I'm about to have my 84 painted.. I've never had a car painted before. I have two guys in mind... both do good work. First one says he will give the car 4-5 coats of paint (a royal blue.. car is currently a royal blue) and will need a gallon and a quart of paint... I'm using a top line PPG paint. He will also be using PPG 2055 Clamour Clear and putting on 3 coats. Is that too much paint and clear? The second guy will use 2 quarts of PPG paint and a "lesser" clear... I think he said 2042. The prep work will be pretty much the same by both guys and the difference in cost between the 2 is basically the lesser cost of paint and clear by the 2nd guy. Is the first guy going to "overkill" with so much paint and clear? Also... the first guy is going to use NCP 271 Sealant/Primer... I dom't recall what the 2nd guy will use. Thanks, Bill.

 

4-5 coats is a bit over kill. I would think after 2 its going to be too thick and all your body lines will be distorted. if any thing you want 4-5 coats of clear

 

Well as we speak, I am shooting my 87 Coupe, Competition Yellow using PPG Deltron base and clear. The number of coats is based on, as the P Sheet says "Good Hiding". Your blue should cover/hide well. Probably 4 coats or so will be fine. The yellow I am shooting requires more coats due to the light color. I also shoot 4 coats of clear. This gives me a little extra clear for sanding and polish. Just my 'opinion', I like what the first guy told you.

8Valve

 

4 coats of base is good. I shoot two coats of base, color sand and 2 more coats of base.

4 coats of clear is also good. I shoot 2 clear coats, color sand and 2 more clear coats. Gives you plenty of clear to buff on.

All of this mentioned here "Is Just My Opinion."

Mike

 

Thanks guys. 8Valve and Corvette Mike... what brand clear do you use?

 

8Valve and Corvette Mike... for 4-5 coats of paint is a gallon and a quart of paint enough or too much paint? I'm buying the paint, clear, supplies, etc.

 

I shoot till I am happy with the coverage and finish usaly 3 to 4 coats and never less then 3 coats of clear I want pleanty to sand and buff. I like the first guy

 

I believe a gallon and a quart is good. You dont want to run out while shooting OUCH ! And if any is left over you have some for whatever. I use all PPG Deltron products. In my opinion, its top of the line, costly but top of line.

8Valve

 

PPG Basecoat is mixed in a 1:1 ratio, A full gallon will cover 482sf @ 4 coats/1.6-1.9 mil thick. (HVLP)

A typical "wet coat" is 1.1-mil thick, cured it is 0.6-mil. Their is approx 200sf of painted panels on a C4 (including jambs). The 1st painter that is claiming to use 5 quarts would have to spray around 8 coats of basecoat to use the full 10 quarts of sprayable base. PPG Delton has a maximum dry thickness of 2-mil. Too much base coat will cause motting, solvent pop, crazing, adhesion issues and could possibly never cure.. IMHO He is either marking up the price by adding extra paint materials, OR he is using another brand and passing it off as PPG Deltron.

The 2nd painter sounds like he is more honest. And far more confident. But maybe a little cheap.. 2 quarts to paint entire C4 is cutting it close. Depending on the color. For a dark metallic blue, with black primer it is possible to get away with only 2 quarts. But he has alot more confidence then I do. Ive got away using only 2 quarts but only by accident.
This painter sounds like he is pinching Penny's. And You don't want a painter that will "make it work" to save a few dollars. That is a bad habit that can carry over to other areas.
A quart of basecoat costs approx 40% of a gallon. (Example. With my PPG discount A gallon of PPG deltron in GM28 94-96 Admiral blue is $379.86. A quart is $152.92. ) The painter is taking a big chance by only buying two quarts because if ANYTHING goes wrong the 3rd quart will put him 20% over the cost of a gallon. IMO its worth the insurance to spend the extra $79 to make sure you have the paint needed, not make what you have work.



Just do your homework on the painters. Check their past work, and get a look at their shop. If the shop is messy and dirty or the tools look old and outdated then look somewhere else.


BTW: I spray 3 to 4 coats of base depending on color and primer color. And always spray 4 wet coats of clear unless going over graphics or its going to be polished heavy. A normal cured coat of clear coat is 0.8mil thick (1.3 wet) and Clear should never exceed 4-mil or it will start to yellow.

 

based on lush's breakdown, I'd say painter number 1 is hoarding enough the left over paint he over sells on jobs to do another complete car for free or 100 percent mark-up to the next guy who wants that color.

 

Thats possible, But unlikely. It hard to sell a job with left over paints. Everyone wants a different color.

It very common for a painter to make profit off materials. So much so that it is almost considered normal. All body shops do it. They make the customer pay full retail wile they pay wholesale. In painter #1 case it is almost text book. He buys the gallon, and makes the $150 for the quart. on avg a gallon is $350 where MSRP is around $500.

 

Not to hi-jack your thread but how does a consumer know that the painter is in fact doing what he says he is going to do? meaning if he says I am going to do 4 coats of base and 4 coats of clear how do we know he is actually doing it. I just got mine painted and it looks nice but this question is in my head. There is no we one can test this right?

 

on the cars I have painted, I use PPG omni (an admittedly lesser quality PPG than Deltron) but I buy a gallon for a full car my 85 Vette took about 3 quarts and I had problems with old paint lifting so I had to redo it, in total I ended up with 7 coats sprayed (3 coats stripped back off) over a grey primer/sealer.. and still had a quart left. and i like the 3-coats of clear as well.

Eastwood sells a cheap magnetic tool thats supposed to tell you how many layers of paint a car has on it.. I have never used it and I dont think it will work anywhere on a vette (its magnetic) but on a steel body car it might do the trick.

For perspective the red dodge in my avatar has almost 2 gallons of red lacquer on it (using old spray guns) times have changed.

Just an amateur perspective on it.

 

I don't know about where you are but most shops i know have mixing banks and mix paint in house (cheaper). There are formulas for calculating the amount of paint for most any car. If the car is primed or sealed with the proper color for the top coat it should take less paint to cover. Depending on the color or pigment in the color. Silver has less pigment and more mettalics and usually require more coats. Darker colors usually cover with less coats. Once hiding is achieved you will usually apply one good coat to make color uniform. Then it is on to the clear coat. Clear coats also come in different consistancies ie: Faster clears or panel clears are usually thinner and dry quicker. Overall clears or glamour clears are usually thicker and build more mils, and take longer to dry. As you can see there are plenty of variables on materials and application. Ask the shops if they have any recent paint jobs you can look at. Look at the DOI or distinction of image in the paint, in other works how clear are the reflections on objects in paint. Look for texture or hopefully the lack of the orange peel. Hope this Helps