Best Epoxy Primers For 2022

Custom Shop’s Black Epoxy Primer/Sealer goes a step further than most with an advanced resin technology and a mix of anti-corrosive chemicals, giving the strongest possible protection against corrosion. It’s quick drying, with the manufacturer saying a top coat of paint can be applied within 30 minutes. The hardened coat is easy to sand and paint over. The only caveat is that this product requires mixing, and the mix needs to done thoroughly for best results.

Speekokote Epoxy Fast Dry lives up to its name, drying in just 15 minutes. It provides thorough protection on fiberglass, steel and aluminum and can be used as both a sealer and a primer. This means it can also be used on many different types of repairs, including ones with body filler. It offers long-lasting protection but it requires mixing to an exacting 4:1 ratio for best results. Some users also say that it’s thicker than some comparable primers, requiring a little more effort to coat things evenly and cleanly.

SprayMax 2K Activated Epoxy Primer is inexpensive, premixed and ready to use. Just shake the can and spray. Users report it offers excellent adhesion and corrosion protection and SprayMax is usable on a wide variety of surfaces. A special spray nozzle provides for a wider pattern than most cans, allowing spray-gun style results. That could make work quicker, but it also makes the coat thinner, which may require additional applications.

Protecting a rust-free surface and keeping it that way is a wonderful thing, and that’s the intended use of epoxy primers. But sometimes a project simply requires stopping the damage from going any further. Raptor Anti-Corrosive Epoxy Primer’s strengths are a formulation that offers top-notch salt spray resistance. It can be applied on already rusty surfaces and a top coat can be applied over it while the primer is still wet. It isn’t a rust converter or inhibitor however, and can only insulate already deteriorated metal.

Rust-Oleum is a famous name in corrosion protection, and for very basic jobs, the company’s automotive 2-in-1 filler and sandable primer provides a very low cost alternative to more conventional epoxy primers. Like most of the primers on this list it works on multiple surfaces including wood and fiberglass, and it’ll dry in just 10 minutes. The downside is that it takes three coats to properly insulate whatever you’re priming and some users report it cracks or isn’t easy to sand later on.

Transtar’s 6164 epoxy primer is a straightforward product. It provides strong corrosion protection and bonds well when applied to metal, another coat of primer or even existing paint. It can also be used as a sealant or a pre-coat. What holds it back in our estimation is that to work its best, it requires an additional purchase—Transtar 6144 Activator—at $42 a quart. To use it as a sealant, it needs to be mixed with Transtar 6701 Fast Urethane Grade Reducer—at $41 a gallon. Ultimately, this product will do a fine job, but the extras add complexity and cost to the job.