WOW great info there. Thank you VERY much for taking the time to put that together. Is the sealer I need another product or can the primer be cut down to be used as a sealer?
Well, first I should know exactly what you have done from the bare metal to where you are now and exactly what brand and type of materials you have used and in what order.
I do have my "handy dandy" U-Tech technical reference manual, which lists 2 types of sealers to go under the 200 series urethane, epoxy and tintable urethane. The Tech book doesn't show the urethane primer surfacer to be used as a sealer although, I know of other primers that can be used this way.
360 or 380 series epoxy primer sealers/ both available in black
360 series with non induction (E375) hardner looks like a good choice at .75 mils per coat and can be recoated non sanding up to 48 hours with U-tech paint.
460 urethane tintable sealer (tinted with black mixing color 3 parts sealer to 1 part color) then mixed with 460 sealer activator 4 parts sealer (tinted) to 1 part activator. This can be topcoated with the paint for up to 7 days without sanding. Same film thickness (.75 mils) per coat.
Or if you have some PPG DP epoxy in black, a shot of that will work as a wet on wet sealer. That's what we used on Tom's car. There are some other products that will work also.
Give me a complete rundown on what you have done and what you have available.
The sealer can be "nib" sanded after it drys for an hour or so, before you paint. You have to do this very carefully. After sealing, you should look over the whole car very closely. You will probably find little "nibs" of dust particles protruding up from the smoothe surface of the sealer. Use fine (600# or finer) wet or dry sand paper that has been soaking in water to help soften it, to ever so lightly sand them out. The sealer film will still be soft and you have to use very light pressure to avoid tearing the sealer film. Also, sand with the paper curled up in your hand to keep the edge of the paper from gouging the sealer. Only sand right on the "nib" very softly just enough to remove it or flatten it (one finger sanding). Just do the ones that stand up about 1 mil or so. Very, very tiny ones will cover with the color coats, so don't bother with them.
Remember, you don't need a sealer over a good quality urethane primer surfacer that is sanded and cleaned. You can actually use the first coat of color as a "flash" coat. With the black urethane it works very well. Mix a very thin coat (over reduced with mostly fast reducer) and spray it on even and thin. Let it dry about 15 minutes and continue painting with regular mixed color. This is just another option.
Looks like it's time for another video. Get the info on the materials and products posted here.
I also need to know exactly what you want the finished product to look like. If you want that "traditional" restoration look, then the finish on Tom's T is pretty close (actually too nice). Like on Tom's car, you will have the option to color sand the black and buff it, or color sand the black and clear it, or even put a couple coats of clear on after the black is applied and still have the color sand and buff option.
In the late 40's or early 50's, the "traditional look" would actually have been an alkyd enamel or a nitrocelulose lacquer paint job that wouldn't even come close to the gloss of todays materials.