I want to repaint the exterior of my car. I have a friend that will do it for me, I just need to know approx. how much paint I need to buy. I mean I have no idea like 1 or 2 gallons?? or less??

Thanks

at least 1 gallon of everything

If you friend is a painter... shouldn't he know?

If your friend isn't a painter... then I wouldn't have him do it... take it to a pro imo.

No he isnt a pro, but has had a lot of bodywork classes and I have seen some of his work. I would ask him, but he lives 500 miles away and said he would do it when he came back on spring break. He isnt very easy to get a hold of so I figured it would be easier to find out here and get the supplies before he gets here.

Kind of depends on what kind of paint your using, acrylic enamel or base/clear. But for a whole car a gallon is usually more than enough on either as it reduces to almost double once you mix it.

I was able to get my whole car (not roof) with 1 quart of base, but that was 1 coat only...

If you are just doing where you are repairing that dent, you can get away with just the bottom of the door (the line fools the untrained eye into thinking it's the same color)... 1 quart. Same with clear.

Next time I paint my car I'll use a gallon and do as many coats as I can until I run out of color. Then I'll just use a gallon or so of clear (why not?).

Originally posted by drcobbs
Kind of depends on what kind of paint your using, acrylic enamel or base/clear. But for a whole car a gallon is usually more than enough on either as it reduces to almost double once you mix it.

who still paints a car with enamel unless they restoring hot rods . always use bc/cc

some people still mess with enamel on car applications and i have no idea why. nothing can beat the durability of a urethane system whether it's bc/cc or a single stage urethane. but to answer your question it would also be helpful to know what color it is going to be sprayed because some colors cover better than others, and also what brand of paint you will be spraying like ppg, dupont, or whatever. because all brands are a little different in how they cover and stuff. also could depend on if he is planning to seal the car before applying base coat because if he applies a sealer that is tintable it will take less coats of the actual paint to achieve hiding. to be on the safe side though if you are planning on using a bc/cc system get a gallon of base mixed because more than likely it will reduce 1:1 so you will end up with 2 gallons of sprayable product which should be way more than enough, especially if you are not doing the door jambs and staying the same color. for clear it also depends on which clear you are using. a lot of the high solids clears out nowadays are a 2 coat clear. you can apply three but it's not needed. whenever i do an all over i always just buy a gallon setup of clear because i always will have clear left over for other small jobs and stuff. i always have at least 2 gallons in stock in the shop at all times anyway though.