Recommended lizard skin primer to cover silicone? Answer from Lizard Skin Tech Spt

[mmklaxer]

I'll call lizard skin tomorrow, but checking here to see if anyone has a good product to cover the silicone and give some bite for the lizard skin.

The silicone smeared a bit on places like the DS 4" round pipe when trying to seal the gaps

[Gizmosrcool]

Mmklaxer. Theit FAQ says to apply over an automotive primer. I am guessing you get the area ready, seal the seams, hit it wiht primer, then lay LizardSkin on top.

How much of the product did you buy? Did you figure out the sqft? That part has me a bit puzzled. How much to get.

Tom

[mmklaxer]

I bought the 2 gallon sound + 2 gallon ceramic plus spray gun kit. I think most guys find they use darn close to all of it

[Gizmosrcool]

ok. Got it. And that is for the interior. Say footboxes and interior?

[mmklaxer]

Footboxes, cabin buckets/rear wall, and trunk. EdwardB has a nice link and description on his build thread for the 20th anniversary car. Many people steal shamelessly, myself included.

[mmklaxer]

Called Lizard Skin today. The tech stated they're really just looking for an automotive self-etching primer. He quoted the rustoleum self etching primer as suitable. Easily sourced a local store. Hoping to finish masking and spray this weekend. Will need to throw some heaters in the garage, as Maine is starting to cool down a bit...

[narly1]

It's always been my understanding that paints don't adhere well, if at all to silicone.

Shouldn't it be paint first then silicone?

Earl

[Namrups]

It's always been my understanding that paints don't adhere well, if at all to silicone.

Shouldn't it be paint first then silicone?

Earl

Paint does not do well with Silicone. The surface tension of the silicone will cause most paints to bead up and not wet out the surface. Given that the Lizard Skin will most likely be covered with carpet it should not be an issue. No one will see it and the silicone itself will deaden the sound and insulate against the heat as well as or better than the Lizard Skin we are trying to cover it with.

[narly1]

Paint does not do well with Silicone....

Agreed, but based on the way the OP's post is written it sounds like it is desired to apply Lizard Skin over top of silicone.

Earl

[Namrups]

Agreed, but based on the way the OP's post is written it sounds like it is desired to apply Lizard Skin over top of silicone.

Earl

Yes I agree. My guess is it may bead up and not wet out. But again, if it's going to be covered by carpet no one will see that it didn't wet out.

[Gizmosrcool]

Yeah the orginal quesiton was seam sealer first. Then LS. The LS FAQ says it does not adhere well to silicone. So maybe its LS first. Then silicone. Assuming silicone will adhere to LS once its dried and all. A question for the LS folks.

[topherchrisb]

Yeah this was something I was contemplating too. Do I want to powder coat the engine bay panels and lizard skin the inside of the cockpit... or just lizard skin the outside of the panels and then paint over the skin. If I were to do the latter is silicone the best gap filler or is there something else to be tried? I'm assuming I would just need to metal tape the joints on the inside after.

I just found this stuff on another forum. Sounds pretty stiff so not sure it'd work on panel to frame gaps but probably works well on panel to panel gaps?

https://usa.sika.com/en/industry/transportation/agricultural/agriculture-adhesives-sealants/exterior-panel-bonding/sikaflex-221.html

[mmklaxer]

I'm planning to prime friday, spray sat/sun. Will include some pictures and assessment afterwards.

[narly1]

Yeah this was something I was contemplating too. Do I want to powder coat the engine bay panels and lizard skin the inside of the cockpit... or just lizard skin the outside of the panels and then paint over the skin. If I were to do the latter is silicone the best gap filler or is there something else to be tried? I'm assuming I would just need to metal tape the joints on the inside after.

I just found this stuff on another forum. Sounds pretty stiff so not sure it'd work on panel to frame gaps but probably works well on panel to panel gaps?

https://usa.sika.com/en/industry/transportation/agricultural/agriculture-adhesives-sealants/exterior-panel-bonding/sikaflex-221.html

Maybe this?: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b40066967/

Earl

[JohnK]

I had the same concern when prepping for lizard skin, and had a good discussion with the folks at LS about this. Their recommendation was to scuff everything well with 100 grit or coarser, then wipe down well. I don't remember what their recommendation was for a solvent, but I used acetone to wipe everything down. The scuffing and solvent clean should get rid of most any silicone that has squeezed out of gaps when bonding/riveting panels. If you're looking to seal other gaps prior to LS, I would not use silicone for that. I used Dynatron seam sealer for smaller gaps and a combination of foil tape and JB Weld for some of the larger gaps such as around the 4 inch tube in the DS footbox. Any Dynatron and/or foil tape and JB Weld was then sprayed with a self-etching primer prior to LS. The LS is heavy-bodied enough that even if there were some small remaining traces of silicone I think it would just lay down a heavy coat over it and you'd be just fine. Just don't have large unexposed seams of silicone and you'll be fine.

You can see more in my build thread here (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?31167-Greek-Guys-Garage-Roadster-Build-9509-(Radiator-protection-screen)&p=456542&viewfull=1#post456542).

[Namrups]

Yeah this was something I was contemplating too. Do I want to powder coat the engine bay panels and lizard skin the inside of the cockpit... or just lizard skin the outside of the panels and then paint over the skin. If I were to do the latter is silicone the best gap filler or is there something else to be tried? I'm assuming I would just need to metal tape the joints on the inside after.

I just found this stuff on another forum. Sounds pretty stiff so not sure it'd work on panel to frame gaps but probably works well on panel to panel gaps?

https://usa.sika.com/en/industry/transportation/agricultural/agriculture-adhesives-sealants/exterior-panel-bonding/sikaflex-221.html

Most polyurethane sealants are paintable. Long term issues with polyurethane are it's ability to withstand hot/cold cycles, they shrink over time and they can become brittle.