I have a 78 f250 8ft bed that I am getting ready to paint. I figured I ask the question here since so many of you have painted your own trucks. I plan on painting it factory "deluxe tu-tone" green and silver (silver stripe down the side and on the roof+hood) I will be using martin senor base coat clear coat over a grey sealer base. I will be doing just the exterior of the truck(no jambs, no inside of bed) So my question is: roughly how much sealer, green base, silver base, and clearcoat should I need for my truck? Thanks.

 

bumping cause I want to see the answer, just painted mine but it was cab only.

 

I would say the smallest amount of sealer and clear you can purchase will be 1 quart per product. Then, probably 8 oz. of catalyst/hardner for each of the above. With the mix ratio including reducer you will have enough for the outside of a 8' bed. Actual color can be mixed ,usually,in 8 oz., 16 oz., 1 qt,on up... I don't believe a pint will quite do it,you will be a couple of coats short I would say so probably 1 quart of green; the major color,will be fine. The silver stripe,well, if it is only 6" wide ,get a pint; doing half the bedside,better get more. Sorry a bit vague but I have had paint cover in 3-4 coats and as much as 10 coats or so until you get the coverage you need. Obviously,more coats = more paint = more product bought and the ultimate end result= a LOT more money. Good luck! Gary

 

your gonna need a gallon of each to make sure you have enough to do it right but,i do the door jambs now also. Ive been doing auto body over 35yrs,im doing my own truck now, complete and i bought 2 gallons of everything but sealer. Ive seen a lot of guy's do it themselves,which is a good thing but, they ask the guy at the paint store how much they need and a lot of times that sales men dont know because he's never painted anything. Every color covers differently, light blue metallic will cover slower so more coats of color means more paint, black, normally covers in just 2 coats but i still apply 3 to 4 coats. Now sooner or later your gonna back into something or some body will back into you and if you have a little left over theres no matching the paint issue. 1 gallon of clear for these truck is pushing it, i always buy 2 gallons because i hate running short, what spray gun you use also will determan your waste when spraying, the gravity fed guns use's less air and has less over spray so less waste. Im old and broken down and retired and still use a siphon type binks model 7. I paint at i much higher air pressure 45-60 threw the gun. I hope this helps,sorry for rambling on. GOOD LUCK.

 

Buyrz- I think the advice of buying a gallon of each color AND clear is based on an entire truck including all jambs etc. which is fine. With the base coat clear coat systems of most manufacturers; reducing the color basecoat approx.(every brand different) 50/50 will equal 1/2 gallon (2 qts) of spray--able color if you purchased 1 qt. of color to start with.Unless your colors are VERY poor in hiding 2 qts of mixed green ought to go around a pickup box. Gary