How much paint needed to do a C-body?

[WissaMan]

Can anyone chime in on your experiences of how much paint it takes to do a late 60's C-body? This one's a convertible and I don't think I'll be spraying the underside of the trunk or hood.

The color will be turbine bronze and I'm strongly leaning towards base/clear vs. single stage. I don't mind having some leftover, in fact I'd want some. I just don't want to buy like 2x what I'd need...

Thanks!

 

[HWYCRZR]

Let me check my paint bill from a few years ago on my 68 Polara. Base and clear for the exterior and single stage for under hood, Jams, and under body. I will need to look on my computer tomorrow. I have the base coat, clear coat, reducer and hardener itemized. They had a mixing system so they mixed what they needed with minimal waste

 

[Wonderwagon]

Back in the 80's I used a gallon to paint lacquer below the windows to the rockers, sides and tailgate. With about a half gallon of clear

 

[MoPar~Man]

They will tell you that they will be MUCH MORE ABLE to match the correct paint color if you go base + clear, especially if it's metallic. I just had this experience getting some paint for my dark green '67 Monaco. The guy looked up the code, made a small sample, put it on a stick and held it next to a sample I brought in. It was an exact match to the paint job done in '87 which apparently was base + clear.

How much you'll need will depend on the color of the primer, so I'm told.

 

[MONC440]

For a convertible 1 gallon base coat and 1/2 gallon clear coat. If you want a single stage and plan on wet sand and wheeling I would suggest 1.5 gallons. Dad always put on a little extra on cars that we were going to wet sand out all the orange peel to protect from going through the color. FYI if you have color left over and want to be able to use it in the future make sure you store it in a controlled temperature environment.

 

[cbarge]

Ok.. my 68 Newport has a vinyl top, so the roof was not painted.
But the hood and trunk were painted off the car in the booth.
I gave my painter a car done in primer.
I chose base/ clear.
1.6 gallons of paint that included all door jams, the insides of the hood ,trunk and doors.
2 gallons of clear ( 4 coats with 1 coat lost to cutting and buffing.)
My painter used a Dupont second line paint.
ANy metallic paint is not cheap so be prepared to pay.

 

[WissaMan]

I'm planning to use PPG as I can get it locally at a COLORS store. And yes, I'm preparing myself for a shock when I get the price quote. I already priced some out at an online source and the bronze was considerably more expensive than the solid colors.

I already painted my Cub Cadet hood and fenders as a first learning experience using using their Urethane primer and single-stage paint. The results were...ok. Satisfactory for my very first attempt as the CC off-white hides the flaws pretty well at 10 feet. I have another Cub Cadet that just might need to get a color change to Turbine Bronze though

 

[azblackhemi]

Using a quality base coat on a large convertible 3 qts will do it. And a gallon of clear is plenty for the usually reccomended 3 coats. Of course you should buy a gallon of BC since it won't cost much if anymore than 3 quarts and you'll have it just in case you need to redo anything later. Now the lower level base coats don't cover as well so you'll use more which can negate any savings. Make sure you use a sealer before so the coverage will be quicker and even.

 

[HWYCRZR]

68 Polara 2dr Ht 2018
Added price for reference, probably double now.
DuPont now Axalta paint

64 oz-sealer. $3.37 per oz
82 oz- RR1 Base coat (Burgundy Metallic) $9.72 per oz
225 oz -clear. $3.38 per oz

This included painting the roof.
So sealer base and clear was around $1,772

2018 prices from the restoration shop

Underside, engine compartment and jams used 40oz base and 64oz clear

 

[cbarge]

I'm planning to use PPG as I can get it locally at a COLORS store. And yes, I'm preparing myself for a shock when I get the price quote. I already priced some out at an online source and the bronze was considerably more expensive than the solid colors.

I already painted my Cub Cadet hood and fenders as a first learning experience using using their Urethane primer and single-stage paint. The results were...ok. Satisfactory for my very first attempt as the CC off-white hides the flaws pretty well at 10 feet. I have another Cub Cadet that just might need to get a color change to Turbine Bronze though

Turbine Bronze is expensive.
Worse is matching it to original.
It took a few samples to get it right before we laid it down.

 

[volksworld]

metallics can be a PIA for an inexperienced painter...color can change depending on which way the flake lays out, the finish can look striped if not covered adequately, and runs in metallic look REALLY bad...basecoat /clearcoat is much more forgiving as you're not trying to achieve coverage and gloss at the same time...you're just laying out a couple flat even coats of base till the coverage and color is good...then getting the gloss from the clear coat...if you put a run in clear it'll sand and buff out with no weird effects in the color...when you buff (if necessary) you're just buffing the clear and not getting down to the color at all, and the paint will have a lot more depth and gloss

 

[cbarge]

metallics can be a PIA for an inexperienced painter...color can change depending on which way the flake lays out, the finish can look striped if not covered adequately, and runs in metallic look REALLY bad...basecoat /clearcoat is much more forgiving as you're not trying to achieve coverage and gloss at the same time...you're just laying out a couple flat even coats of base till the coverage and color is good...then getting the gloss from the clear coat...if you put a run in clear it'll sand and buff out with no weird effects in the color...when you buff (if necessary) you're just buffing the clear and not getting down to the color at all, and the paint will have a lot more depth and gloss

One of the reasons I farmed out the paint job to a professional.
Not cheap but the results speak for themselves.

 

[WissaMan]

I've read how metallic can be challenging and I have no expectations that I'm going to end up with a show-quality paintjob. But I am hoping for driver quality. I think I'm definitely decided on base/clear because of your suggestions.

 

[azblackhemi]

I've read how metallic can be challenging and I have no expectations that I'm going to end up with a show-quality paintjob. But I am hoping for driver quality. I think I'm definitely decided on base/clear because of your suggestions.

I've been making a living doing paint and bodywork since 1972 and I will NOT spray a single stage metallic. Just not worth it trying to get gloss and the proper orientation of the metallic. BC/CC makes it almost foolproof.

 

[MoPar~Man]

While talking about paint - I've had some spray cans made up to paint my firewall and wheel cowls. Using an epoxy primer, the primer cans are 2-component system. The color cans are 1 component, the clear cans are 2 component. Why is the color cans just 1 component?

 

[azblackhemi]

While talking about paint - I've had some spray cans made up to paint my firewall and wheel cowls. Using an epoxy primer, the primer cans are 2-component system. The color cans are 1 component, the clear cans are 2 component. Why is the color cans just 1 component?

The basecoat or color isn't catalyzed. It doesn't need to be since it's sandwiched between two catalyzed products that will provide the durability needed. Even the professional bc/
cc systems are this way.

 

[58Belvedere]

What is the overlap? I have read and seen on YouTube 75%.

 

[azblackhemi]

What is the overlap? I have read and seen on YouTube 75%.

50-75%.

 

[Samplingman]

I have a '70 300 vert and my estimate for PPG EB7 blue BC/CC was just over $1800 for 1 gal each color/clear. I have all the under hood, trunk and jams done which took about 3 quarts of single stage. I agree with the above, BC/CC is a lot easier than single stage.

 

[WissaMan]

I have a '70 300 vert and my estimate for PPG EB7 blue BC/CC was just over $1800 for 1 gal each color/clear. I have all the under hood, trunk and jams done which took about 3 quarts of single stage. I agree with the above, BC/CC is a lot easier than single stage.

When you say "under hood", do you mean the whole engine bay or just the underside of the hood?