How much paint?

[PeteVS]

I made a mad one day dash from North Jersey to Hershey and back to buy paint for my roadster body (no fenders or running boards). I got a gallon of primer and five quarts of color. Should I be in good shape?

[The Art Doctor]

You have enough paint to make several mistakes and start over and still come out with a good finish. Primer depends on how straight it is to start with and how straight you want it to be. Personally I prescribe to the do all you body work over bare metal and only prime once it is already straight school, and just block primer to eliminate the sanding scratches, not to level bad body work. Doing it this way you should have plenty for your next project left over. If you mix too much and don't spray it all you can put it in a glass jar store it in the freezer for a few days and it will not harden from the catalyzer and be ready to use once back to room temp. Work quickly if doing this as the working time is cumulative and you do not want it to kick off while in the gun. Still clean your gun, don't just stick it in the freezer.

[cas3]

The doctor is correct, epoxy primer sets up as a chemical reaction, not just "drying", it needs to be 50 degrees for it to cure, I just put it in the refrigerator and you get about a week of use. Always put 3 minimum, 4 better, coats of paint so you have enough to
"cut and buff"....wet sand and buff as most of us do not have the skill to lay on perfect paint, much less the paint booth and all other stuff the pros have. Not to be discouraged, put on enough paint to cut and buff and you too can be a pro.

[cas3]

Wildly off topic, but here's my 91 honda crx getting a new look in a filthy dirty garage.
4 coats laid on by an amateur, dirt and bugs buffed out. Single stage urethane paint with hardener added. I'm proud of it and hope to drive it until I'm dead. The lil bugger gets 55 MPG.

[petehoovie]

Originally Posted by cas3

Wildly off topic, but here's my 91 honda crx getting a new look in a filthy dirty garage.
4 coats laid on by an amateur, dirt and bugs buffed out. Single stage urethane paint with hardener added. I'm proud of it and hope to drive it until I'm dead. The lil bugger gets 55 MPG.

[cas3]

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By golly Pete...you're sumthin else.!!! Thanks for all you do

[Flathead Fever]

Make sure it's a warm day before you paint, especially if you will do multiple coats. Otherwise, if each coat does not dry enough before applying the next coat you will get trapped thinner that will leave pimples in your paint job. The fumes will break through the surface from the previous coat and leave little pimples in the paint. Be patient and wait for a nice warm day to spray. Read the temperature requirements for the paint and the time between coats.

[busmania]

I painted my vw bus myself. The day I decided to paint it was raining like crazy which kept bugs and dirt way down. I didn’t plan it that way but if I ever paint a car in my garage again, I’ll make sure it’s on a rainy day.

[Ggmac]

Pete , pm sent

[PeteVS]

Thanks for all the advice folks! I’m happy to know that I shouldn’t be running out of paint half way through. This winter I’ll try to take out all of the wiring and stuff so I can paint in the spring.

[cas3]

More hillbilly painting techniques. My honda was done in winter in minnesota, so gotta be inside a heated space. Keep in mind all the bodywork was done there too, so even though you try to clean up before spraying, the room is still dirty. Every time you walk and drag an air hose you make dust. In winter, I throw a bunch of snow on the floor to melt slowly and keep the dust down.

My favorite paint scenario is outside in spring before the bugs come out, and at about 6 in the morning, usually no wind and the dirt is glued down by the night dew. Good luck!

[Flathead Fever]

Back when Norton Air Force base was still open in 1977 they had a paint booth that anybody on base could use. We painted a friends '66 Mustang metallic gold. It turned out really nice. I took an autobody class at Valley College and learned to gas weld, braze and "attempt" to metal finish dents. I got pretty good at picking and filing. The class was only autobody you had to take another class for the paint portion. Each class was four hours a day five days a week. The instructor was my dad's friend; he taught me so much stuff. I bought a wrecked '66 Mustang fastback just to work on in the class. I had to replace both front fenders, straighten the unibody on an inground frame machine and replace a rear quarter panel. I turned 18 and got hired at the phone company so I was never able to take the paint class. I was painting at home in lacquer at the time, which was cheap, all the paint supplies were cheap, not like today.

In the 1950's my dad had several '40 Fords and a highboy '32 with a flathead. They had me in 1961 and he switched from hot rodding to restoring Model A's. He was working at Norton AFB as a civilian painting aircraft. Later around the time I started to drive he wanted another '32 Ford. He bought a chopped '32 3-window that he had for years. Then he sold it and bought a '32 Roadster with a flathead, which I still have. I used to help him with water sanding and painting parts on the clothesline when I was a kid, that's me water sanding the rims to a '29 Station Wagon. The color photo of it you can see the Ditzler paint cans on the floor. That '40 Ford with my mom in the photo is the one Collage instructor sold to my dad, probably around 1956. They were friends ever since. I found a photo of dad's '40 convertible on the Fram in North Dakota before they moved to CA. He wanted a '32 Ford and the only one he could find in ND was a perfect '32 5W coupe but the engine was bad, price $35.00. He begged his dad for it but he said no, so he bought that '40 Convertible, which a convertible was a really rare car where it got -20 degrees, and most the roads were dirt.

Painting tip! Make sure the cup is on the gun all the way before you start spraying. Good thing this was cheap lacquer back then. I had to replace the welded-on hinge panel ahead of the door and repaint the door. I was painting the door on my '66 Mini Cooper S and the cup came off the Binks model 18 gun, I grabbed for it just as the cup hit the ground and the paint shot up. I sold it for $3500.00 to buy a house. It was real Cooper S. Today it's a $50,000 car and I want another one. That was the most fun car I've ever owned, it hauled ass, or at least it felt like it because of it's size.

[Bored&Stroked]

You have more than enough color. The amount of primer you need will depend on the type of primer and how much blocking and sanding you need to do to achieve whatever level of perfection you desire. I prefer to use a base epoxy primer to seal the metal and then sometimes a high-build over that for blocking and sanding. Are you painting a two-stage color or single stage?

[PeteVS]

Originally Posted by Bored&Stroked

You have more than enough color. The amount of primer you need will depend on the type of primer and how much blocking and sanding you need to do to achieve whatever level of perfection you desire. I prefer to use a base epoxy primer to seal the metal and then sometimes a high-build over that for blocking and sanding. Are you painting a two-stage color or single stage?

I don't like clear coat.....

[cas3]

I don't like clear coat either. I believe its one more chance for error, and almost every car I've ever had with clear on starts peeling after a few years. Also, very hard to make the edge disappear when trying to repair a spot.