Hey guys I'm painting my 1976 F-150 and I need to know how much Paint, Clear coat, and Primer I will need. I know that it single stage paints don't need clear coats but do they look as if they have clear coat. What else will I need other than the Paint, Primer, and Clear coat? I'm talking like other solvents.

 

Before to read my post, please understand this is my method and has worked for me, it is NOT the last word in estimating how much stuff you'll need. I try to plan on having one quart of sprayable product per panel. That does not mean that you should buy one quart of paint per panel, it means if you mix your paint at 1:1 ratio, you'll need 1/2 quart of paint and 1/2 quart reducer per panel. One panel means one bedside, one door, one fender, one hood, etc. So if you're painting a truck, you need to figure 2 bedsides, 2 doors, 2 fenders, 1 hood, 1 roof, 1 rear window panel, 1 tailgate plus one for fudge factor. That's 11 quarts of sprayable material. Since half of that is going to be reducer that's 5 1/2 quarts. Be safe and buy 6 quarts of paint and 6 quarts of reducer. That should be more than enough to paint a regular cab truck, not counting the inside of the bed or the door jambs. Figure that much again for clear or primer. That should be enough for a couple coats of color and clear. Coincidently, I used that much for my Mustang and that got me three coats of color and three coats of clear. As for paint type, I would only paint base/clear myself, but if you're painting non-mettalic, single stage is fine if you don't want to go through the time and expense of base/clear. Never try to paint single stage mettalics, it's just asking for trouble for the home painter.

 

Ok so what all do I need if I'm going to use a single stage?

 

I can't give you a shopping list for you to plop down at your local paint store, but here's what I would get:
epoxy primer- typically a non-reduced primer that takes two different parts to make one sprayable product. Great for preventing rust and can sit for months before top coating without fear of rust underneath. I like to shoot 3 good coats and block sand the epoxy to make sure I didn't miss something.
sealer- applied the same day as the paint over the epoxy primer. Simply sand the primer, shoot the sealer, let it dry for an hour or so and shoot paint with little or no sanding in between. I consider this absolutely necessary because it really helps adhesion and bleed-through from past bodywork, also helps hide sanding scratches.Typically only one coat needed.
paint- get enough for at least 2 coats, I prefer 3 coats myself so I can buff out a boo-boo or two afterwards. Again, never even think about buffing single stage metallics. What you see when it comes out of the gun is what you get, period.
reducer- quite often the same reducer can be used for primer, sealer and paint, so get enough for everything in one shot plus maybe 25% for a fudge factor. Reducer is cheap, running out on the last coat sucks. Also, you can typically over-reduce the last coat of color for easier flow-out so allow for that when you buy it. Keep in mind, I also use reducer to clean the gun, since I have yet to find a decent cleaning-specific solvent that works as well. Even though I use spendy House of Kolor brand reducer, I only use a small amount to clean the gun and it does a great job and doesn't spoil over time, so I always keep a little around.
Catalyst (hardener)- Good single stage paint is catalyzed and you need to get enough to do the whole job. It's also very expensive and does go bad over time, so buy it in smaller cans if at all possible.
odds and ends- mixing cups, tape, real masking paper (not newspaper), mixing sticks and strainers are all stuff you'll need plenty of to do any painting.
This is a generic list of stuff I would buy if I were doing the job, but don't be afraid to ask questions where you buy your paint. If you find a good counter guy, pick his brain for all it's worth and ask what he recommends. Don't be afraid to tell him what you want to spend up front because there's a huge range of prices depending on brands, and budget brands like Omni do a great job for the buck. Good luck with your paint job and post pics!

 

Ok so this is the Basics that I would need right?

Epoxy Primer 6qts
Summit Racing Equipment® Epoxy Primer SUM-UP232 - SummitRacing.com

Sealer not sure what color I would need but 6qts.

Paint 6qts.
Summit Racing® 2-Stage System - 3.5 Low VOC Base Coat Paints SHZ-SWBC522VQ-12 - SummitRacing.com

Reducer once again not sure how much I need because it says to mix my paint 2:1 With Summits 2-Stage System base coat reducer.

Catalyst (is this the same as clear coat hardener?) It says add one ounce to each ready to spray quart.

If you can can you help me with what exactly I need how much using Summits website. Also at the bottom of the PAINT link it says just mix them 2:1 with Summit 2-Stage System base coat reducer, add 1 oz. of clear coat hardener to each ready-to-spray quart, and pull the trigger. The flash time between coats is just minutes, and your project will be dry and ready for the 2-Stage System clear coat in less than an hour.

What does all this mean?

 

It can be hard to say how much paint a particular job might require since there is the ability to cover and the ability to get the paint on the car and not in the air. I painted a 73 Dodge two months ago and bought only 1 gallon of SS paint mixed 4:2:1. I use an HLVP gun and yet had one person saying I needed 1 1/2 gallons and another said I was fine with the equipment I had. Well I laid down 3 coats on the car, roof excepted (vinyl), and had 16 oz. of paint left over.

 

Sand is pretty much right on track. The only real other thing to consider is the paint reduction in reference to how far you're going to be able to stretch the paint. Honestly, a gallon should be enough but having an extra quarry really won't hurt and having some leftover is always a good thingin the long run.

 

Your flash time is how long you need to wait while spraying between coats. Since you're painting the entire truck, the flash time is a moot point unless it's a long flash time. By the time you make a full pass, you're ready for the next. You generally have three overall dry times. Flash, dust free and tape ready ( in case you're doing multiple colors)

 

Ok sweet..

 

Also, Do I need the same amount of primer and clear coat as I do paint?

 

My rule of thumb is " Always buy more then you need, running out on a job sucks and having the extra is always nice when panels need to be resprayed. When you get the color mixed again it almost always never matches the same as the batch you used so having a spare quart or half gallon is always nice."