Amount of paint needed

[Cheriff]

I've searched, but can't find a post that suggets how much paint is needed if painting the Kat with a compressor and spray gun. Does anyone know how much primer, color, and clear is needed?

[Brian_M]

I used a little less than a quart of each when I painted mine (this is before reducing).

[Cheriff]

I used a little less than a quart of each when I painted mine (this is before reducing).

Would you consider yourself an "experienced painter"? (meaning that I would likely use up more). How many coats of clear did you put on?

[Brian_M]

That was my first time painting with a HVLP gun. I've only painted other parts using spray paint before that. And I put on 2 thicker coats of clear

[Cheriff]

That was my first time painting with a HVLP gun. I've only painted other parts using spray paint before that. And I put on 2 thicker coats of clear

And if you don't mind, what did you roughly pay for paint (all of the layers) and where did you get it from? I am looking at places online and it looks like it is hard to find stuff under $200.

[Brian_M]

I bought it all from Napa Auto parts, it was mixed there and I paid around $100 for the paint, clear, primer, reducers & hardeners, and they tossed in some mixing cups, stir sticks and strainers.

[benzo007]

1 qt is about right. You can find paint at many sites, but depending on the type of paint, the price can be as low as $60 for a gallon, or as much as $200 a qt. Have you decided what type of paint you are using?

Lacquer? Acrylic Enamel? Urethane Enamel? Single stage? two stage? Base coat/Clear coat?

I know... the list goes on and on. And on top of that, there are metallics, candy, and pearls.

Its hard to give you a decent estimate without knowing all of these details. Let me give you the setup I am using.

I have 3 Devilbiss HVLP spray guns. Got the set for $300. I bought all of my prep materials (sand paper, TPO adhesion promoter, reducer, block sander, masking tape, primer, etc...) for about $150. I still have to buy my paint, which is a Corvette sunset pearl orange, for $90/qt, and Corvette pearl black, at $75/qt. The clear is about $50/qt.

So just the paint and clear alone come to a total of $215. I am using a Urethane BC/CC system. You can do a plain lacquer paint for about $40. Do you have all the materials, guns, compressor, filters, etc?

[Cheriff]

1 qt is about right. You can find paint at many sites, but depending on the type of paint, the price can be as low as $60 for a gallon, or as much as $200 a qt. Have you decided what type of paint you are using?

Lacquer? Acrylic Enamel? Urethane Enamel? Single stage? two stage? Base coat/Clear coat?

I know... the list goes on and on. And on top of that, there are metallics, candy, and pearls.

Its hard to give you a decent estimate without knowing all of these details. Let me give you the setup I am using.

I have 3 Devilbiss HVLP spray guns. Got the set for $300. I bought all of my prep materials (sand paper, TPO adhesion promoter, reducer, block sander, masking tape, primer, etc...) for about $150. I still have to buy my paint, which is a Corvette sunset pearl orange, for $90/qt, and Corvette pearl black, at $75/qt. The clear is about $50/qt.

So just the paint and clear alone come to a total of $215. I am using a Urethane BC/CC system. You can do a plain lacquer paint for about $40. Do you have all the materials, guns, compressor, filters, etc?

To be honest, I don't really know the benefits and drawbacks of each paint type (enamel, lacquer, ect). I do have a compressor, an HVLP spray gun (probably a cheap one but I figured it would be better than rattle can), and some filters. The paint colors I am thinking of is either a-flat black, b-satin black, c-gloss black, or d-Daytona Blue from a 350Z. I will probably stay away from the last one as I believe it has a base coat and metallic coat.

If I do flat or satin, I would still want to put clear layers on.

Does this make it easier to estimate pricing?

Since I think Satin black is my first choice, I came across this:

http://www.tcpglobal.com/restorationshop/ItemDetail.aspx?ItemNo=KUS%20KIT-HRF289-F-GL

Their satin I originally selected was discontinued and they said this is the next best thing.

[Brian_M]

The color I used is World Rally Blue from a 2005 subaru wrx and the metallic flake in the paint was mixed into the base.

[benzo007]

TCP global is actually where I was going to recommend you get your stuff. Thats where I'm getting my paint and clear at.
We can have a huge discussion about the pros and cons about the many types of paints but I'll give you the jist of it.
Lacquers are what was used alot in the 50s 60s. It is probably the easiest paint to spray. It dries quickly ( so less chance of getting crap in the finish while its drying). But it is very fragile and it dries dull so you have to wet-sand and buff to make it gloss and it loses gloss very quickly.
Enamels are one of the cheaper paints. They don't require wet-sanding and buffing after the paint job like lacquers do, enamels dry glossy. But some of the "bargain" enamels can run into problems soon after the paint job.
It seems that the kit you are looking at is a two part enamel. (not 100% sure, couldn't find the spec sheet)It is different than a single stage enamel in that it requires an activator or hardener. But thats what makes it dry, and dry quickly. Plus it makes it more durable.

Either way, it seems like your pretty much set. It's not that hard, just make sure you have and active carbon respirator and some sort of filtration for the air. Prefferably an air dryer (dessicant, $55). Be very thorough on your prep work, use an adhesion promoter with flex agent, (Bulldog brand) and a primer surfacer. It's a thick build primer, gives you a thick surface to sand and fill in all the little nicks, etc..

Then you're ready to paint. And worse case senario, if you don't like it, sand it down, and paint it again.

[Cheriff]

Thanks for the help. Now I need to get serious about picking a color. So far I haven't really felt passionate about any particular color - it is just that the existing paint job is pretty bad and I want to make that go away.



I've heard you want to stick with the same brand when selecting the base and the clear, but what about the primer? If I use the bulldog adhesion promoter first and a urethane base, does the primer before the base need to be one intended for urethane paints, or does almost anything work for the primer coat?

[steves]

It's about a quart or so to paint the entire bike.

I used color-rite paint... because it's all single stage, and you don't need to purchase flex agents, activaters, hardeners, or anything like that.

You mix part A with part B and paint with it.

Same for the clear.

It ended up being almost $200 in chemincals cheaper, and it's a urethene based paint that was easy to work with.

[Cheriff]

So it sounds like unless I mess up a lot, 2 quarts of each should be enough.

What about the possible gas spurt that occassionally flies out of the tank? Is there a paint type which holds up to that better?

[steves]

So it sounds like unless I mess up a lot, 2 quarts of each should be enough.

What about the possible gas spurt that occassionally flies out of the tank? Is there a paint type which holds up to that better?

The clear coat is what protects against gas spills... and you still need to wipe up anything promptly, but I did not have any problems on the tank last season.

2 Quarts of paint is probably enough to paint your bike 3.5 times....

I got almost 2 paint jobs out of the quart I bought last year.... and could have got more if I had turned the paint down a bit.

[Cheriff]

The clear coat is what protects against gas spills... and you still need to wipe up anything promptly, but I did not have any problems on the tank last season.

2 Quarts of paint is probably enough to paint your bike 3.5 times....

I got almost 2 paint jobs out of the quart I bought last year.... and could have got more if I had turned the paint down a bit.

Since I am new to a paint gun, I expect some loss. I guess I could always start with one quart and see how far it gets me. I probably won't start until sometime in February and have no plans of rushing it. That certainly makes it cheaper too.