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do i need to buy to paint my car?

I've never painted a vehicle I've owned before. And am wondering how much paint I would need to purchase to ensure a complete job.

Any or all help is appreciated.

Are you painting jambs, engine bay? A gallon of paint will be plenty to paint car like mx-3. Also it depends on quality of paint. Higher quality paint covers better so you might need only 3 quarts of paint.

a gallon paints the entire car with left over for touch up paint and if you get any parts along the way,
you still have matching paint. If you get good paint... you wont need a gloss/clear coat.
Try not to get it on thick or it gets all spider web looking after it cures.

thank you

i had just enough with a gallon...

Do you plan to spray water or oil base then clear coat? Do a little more reseach first, you have options. If your doing any primer work first watch out. If you don't use a two part primer the paint could wrinkle if it reacts with the lacquer based standard primer. Ask someone at an automotive paint store and they should be able to explore the options with you. Finally, the clear coat is an isocynate harded paint so wear tyvek coveralls and proper respiratory protection while spraying as the clear coat hardener is a cancer causing agent. Adding 'fish eye remover' is a good safe guard as well. Cheers

tripleMX-3chicMS wrote:a gallon paints the entire car with left over for touch up paint and if you get any parts along the way,
you still have matching paint. If you get good paint... you wont need a gloss/clear coat.
Try not to get it on thick or it gets all spider web looking after it cures.

Sorry, but base/clear is way to go. Clear coat is not just for the gloss. It's primary function is to protect base (paint) from UV (sun) rays and contaminants.

I havent ever needed a clear coat before, except when i use an aerosol paint.

tripleMX-3chicMS wrote:I havent ever needed a clear coat before, except when i use an aerosol paint.

You must be talking about cheaper single stage acrylic enamel/urethane. This paint is ok, however it won't last as long as base/clear paint job will. My mx-3 is 93 model and original paint lasted for all these years except where clear is starting to flake off in a few spots.

I would take the advice of the professional body guy. Clear coat is not optional in my opinion.

wytbishop wrote:I would take the advice of the professional body guy. Clear coat is not optional in my opinion.

I just painted boat for a guy, acrylic enamel single stage with hardener. It's budget paint, it'll last for years but it will NOT have nice gloss as bc/cc system will and will not hold up for very long time. It's pretty much what maaco uses on majority of their cars
You can however put clear coat over this cheaper paint

Yes.. my clear coat is also failing on both SE's...

tripleMX-3chicMS wrote:Yes.. my clear coat is also failing on both SE's...

Mine its mostly on plastic parts, bumper covers, mirrors, spoiler but it won't be too long until it fails on body panels. I need to repaint my car anyways, too many dents and dings. Problem is when I'm done with it I'm going have to find another car to be daily driver. I absolutely can't stand dings/dents from parking lots and our society doesn't care much about other people's property, no matter how nice it is.

Exactly where im at... I'm selling the GS cuz i hate for other people to ruin the car
now that i have it all beautiful. To many close calls, i dont want to end up in jail
over a car..... but, if one more careless person lets their cart roll into my car.....
It will be a bad day all the way around. Friendboy already drug the lawn mower handle
across the side in a 2 inch spot. My son let his bike fall on the back bumper with
the rubber handle bar and now there seems to be some new mystery spots.
So the car went up for sale last night. ( :
The SE's will have a covered locked area VERY soon.

My car's original paint held up just fine for all these years. It wasn't until last year i got the car repainted, and the only reason is because of the fact that it had a lot of body damage...

but yeah, with a good clear it should hold up for a long time!