Hey for all of you painters out there how far can I take a quart of red on a Fiero? I need to paint hood, trunk, front & rear bumpers, front fenders and IMSA rear spoiler. The application will be over all panels that are primered and painted off the car so the doors, rear quarters, rear clip and front windshield header will not be painted. At least 2 coats or should I do 3? Using Basecoat/clear coat Martin Senor

Even mixed 4-1-1 a quart very likely won't be enough to do all that, especially with two coats. If you can't get an exact formula mix to match the quart you do have now you can get a mix that's really close and then mix them together to get one color.

James

I was thinking about doing that however the MS paint is damn expensive. I am doing a total repaint/color change on my 88 and this 86 SE is getting a partial. I'm thinking I might be better off to keep this quart and buy a gallon of Valspar which is a heck of a lot less expensive but I would be mixing with MS reducer/ flex agent and clear. which is not a good idea. Always a good idea to stay with one brand from start to finish.

See if the paint store has any mixed unsold reds left over. They usually sell them really cheap that you can use for your first coat. Use red oxide primer. A lot depends on your gun too. My expensive gun does a whole Corvette or other mid size car all over with no problem and 1 qt of paint. Also use lower air pressure to cut back on your overspray that dont go on the car. You dont need the flex unless your painting your seats too

[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 03-28-2007).]

I have little overspray as I have a HVLP Turbine system so little paint is wasted.

I've been doing a little painting lately, but I don't pretend to be an expert.

It seemed to me on my basecoat, tho, that what I was going for was to make sure that the pieces got good coverage--no primer showing through. Your basecoat is going to be under a couple of coats of clearcoat, so only put on enough basecoat to get even, smooth coverage. I did two double coats, I think I could have gotten by with one. So the quart probably is enough to get what you want done.

I'm using grey primer and red base. Got a tip from a fellow today that a lot of shops will use their left over base color to tint their primer so there is no waste. I wonder if they know what proportions to use or just guess that a little goes a long way. Tinting a grey primer red before the base coat makes some sense.

quote Originally posted by Mike Murphy: I'm using grey primer and red base. Got a tip from a fellow today that a lot of shops will use their left over base color to tint their primer so there is no waste. I wonder if they know what proportions to use or just guess that a little goes a long way. Tinting a grey primer red before the base coat makes some sense.

By spraying the tinted primer, you don't have to spray as much base color for your color coverage. If you are still going to use your grey primer without tinting, try to get some cheap red color base ( just has to be somewhat close ) for your first color coat as Roger suggested. It's just like using tinted primer. Then your Fiero red will cover better and you 'll use less paint overall.

Mark

1qt will quite possibly get you two coats on those parts.

It took me a little under 3 quarts to paint my entire big sedan 5-series BMW with two or three coats.

90% of basecoat colors will cover in 2 coats, especially if your starting over something close already. Like he said, you only have to have enough to cover evenly. all the rest is clear. The only times i even consider using gray primer is under silver or white cars.