im planning on buying the paint i need to paint my 92 camaro and im just wondering how many gallons of paint i should buy? the car is the dark red from factory and i plan on changing it to a black chrome.

 

How much can be a loaded question. If you hold the gun too far back you'll waste paint. If you sand too much because your body work wasn't good enough you'll have to respray. If you don't have hvlp you'll use more. If you don't use a dark primer or sealer you'll need more color coat. There are if and buts, but I'm sure you see where this is going. For clear I would buy a gallon because you will want at least 3 coats. If there isn't rust you can save money on primer(s) by block sanding with 120, find low and high spots and tend to them then continue sanding to lighter grits. So as long as the paint wasn't spiderwebbed or delaminated you're effectively using it as your primer surfacer and saving money there by not buying epoxy primer and lots of 2K primer. So you may get by with 2 quarts of primer. Shouldn't need a sealer as long as the primer wasn't too light of a grey. Color coat I would get a gallon because you'll be spraying every nook and cranny.

 

Also depends on the color and quality of the paint you choose. Budget brands are thinned out more and you often need more paint. When I sprayed Shopline it was reduced 1:1 if I remember correctly. The PPG I spray now is reduced 5:1 or 10:1 so it covers better. Certain blues, reds, yellows, and colors with high amounts of pearls may take 4-8 coats, where silver may cover in 2. If you're spaying white or black over a sealer or primer that is gray it may take an extra coat. Like Tibo said, lots of factors here.

 

i understand. thanks guys. the kit im looking at has Gallon Kit includes:
1 Gallon - MirraColor Black

1 Gallon - Speed Clear
1 Quart - Speed Clear Hardener
2 Quarts - Black Basecoat
2 Quarts - Reducer
1 Polishing Cloth

its a chrome finish paint i really like. the car currently has the factory paint and primer under it, the body is in decent shape so not much work needed there.

 

Buy a gallon of base coat paint and the reducer needed for that amount of base coat. The LAST thing you want is to run short and need to buy more once you've started.

I'm no pro,... but I've painted 3 cars and bought a gallon of paint for each. At the end I usually have enough (MIXXED) paint to fill a Ragu jar. The perfect amount in case something needs a re-spray.

 

Isn't a gallon of that at least $1300.00? For just the paint?

 

Paints not cheap. If your going to paint door jams/underhood/inside trunk and so forth as well you will need a gallon to 2 gallons depending on how the basecoat covers. I am in the middle of changing the color on mine to BASF's EXTREME color Ocean and before that I painted it white. It took a gallon and a half to finish it.