I almost have the truck ready to sand. Got the fenders off, the bed off, and the interior, windows, windshield, back glass, door panels and the dash nothing but a shell of its former self!
I called Sherwin William Automotive store locally and to my surprise they told me that the total cost of epoxy primer, base coat, clear coat and reducer hardener would be about $300 for 1 gallon and a half of sprayable primer and paint. What I don't have any idea about, is how much paint I will need. I intend on painting the dash and door panels the same as the exterior. What sprayable amounts should I go for to cover all of this? Thanks in advance

 

id say around a gallon and a half for each step to do the entire truck, thats if your using an hvlp gun; my iwata lph400 lvx uses less than my sata 300rp and they both use way less than my sata jet90 or harbor freight special guns its all about transfer efficiency.

 

Are you planning on sanding the primer (makes for a straighter paint job)? If so you'll need more than a gallon as it usually takes about two or three complete spray jobs, least in my experience.

 

I used PPG OMNI high build primer, sealer. basecoat and clear. The primer was a 4:1 mix ratio,base was 1:1 ratio with the reducer giving you 2 gallons of basecoat. The clear was 2:1 ratio giving you 1.5 gallons. So far I have used 2 gallons of high build primer and a lot of blocking to get the surface I wanted, Almost 1 gallon of base and clear. I only have the cab ext. and int., doors ext. and int. and the hood finished. We put two coats base and three coats clear to have enough to sand and polish all the orange peel out. Probably take me another gallon of each to finish.This a 48 F1.

 

I have the best version of Sherwin Williams basecoat-clearcoat on my truck. I can attest to the fact that is super paint. My painter normally sprays PPG, but after he sprayed the S W clear, he said it was far better. I bought a quart of both colors on my truck and a quart of clear, along with the necessary hardeners and thinners. With a 28% body shop discount, it was $450. I painted 2 fenders and part of a running board and it took most of a quart of basecoat.

 

Yeah. The jobs I've done before came out pretty well and I followed this process: sand, primer, body fill, sand filler, primer, sand, wet sand, paint.

 

Yes, SW makes great products! being that i have only done 5 resprays on trucks i have a question... after you spray the buildable primer are you going right to basecoat, or do you spray sealer over the high build?

my experience is 1 setup is not enough paint if your doing inside the cab and bed

 

I spray a sealer, helps from bleed through and helps to get a base color closer to what you're painting so it takes less coats.

I've done it without a sealer, came out a lot better with one. I wouldn't paint the whole thing at once though if using one, mainly because sometimes the sealer "spits" and puts little nubs on that have to be knocked off, not a problem but you need to put a base coat down within half an hour and it takes half an hour to do a whole coat so...

 

Thats nice to know i have a Sherwin Williams store in the middle of my town. Sherwin Williams also makes Duplicolor but thats a Lacquer finish and dosent hold up as well as polyurethane to the elements.

 

it depends a lot on the color and paint. not all paints cover the same wether auto, industrial, or even house paint. and all paint manufactures are better on some colors than others. BASF is my choice. polyester base. doesn't chip and come off like the acrylic bases do. it also takes less to cover as polyester pigments are stronger for coverage. waterborne is better yet! i have been spraying BASF for over 20 years with no issues. i doubt the gallon setup will do what you are wanting and still achieve coverage and recomended film build. BASF has sealers but don't rec them in most cases as more undercoats lead to more texture(orange peel). thicker paint also make bigger chips. more is NOT better. primer is NOT body filler. it is also not as cheap as body filler. so make the body filler straight to begin with. that right there is where most jobs go bad. to much primer with lousy air filtration leads moisture bubbles and what not. my body shop is a 1 time prime(2-3 coats) shop in 99% of all cases. if you need more than 3, you need to work on filler more. use guide coats if you cant feel by hand. i haven't used a sealer besides a polyuroxy in years. this particular sealer is for over bare steel, alum, galv, etc, to be used as a wet on wet sealer and eliminate primer step. make sure the clear you are looking at has u.v. screens in it. most economy clears don't. the iwata lph400 gun mentioned in the above post is also my choice for guns. sata puts a little more material out on base but doesn't atomize as well. if in doubt, get contact info from the paint rep. most paint stores hire people that dont and never have painted cars. they should be able to give tech pages(or copies) as well. good luck with it!!!