How many rattle-cans does it take to cover a S13 HB?

[radhaz]

I've been inspired by a current post to primer my car flat-black, well not really. But I am curious to the folk's who've rattle canned there car's how many cans of primer and or coats did it take?

Before anyone chimes in about how bad rattle-can looks, i truly dont care Im one of those people who doesnt wash his car enough hell I still have half of streets of willow in my car from last month. My car is currently red with a black front end and I feel its time to change that to one simple color. Ive already priced it at the 1 day spray places and the cost ranged from 400 to 1200 and that was with the door sills and hatch sill painted to match. That's more than I want to spend on a paint job that sees a lot of abuse.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Freeze]

Most things I've heard involve around 25 or so cans...so I guess you can do the math.

[1sikgti]

umm I used just shy of 8 on my vw gti with 2 coats over the car an it came out super nice,25 CANS,jesus!

[nismo2491]

4 1 to spray and the other 3 to rattle away at the nozzle.

sorry couldn't help it, reminded me of the "how many blondes does it take to screw in a lightbulb" jokes.
KEvin

[sepulchral]

ive been thinking about buying a compressor and a spray gun, would results be decent if i painted my car outside using trashbags to tape it off? how long would it take to dry? no offense against rattle cans i just have bad experiences with them

[orion::S14]

^^^ That's better than rattle can...better spray pattern, more even. Also even pressure coming out of the gun, if you have a decent sized compressor.

But real auto paint costs much more, FYI. And the additive to make it "flat" is not cheap from what I've heard. Price it out...

- Brian

[FRpilot]

sorry couldn't help it, reminded me of the "how many blondes does it take to screw in a lightbulb" jokes.
KEvin

the header on this thread reminded me of "how many licks does it take to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie roll pop" commercial. ahha

[sepulchral]

^^^ That's better than rattle can...better spray pattern, more even. Also even pressure coming out of the gun, if you have a decent sized compressor.

But real auto paint costs much more, FYI. And the additive to make it "flat" is not cheap from what I've heard. Price it out...

- Brian


I'm not tryin to do a flat job just a normal shiny black

[SlideStar]

sorry couldn't help it, reminded me of the "how many blondes does it take to screw in a lightbulb" jokes.
KEvin
Q: How many kids with A.D.D does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: Wanna go ride bikes??

I love that joke...

8 cans. 3 coats

[radhaz]

Hmm between 8 and 25 cans, anyone else? To those of you who posted with advice I greatly appreciate it!

[89s132b]

Why don't you just get a rough estimate of the surface area of your car and then read the side of the can for their coverage guide. Then just multipy times how many coats you want. Even if you are off by 10 cans, it's only a $40-$50 difference.

bottom line, rattle can paint job is going to be orders of magnitude cheaper.

[luisgonz]

it took me 16 cans in warm water :werd:

[eliterit]

mine took more than 20 for sure, i cant remember the exact number

[SlideStar]

.....in warm water :werd:

My paint job was ass though. 12-16 Cans will definitly be enough.

[radhaz]

Even if you are off by 10 cans, it's only a $40-$50 difference.


Excellent point, but I dont want to have to store an extra ten cans in my apartment.

it took me 16 cans in warm water :werd:

What's with the warm water? Is that a trick when working with rattle cans?

Thanks for all the feedback, and eliterit thats a great pic.

[95zilvia]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v285/Peenoy/Cars/DSC00677.jpg
It took me about like, 10 cans? Since this picture, i've painted the whole car.

Let me break it down.
1 can for roof
1 can for hatch/lower taillight piece.
1 can bumper coating for rear bumper.
1 can bumper coating for front bumper.
5 cans for the sides of the car, about 2 and a 1/2 cans each side.
2 cans for hood.
1 more can later on to touch up some spots.
----------------------------------------
Total = ~12 cans

Each can was about 3 bucks, so like, $35 bucks.
I used DuPont Sandable Primer, and for the bumpers, it was some bumper coating that was $2 at Kragens.

Have fun! Don't forget about all the other crap you have to buy though.
You have to buy acetone, sand paper, bondo and crap to fill in trunk holes.

[1sikgti]

I just used 8 1/2 on a s14 front to back an that was doin 4 heavy coats of rustoleum profesional flat black.

[TiNMAN]

i ran through about 20 krylon cans on an S14, about 2-3 coats. i wanted to make sure it stayed on after wet sanding.

[psychedelicbeats]

errr don't do paint outside, but inside in a ventilated area =\

[TiNMAN]

i painted inside my garage with the garage door half way closed and it worked out pretty good for me. although i did manage to get a bunch of dog hair on several spots, wasnt a biggie though

[nightwalker]

in the end... your car still looks like crap

[TiNMAN]

crap, but im satisified! :bigok:

[-usmd-180sx]

use the good old paint brush technique..

if it turns out good? :bowdown:

remember... "Wash on... Wash off..."

[mrmephistopheles]

What's with the warm water? Is that a trick when working with rattle cans?

It's probably from the mention in a recent SCC article (where they flat-blacked their project STi). Supposedly it helps to stabilize the paint and make it flow more smoothly and evenly. i'm sure it can't hurt.
BTW, before you go looking for it, I couldn't find the article online.

[2JZGTE]

It's probably from the mention in a recent SCC article (where they flat-blacked their project STi). Supposedly it helps to stabilize the paint and make it flow more smoothly and evenly. i'm sure it can't hurt.
BTW, before you go looking for it, I couldn't find the article online.


Warmer weather will allow your paint to cure nicely in between coats. You'll want to lay your coats on and let them dry properly before adding 2nd, 3rd coats. Only takes about 10min for rattlecan to dry in between coats. Do each panel one at a time, and lay all of your coats of paint within 1-1.5 hours.

[Id-]

was thinking of a flat gunmetal paint for my car... not primer tho, bit darker than that...

2jzgte, nice ride ;) How's the T61 on your car? I've got a customer that I setup a kit for that will be running one on his... I had a 60-1 on my Lexus at one point... oh and how'd you get your weight down that far?

[TheSnail]

Mine took 9 cans for thee coats and that included the firewall on both sides. Use news paper rather then plastic bags, its alot easyer. Takes about 3-4 hours total including sanding down the original clear coat though not including 2hrs between coats.

[darkdrifter]

I seems to depend a ton on whant kinda paint you use. When I did My 240 I used Krylon ultra flat black and it came out good. But I did have to use about 15 cans. On the other hand my friend did his GTI with a cheapo brand paint although it did not come out as dark he only used about 8 cans.

[papershot]

when I painted my trunk it took 1 and a half cans to do 2 coats on it. BUT that was with the gloss black paint. i could easily spray the krylon flat black like three coats on the trunk and have a little left.

I originally painted my trunk flat black, then semi gloss (failed at making it gloss), then flat black again, then finally glossy black. eh, practice makes perfect. flat black primer seems to coat easy and is hard to get uneven, gloss was a pain and I had to wetsand/polish/work.

[TheSnail]

I used the same kind as they did on the STI. $4.50 a can. But since it kills and protects against rust, and the fact they used it on a 35k car, I figured it was the best one.