Red, don't know when you are getting started, or how much you intend to do yourself, I just finished my paint and the body went back on today.
After body work was done, we used the poly surfacer, we thoroughly blocked it and followed with a couple of wet on wet coats of color build primer, soft blocking this time and followed with a 600 grit wet sand, Then the base and clear. I wish I could have done it as quickly as I just described it. It is a very time consuming process, be patient, it's worth the effort.
To explain a bit, the poly seals off the body filler and the fuzz from sanding on bare glass. Gives you a base to start with. the color build is just a tinted primer. it helps make your finish coat more consistent.

Thanks Dave, as I stripped my old paint I noticed Feather Fill was used by the last painter. The cracks in my gelcoat was limited to the hood which is an Eckler L-88 repro. I took my cracks out as I described above and used icing to level it out. That is as far as I got before putting my house for sale. I drove it for awhile to work bugs out after getting the body back on. After a few 4000 rpm, 80 mph runs, I decided to upgrade the Muncey to a 5 speed. All progress is on hold until after the move. I am taking notes, so thanks for the info. Guess the poly goes on top of the body work like feather fill as a leveling medium.

|UPDATED|3/28/2004 8:15:21 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

You are correct. Over the body work. Make sure you get product data for the poly. It takes a fairly coarse grit paper to bond, like 180 or 240. Then sand the poly with 320 before the color build.

Dave, You talk about using the poly on our glass cars. On a site dedicated to paint and body, it was stated that poly is formulated for metals mainly and would need an adhesion promoter to "stick" properly. It was also stated that epoxy primer is designed to go right on glass. Any comments or reasoning would help Red and I, and no doubt others, learn a little more 'fore we start shooting stuff on our precious, plastic cars. Thanks....The Other Dave

Hmmm............good question, my thought process was the same as I use when repairing 'glass. After the resin is cured, it's inert and you don't have the benefit of a chemical bond. The adhesion is mechanical (the roughened surface). Think about it like this, when you repair a glass part, the first thing you do is sand or grind with a very aggressive disc or paper so the new resin can get in the pores and stick to something.
I'm not saying the adhesion promoter is wrong, it may be product specific. I used Sikens Poly-Surfacer and the data recommended a 180 - 240 grit prep, that's fairly coarse for a conventional primer, but this is a "high-build" product and covers well.
Epoxies are also a great product, sometimes more difficult to use and harder to sand. I'm pretty sure you'd have to be fairly aggressive with prep to get it to bond also. It's kind of a pick your poison scenario. You won't go wrong with the epoxies.
Bottom line is, every manufacturer, even though they have very similar products, each has proprietary formulas and procedures. If adhesion promoter is recommended for the product you choose, then by all means use it. All of these are very expensive and directions should be followed, right down to the mixing proportions.
Last, but not least, talk to your paint rep, these guys are usually very knowledgeable, they can supply you with manuals on each product that you use.
My vette sat with the poly and color build on it for a long time while other projects were getting done and displayed no evidence of lifting or bond failure.
I'm pulling what hair I have left out trying to get a web page together and show you all some shots of the project.

Dave, I like that you explain something you've had experience with by saying "This may not be "THE WAY", but that it is "A" way that you have had success with and here's why. I will be sure to get my dealers thoughts about their lines to. Red, if you see this thread, did you get the message about the T-5 swap? An excellent site for paint and body can be found at paintucation.com. A lot of people like yourself Dave that will share some thoughts and a few pros thrown in. Well...I worked from midnite o'clock till 3pm. It's past my bed time. Dave