Improvising primer as a final coat

[georgeous]

Hello,
Long story short, I have a car with a coat of etching primer, filler primer, and primer sealer and I am in a bind (time and financial) and I need to make that car functional with as little investment as possible.

So what I am asking is, is it possible for me to purchase some kind of black primer sealer and use it as an improvised final coat? Maybe even put some kind of spray on clear coat to give it a little bit of shine?

Thanks in advance for any help,
George

 

[TAZ]

Can you just take it to an Econo or Maaco and just get it painted for a couple hundred bucks? They use a cheap synthetic type enamel with an acrylic hardener, but this will give you a year or two with some descent shine. PLUS you don't even have to do anything. They may even do it cheaper if you prep the car.
I think this would be the cheapest hassle free way to go.
The primer with clear over it won't work. You would need a basecoat sandwiched between it.

 

[georgeous]

Well thank you for your advice, the car is prepped so I will inquire as to how much it would cost but ok so even if it isn't shiny, is it possible to use a certain sealer primer as a final coat? The problem is that after registration and smog check (and that is assuming I don't need to fix anything) I won't really have a couple hundred dollars.

 

[TAZ]

Sealer is made to go 'under' paint. It's not made to be weathered,. The only sealers I know of run about $35/quart plus the hardener and the reducers. So you would be over $150. Going to be very hard to get any type of coating over your car whether it's basecoat, clearcoat, primer or anything for less than $100.
Sounds like you should have by-passed the etch primer and the sealer and just spot primed it and painted it. You can buy a gallon of cheap paint for about $80 + the hardener and the reducer. Still be over $100.

 

[TAZ]

By the way, you mention that you need to get the car 'functional'...wouldn't a car with all the primer and sealer still be functional. Painting it or adding even more sealer won't increase any functionality of the car
:think1:

 

[nzgrip]

If you're going to spray the whole car with something weather its sealer or clear etc, why not just paint it using a single stage color? Then its done.