How much paint to do a car?
 

Hey guys I just got my car over to the body shop and I was going to supply the paint to make sure as it's a custom color. I have a 71 Grand Prix and will be using a 2-stage paint job. How much paint do I need 1-2 gallons? and how many coats? I had my truck done at Maaco and I would be lucky if they gave me 2 coats!

Is there a good, better, best? When it comes to t the clear coat? I have seen clear coats start peeling after 5 years and I am wondering if there is a different quality clear or if it application application-dependent?

My 2 cents
 

I painted a 63 Bonne 2 dr. ht first. I bought a gal and a qt. of base. 4 coats base and 4 coats clear. Had almost half left over. Second car was a 63 Grand Prix. Bought 1 gal. base and gal clear. 4 coats each. Quarter gal left over. I did use HVLP paint system. I painted inside trunk and door edges also.

Me, I would do a gallon and maybe a pint. You have them do a spray out card to figure how many coats are needed.

Ask the guy who will be painting it.

Always bought 1 gal of base when doing 3 2nd gen firebirds, had maybe 1- 1 1/2 pints left over, keep in mind the base is reduced so theres even more than the 1 gal to spray. My painter usually does 3 base & 3 clear, slightly heavier on the clears.

As for paint quality, there are lots of brands & different levels of the brands, Ive always used dupont chroma-base based on my painters recommendation, or I think its axalta name now. But with current prices hes used the next step down, I forget the name now but paint shops will know... nason maybe?

For clears, you can use the same brand as the base but not required, the last 2 cars I had painted we used a local paint supplier's house brand that my painter swears by for good quality at half the price of dupont... been 16+ years on 1 car & 14 on another & 10 on the 3rd, all are doing great looking like the day they were sprayed & no signs of failure or cracking/peeling.

But as mentioned, a experienced painter or paint shop should know how much is needed for any given car... & yes proper application/mixing/temps do matter, but hopefully the painter knows all that.

It's always best to get more than needed, just in case down the road you need a repair done. Nothing worse than running short even during painting. If done right, clear shouldn't peel. I've done four myself with oldest 15 years with no problem. Of course they don't sit outside in the sun all the time, but in garage.

There are a lot of variable, however as previously noted you don't want to run out! In the past I always used PPG products. Recently switched to SPI for a few projects. Quite a bit less expensive and my first impression is very positive.

Most higher quality base coat are a 1:1 mix with reducer so 1 qallon base gives you 2 gallon (8 qts) sprayable but “cheaper” base coat mix 2:1 so 1 gallon base is only 6 qts sprayable.
A sprayout card will let you know how many coats for full coverage. Certain colors can mean more or less coats. Also if I buy more than a gallon I mix them together in a 3.5 gallon metal pail to make sure they are one color (I’ve seen slight color variations when buying 1 gallon and extra qt or 2 from same jobber).
Adding jambs, door frames, underneath deck lid, roof, etc need to be considered.
I always like to have a couple pints of base left over for future.

The best advise so far, in my opinion. I always intermix like described after a long run on the shaker. Then I pour off a pint of base to save before any paint work begins.

Speaking of Nason, I once had to paint a 71 'Cuda front bumper (Lemon twist yellow) with Nason. It took 17 coats to hide the gray primer. I have not sprayed Nason base since.

Just had my 'bird done, PPG, took 1.5 gal of base, and 1 gal of clear. The base has a heavy amount of mica though, so it takes more than a typical amount.

Because of the 'size' of the mica/flake, you can't thin it out too much, or the mica/flake won't 'stand up' as desired.

Painter did 6 coats of base, and 8 coats of clear (as I recall). Clear he built up intentionally to get more cut & polish out of it (and depth).


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I used just under a gallon. I did the inner fenderwells, the firewall, and everywhere else too. I did three coats I think (maybe 4). I ordered a gallon and a pint, so I still have the pint leftover in case I need to do something else.