I was wondering if you guys knew how much a good gallon of paint is going to cost when I paint my truck. I assume I'll be needing around a gallon, but was also thinking I might want to do some 2-tone action. Can I get half-gallons, or just quarts?

I'm just looking to get a rough estimate on how much this is going to cost me. I have an air compressor that I can use, and a very good paint gun I'll be borrowing.

Ryan

 

you can get quarts and even pints at an autobody supply store. And you'll need the reducer and hardener in their proper amounts, too.

 

All depends on what line of paint you use, as well as the color and if metallic or pearl. There are different price levels based on the colors and whats in the mix formula, and enamels or converted enamels are cheaper then urethanes and polyurethanes, and a single stage job is going to cost less then a basecoat clearcoat. Can't say an amount either, cause mix ratios are different between manufacturers and lines. I'd say about a gallon and a half to two gallons mixed (when the proper amount of reducer and activator are added) at least, but all depends on how you spray, how well the paint covers (some colors with a lot of toners and little pigment and lower lines have coverage issues) and the equiptment's efficiency. I'll say just paint with activators and reducer to paint that truck could run anywhere from around $250 for a cheaper line of single stage in a solid color like white or black to well over a grand if you are using one of the more pricey lines of base/clear and using a color in one of the higher price codes.

 

kenseth 17 pretty well said it all. 2 stage and 2 tone can add up pretty quick and also add to the prep and paint time. Its like painting the truck twice and with 2 tone there is a lot of additional masking and waiting around for the one base colour to dry so you can tape and mask for the other colour. 2 tone on the older trucks looks great. I think its worth the extra work.

 

The work is of no concern to me. I was just wondering how much it would cost to go up to sherwin williams and order some automotive paint. I was thinking a navy/gold would look pretty cool.

Ryan

 

Any of the brand names are more expensive but they are usually easier to work with. I have used Dupont Chroma Base and Chroma Clear a lot.It got real expensive so I went to BASF paint which is a a lot cheaper but a little more fusier.Navy and gold is a good combination.You cant go wrong with the Sherwin Williams.By the way you have a nice looking truck. It looks like it has been well looked after.

 

yellows and golds are usually up thier in the higher price codes. If you want an idea of what basecoat will run based on color (although it will only give you a rough idea, as it doesn't have all of the million different available colors and what thier price codes are. already have bought an indigo blue that was in the highest price code, and blues usually are middle of the road on price. If you go to autocolor library it will have a chart that will give you an idea of price of the base in different lines of ppg. But you also got to figure for reducer for the base, clear and activator. Clear with the activator can run around $100 a gallon for A cheaper brand, to around $300 a gallon for some of the dupont clears and other higher lines. Ppg's dcu 2021 is a pretty nice clear and runs a little under $200 a gallon with the activator. Your best bet is to get some colior codes of what colors you would like to go with and call your local paint suppliers and have them give you a price. There are more and more copycat lines coming out lately, like matrix who supposedly is a copy of ppg. Heard prospray by us chemical is suppose to be some good stuff, but no one around here has it, and thier is little information to be found on it searching the net. If some of these copycats cover well and are easy to work with *which many lower lines have problems with sometimes}, there will defignately be a market for them, as ppg and dupont, ect are getting really expensive to buy nowadays.

 

well that would depend on what kind of paint job you want. i just went down to the local ranch supply store and bouht a 2 gollons of color one blue one black, 3 gallons of primer, and activtor for under a hunred and fifty bucks, ive sprayed some of the primer and it seems to be okay, haven't sprayed any color so i don't know how it is. good luck and have fun

 

there we go... Now we're throwing out numbers... So it could cost me between 200 and 500, depending on what I go with. Thanks for the help fellas. Looks like I'll be painting my own vehicle for sure. I certainly can't afford the paint, AND hiring someone to do it.

Ryan

 

well i am restoring my 85 4x4 and i thought i'd be smart and get away with repainting it for under 500. ha, as of now i have 700 an change in body work and paint, not including the bed i bought for the truck and i have not even gotten the color yet.

i have 160 in primer alone, including the activator. i am using DuPont something expensive that my local body shop supply store reccomended for show quality paint. its good and rough. it sprayed well. now i have to sand it down.

so theoretically it looks like you can do it cheap, but then you get into well i might aswell do that while i'm there, and get good quality paint. but i'm so happy. even if i am spending out my azz. i bought the truck for 1700, and i have i think close to 5 in it.

but hey i'm 18 goin to college in the fall, and might aswell enjoy my summer restoring my truck.

 

Everything adds up. I am doing a car now and I spent $100 for the southernpolyurethanes clear and activator, picked up some utech basecoat, the activator for it and reduce4 $161 for 2 quarts of silver metallic and 1 quart of black crystal pearl. Then add on wax and grease remover, couple rolls of good tape that will come back off when it comes time to unmask, a few bucks a roll, masking paper, tack rags, new filters for respirator, $100 for a gallon of primer and activator, $15 for a gallon of evercoat body filler, $7 for a roll of fine line tape for masking stripe, lacquer thinner for cleaning the gun so you don't use up the more expensive reducer, compound and glaze for buffing after, and a ton of sandpaper. This is all with lower priced materials, colors in lower price codes and a small car. If you are doing a large truck, your paint doesn't cover well, and your spray gun isn't efficient, and using one of the more expensive lines of paint and a high priced code color it could be significantly higher. If you have a lot of bodywork, that mean added costs. If you get it done for under $500 in materials, consider yourself lucky. It doesn't take much to get over a grand. Or how bout some chamelion paint, its only $20 an ounce or about $3000 a gallon. Well at least it was when it came out, not sure what its running now.

 

Your right kenseth17. It sure does add up fast.Since the labour is free it doesnt seem to hurt as much. Have you noticed everytime you start something it always is 2-3 times more work and material always seems to go over budget.

 

Yep and yep , sure do. Almost every time. This car is no different. Doing it in trade for an older ford 4x4 truck, but now think I am getting the short end of the stick.