Suggestions on Primer Color

[custom10nut]

I’m looking for suggestions/advice from the painting experts on the forum.
My plan is to repaint my truck the the Original Color scheme which is Medium Olive /White.
What would be the best color of Primer to spray under the one step color coat, to get the best depth/appearance out of the color. It’s been a long time since I did any serious painting, so I’m researching the new technology out there.
Back in Day I was taught by a Master on how to paint Imron and Candy Colors.
Right now, the truck is pretty much factory Black primer and some places that are the red colored primer.
To make sure I end up with a uniform finish, I’m priming to whole truck, no piecemeal colors.
I’m not such a perfectionist that I expect a Show winning finish, but I want to have something that looks good rolling down the road.
So I guess the final Color question is :
Black?
Light Gray?
Dark Gray?
Red/Rust?
Green?
I’m just hoping for some insight

[kwmech]

I would go with the dark grey epoxy primer

[hugger6933]

I hate to go against KW but I would say it depends on the conditions. How is the old paint underneath? Is there any cracking of the old paint wrinkling checking, hazing or crazing? If you have any of those the old finish HAS to come off. If the old paint on there now seems to not have any failure problems like those I listed, sand it with like 220 then go back with 400 grit then spray two to three coats of high build primer. I use Omni[PPG] MP282 high build and the activator[ hardner] is MH283. It builds well sand great. I have used several hundreds of gallons of this. The epoxy that KW mentioned is great I use a ton of it but I use it on bare metal as it has great rust resistance but the fill properties are nonexistent.Now if your heart is set on different colors [the MP282 is light grey] they are available but what I use is black epoxy and grey high build. I use it that way helping me when more coating is needed during bodyworking and blocking. Jim

[special-K]

I'm not expert, but I would use light grey high-build as suggested, and for best results tint it with your color once body is prepped. I use epoxy primer on work that won't be getting paint for a while. The color coat does the sealing

[custom10nut]

Now this is what I like about this forum
The knowledge out there is amazing.
Both bits of advice are very useful.
The finish on my truck varies from the Original finish, below the lower mounding, to an old, failed enamel finish that does need stripping down.
Is there a primer that will more or less seal and cover the old paint?
Will the Epoxy do that for me?
My goal is to seal, the old finish, not cover up imperfections.
I’d rather not go to the length of sand blasting, but I Will be sanding and prepping the surface so that I don’t waste the new paint.
As I said before, I’m not expecting a SEMA Show winning finish, just one that looks good,

[72c20customcamper]

Once you start sanding your going to find a lot of bad paint and surface rust under the factory paint. It's not like your painting a 5 year old car. And with the price of even the cheaper nason and omni lines it adds up quick. Dont want to see you waste money on a job that will fail quickly.

What I use is epoxy on all bare steel followed with high build primer. For light colors I use a neutral light sealer . Dark colors you can tinted the sealer to as dark as you need. But you need to be consistent in the sealer . Ask the jobbers what color is recommended under the paint should be on tech sheet .

[Peanut74]

Like 72 I used epoxy primer first on all bare metal. It was tinted dark as I used light grey for the 2k primer. That way when I seen a dark spot starting I knew I needed to address that area before going forward. My final color is going to be a very light single stage green which is another reason for using light grey color for high build primer.

[72c20customcamper]

Originally Posted by Peanut74

Like 72 I used epoxy primer first on all bare metal. It was tinted dark as I used light grey for the 2k primer. That way when I seen a dark spot starting I knew I needed to address that area before going forward. My final color is going to be a very light single stage green which is another reason for using light grey color for high build primer.

I do the same then everything gets a sealer in a light color .Just did the roof of the 68

[Mike C]

Light color for light paint generally. I use different colors for different products. Last paint job was a white expoxy primer, a buff 2k, and a gray for the featherfill.