How much paint for engine bay?

A google search returned one hit on FABO.....

About how much paint to do three coats on a B body engine compartment?

This is my first time painting anything this big.

Kind of intimidated.

Ready to do it , though.

All blasted, primed, masked.

I bought a gallon of single stage thinking I'd eventually do the whole car minus the engine compartment, so I don't want to waste any by mixing too much.

Mix is 8-1-2, so I'll end up with almost 1.3-1.4 gallons, right?

i did mine last year with one quart of off white single stage.

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Motivational pics !! lol

Yep a quart is plenty

Depends. Is it a transparent color or does it have a fair amount of pigment to it? At your paint supply store, see if they have whats called "spray out cards". What these are are like a 3x5 card that has a white, gray and black section to them. The purpose of these sections is to see how many coats it takes to cover up the base primer or sealer. What is the closest color of them to the color of your primer? If it covers fairly well, figure at least three in case there are some light areas. As far as quantity of paint, mix a pot up. You will lose a decent amount in the air because you are spraying so many different contours. Plus, how big is the pot on your gun? Is it like a quart or so, normal size gun, or pint, detail gun size? So you don't waste a bunch, just mix enough for a pot at a time. That way if all you needed was that, you don't waste the remainder if you made more. Once you get the first one down, you will probably have a good idea how much more you will need. If the color is transparent, have some sealer tinted up to lay down first that is close to your end color. The sealer also acts as a adhesion promoter for your paint. Here in the PRC, peoples republic of cali, the paints are VOC compliant which means more environmentally friendly aka does not adhere as well as they used to. The sealer acts as the glue for the top coat plus other benefits.

It's EW1 white over white primer.

I was kind of guessing about a quart and I think my HVLP gun has a quart cup.

I'm also doing the tops of the fenders to the side molding.

I've had several people tell me that a gallon should be plenty to do the car plus the jambs and the engine bay.

I just didn't want to waste any.

As stated, I'll probably know if I need to mix more after the first coat.


Thanks all.

gal should be very ample for whole car. I would mix a pint for what you are doing now, if need more mix it! get those mixing cups at the PRO paint store, real easy to mix correct portions for any any amount needed..... you CAN do it!!!!!!!

Did this one with a quart of single stage.

might I add, maybe do the jams, trunk lip, inside of trunk lid and hood while at it.

I also use 'dipping' cups to keep from spilling anything from a large container into a mixing cup. They are especially helpful when mixing small portions.....just keep things clean.

Like a ladle?

Interesting.