Del70

I am repainting my 70 Cutlass Supreme 2 door Ht (with vinyl top) . I bought a gallon of paint, but I am concerned that maybe I should get another 1/2 gallon. I thought I only used a gallon and had some left over when I painted the car some 20 + something years ago..Use that up with touch up through the years... I will not be painting the door jams, or trunk back side etc. just the A surfaces, but repainting new front fenders, so I know they will take a little more to get the color to cover initially... Keeping the car in its factory color. Using lacquer. Is a gallon of paint usually enough?
thanks

69442C

What color is it, metallic or solid color and which brand of paint? It sounds you do not plan to seal the car but I would recommend that you do. Once you can tell me a little more info I can provide a better response.

Del70

GM Sherwood green, yes it has metallic using lacquer. Not planning to seal with clear coat. thanks

69442C

Let me offer this info and I was also trying to see which brand of paint you were using so I could see how much the paint is reduced. If I assume it is a 1:1 reduction ratio for color and thinner, that would give you 2 gallons of mixed paint to spray. Since you are not doing the roof, I would think that may be sufficient but it's hard to say because I don't really know how well you can apply the paint or the type of gun you will use which makes a difference with the overspray. HVLP guns will put more product on the car and less in the air. Older style siphon guns will put more overspray into the air. I am also assuming you will wet sand and buff the paint since it is lacquer so depending on how well you do or do not apply it depends on how much you will need to wet sand.

You mention having different fenders and that they will need more paint to cover them. I would strongly suggest you apply a sealer to the car before you apply the color. Sealer is used to seal what is already there (do you know if the car was painted before and if so, what type of paint was used?) so if the car was painted with a not catalized enamel in the past and you attempt to apply lacquer over it you will cause the paint on there to lift. So a sealer is a good idea so you don't have any of those compatability issues. Also, sealer will make the car a uniform color which will allow the green paint to cover quicker and more evenly. I would personally suggest a PPG DP epoxy primer that you would mix as a sealer and 2 quarts should be fine. I believe the DP40LF is a green/grey color and I would try to get as close to the darker side as possible without using the black color epoxy. Using a light sealer just requires more paint in the end.

And if I were you, I would also get 2 more quarts of color just to be safe. Nothing worse than painting the car and finding you are running short. With wet sanding and buffing, I would think you would want to apply 5 or 6 coats of color so you have plenty on there to work with.

When you buff a metallic color, you can get a finish where the metallic is not even especially if it was applied in an uneven manner. A clear coat helps eliminate that problem because you are only removing clear when you sand and buff and the metallic is not touched. But this is another topic all together.

MDchanic

Sounds like enough.
I painted an A-body coupe with normal, painted roof with a gallon of lacquer 30 years ago.

Lacquer's hard to find these days - where'd you get it?

Del70

...The mix ration is 1 part paint to 1 1/2 reducer. I may just get a 1/2 gallon more, but wow is this stuff expensive...On one had I will have extra and since like everything the price keeps jumping .. one the other had I will not/don’t plan to ever paint this car again, so I should end up with some paint left over for any touchups, from the gallon. And yet again I don’t have the best of luck getting a real smooth application so I have to do more wet sanding to get it smooth before buffing,. So a few cots will be needed as you mentined.. I am going to try to figure out how to get it to lay down smooth (have not had real good luck with this in the past, so wet sanding and buffing has been how/when I can that nice gloss/glass smooth surface). The other thing is who knows when they will stop selling it and the reducer so I don’t want to end up with 3/5 gallon of useless paint. Thanks for the information

Eddie Hansen

I painted an a-body with lacquer same colour and I bought a gallon plus two qts, plus I added clear on the last two coats and then two coats of just clear, I did have have about a quart or so of colour left, but if something happened when wet sanding, buffing etc it was good insurance, make sure that if you decide to get the extra paint that you mix the small cans with the larger etc...

I know you can still get lacquer in new jersey in some specialty places, like Hibernia
http://www.hiberniaautorestorers.com...e-laquers.html

MDchanic

You probably already know to mix all the cans together before you start, so it's all the same color.

If you're having consistent rough application, I'd think about your gun.
Everyone raves about HVLP.

Eddie Hansen

I am a ways off before I do my next job, I am comfortable with lacquer but in previous advice from here and my buds I think I am going with the new stuff ( lol, 2 part paints which are new for me not the new water borne stuff) I am thinking to enroll in an adult ed class and use their spraybooth etc unless I can find a shop willing to rent me one on the weekend, I did buy 2 hvlp guns one for the jams and 1 for car.

69442C

You should be able to lay the paint down so it's fairly smooth. You may want to check the set-up on your gun to make sure the "fan" isn't too wide and to make sure the volume of paint is sufficient. You can play with an old panel to get a better feel for it. With lacquer, you can move a little slower with the gun as it won't run as easy as other types of paints. Just don't go too crazy or you could cause a run (easily fixed) or you will cause the metallic to be very inconsistent.

And yes, there is nothing cheap about these automotive paints. I'm surprised that you can still get lacquer as it's not available in most places. I've seen a few posts on here where people can still get it but I suspect those days are numbered.

oldsguybry

I was a painter , and yes....HVLP's work very nice , but very costly. I wonder if my old boss would sell me his and buy himself a new one

69442C

Just don't wait too long. Seems that in 2013, all solvent based Base Coat paints will go away and be replaced with water based products. I'm not sure if this is a federal thing or state but this is what will take place in MD. The clears will not change. Water based Base Coat requires a lot more air movement to make it dry which creates a need for shops to modify their paint booths. Not sure what this will do to those of us who do our own paint work. Sure hope a paint job won't take hours longer waiting for base color to dry.

Eddie Hansen

maybe I'll buy some paint and store it LOL.... geez, I am all for the environment but geez.......

Del70

Car is painted, and yes I needed more than 1 gallon...my advise just buy 2 gallons..