so ive always known a two stage setup, you prime/paint/clear (from watching TV). im trying to price out paint right now and ALL i can find are single stage paints. about 80 bucks a gallon.

is the industry moving away from two stage? should i just look at a single stage and not clear anything? if i should do a two stage where do you guys recommend i search for paint?

i called around locally and no paint shops sell paint, they all told me orilies is the only paint mixers locally but i find that hard to believe as i live in minneapolis/st paul. their prices are through the roof... cheapest gallon they had was 280.00...

You can order paint through this site. Tamco products on the store front.
Prices are very reasonable.

Costs of some colors is higher than others. This truck:



To get the color correct it required a tri-stage paint.
A gallon of the undercoat was $381
A gallon of the topcoat was $468

Yep, that's $849 a gallon just for the color. Primers and clears not included.

This was Automotive Art Motobase LV purchased from Chad's Autorod Technologies in Michigan (http://www.autorodtechnologies.com/chad ... and-audio/) and shipped to me in Arizona. It was the best price I could get for good quality paint.

idk, this isnt a show truck, im just looking to get a decent paint job

This truck was a solid color dark red.
Price per gallon: $326


This truck is a Gunmetal Gray:
Price per gallon $334 (three years ago)


Automotive paint is not cheap. These are all reasonable prices compared to Diamont, PPG, Dupont, etc.

so im not sure if there is a difference in finish quality between the single stage and teh two stage. i dont need super expensive paint but i still want a decent quality finish. in tool terms im looking for the craftsman, not the snapon paint. as for price, im doing the cab first and bed second as the bed is destroyed. im trying to get everything for 500 as far as paint/clear is concerned, maybe primer too as that seems to be relatively cheap

These are not Snapon prices - they are Craftsman prices.

Single stage is much harder to spray for a beginner than base coat clear coat.
With base coat you get a chance to fix the problems before spraying clear. With Single stage what you spray is what you get. Yes you can fix things and then spray more single stage but the ease of fixing a base coat issue come in play.

Single stage automotive paint will cost about the same as a gallon of base but you won't need to buy the clear coat. For a pick up truck plan on buying two gallons.

iNCC74656i wrote:so im not sure if there is a difference in finish quality between the single stage and teh two stage. i dont need super expensive paint but i still want a decent quality finish. in tool terms im looking for the craftsman, not the snapon paint. as for price, im doing the cab first and bed second as the bed is destroyed. im trying to get everything for 500 as far as paint/clear is concerned, maybe primer too as that seems to be relatively cheap

I fully understand being on a budget. But a full respray is going to add up fast with all of the consumables.

For paint, cleaners etc either use this website's Tamco store (great service) or The Coatings Store - both online.

As 68 Coronet said, use the BC/CC system if you are truly a beginner, it is definitely easier. When I started (not that long ago) I thought the same thing and used a SS. When I finally used the BC/CC system it was much easier to spray.

OP, what sort of project / car is this? If you're on a budget, you can always go to Eastwood or Summit Racing and get a gallon of SS for $100, or BC / CC combo for about $200. They sell metallics as well as solid colors at that price. Urekem is another reseller around that price point.

The quality is good, certainly not in the same league as what 68 Coronet has shown, but better than what you'll get off the shelf at O'Reilly. I painted my 1996 Neon in Summit Racing metallic blue SS, plus clear coat on top for added protection since I park outdoors, and am quite happy with the result, nice gloss and a tough finish. I don't need anything more than that.

Looking back, I wish I had gone BC / CC because as others have mentioned, spraying single stage (especially) metallic is not for the faint of heart-- I wound up tiger striping a couple of panels and had to scuff and reshoot.

Tamco worked great for me, SS is $129 for a one gallon kit, call for BC/CC cost. I tried the SS in red, good color match and very scratch resistant.

"Tamco now sells every OEM color in pints, quarts and gallons. Superior quality, awesome coverage and even better price. Compare to PPG, Axalta, Sherwin-Williams, BASF or any High Quality paint systems on the market. We are not here to replace the low cost products, only the high end ones."

Yeah, another vote for Tamco as well. I've not had any chance to do a single stage but I've been very impressed with the clears. For guys shooting with turbine systems I think you will find that these clears don't need quite as much "tweeking" as some. Pricing is better than anything I can get of comparable quality locally.