stuff i got. Good luck.

 

I edited my post but I recommended POR-15's HARDNOSE paint as a great option as it is catalyzed, but would need to be sprayed or brushed over primer. But it's kinda pricey.

standard POR-15 dries hard, and is durable so would probably be the most cost effective/durable way of doing the job.

If it was me I would more than likely just use the absolute cheapest single stage black auto paint and shoot the whole thing top to bottom, but if I didn't have the money I would for sure use just normal POR-15, thinned about 20% and sprayed until i had nice coverage.

I just didn't want this to get technical since the guy just needs it done.