Water-compatible coating composition

A process for coating a metallic substrate with cathodic electrophoretically depositable structural adhesive bonding primer, comprising the steps of:

• (A) placing said substrate in fluid contact with an anode and a coating composition comprising
• (i) water-compatible curable resin having a substantially linear structure of the formula:
• A.sup.31 .sup.30 C--E--(L--E).sub.y --C.sup.+ A.sup.-
• wherein:
• each E is independently a residue of a diepoxide;
• each L is independently a residue of a linking compound having an average of two epoxide-reactive groups;
• each C is independently a cationic water-compatible ammonium, sulfonium or phosphonium group;
• each A is independently the conjugate base of a water-soluble acid HA having a pK.sub.a for use under cathodic electrodeposition conditions;
• and
• y has an average value of about 1 to about 20;
• (ii) crosslinking agent selected from the group consisting of bis-maleimide and sparingly-soluble chromate pigments;
• (iii) water;
• and
• (iv) resin solvent or coalescing solvent, said curable resin containing tertiary nitrogen before or after electrodeposition but being substantially free, before and after electrodeposition, of mercaptan groups, primary amino groups and secondary amino groups, with the proviso that said nitrogen comprises tertiary aromatic amine if said crosslinking agent consists of said pigment;
• (B) passing electrical current between said substrate and said anode for a time period sufficiently long to attain a continuous coating of said primer on said substrate;
• (C) removing excess primer from said substrate;
• and
• (D) heating said primer, in the absence of a UV photoinitiator or a UV curecycle, at a curing temperature and for a curing time sufficient to crosslink said primer to a solvent-resistance state.