How much car paint do I need?
Depending on the damage to your vehicle, you could need a lot or a little car touch up paint to make your repair. Here’s our advice on how to:
- Make sure you order the right amount
- How much to actually apply to your car
1. Buying the right amount of paint
You don’t want to get halfway through applying a layer of car spray paint - and suddenly the nozzle runs dry. Equally, you don’t want to have a box full of car paint aerosols sitting in your garage!
Roughly, you’ll need:
- 4 x 500ml cans car spray paint for the roof
- 3 x 500ml cans of car spray paint for the bumpers, bonnet, doors and boot
- 2 x 500ml cans of car spray paint for the wings and rocker panels
- Half a 500ml can of car spray paint for the mirrors
You will need similar amounts of clear gloss lacquer and primer - also available in a spray can.
2. Applying the right amount of paint
It’s a fact: our car touch up paint will match the original colour of your car. It’s mixed precisely to the original colour of your car. This is true whether it’s classic car paint or for a more modern vehicle.
However, we sometimes get enquiries about ‘problem paint’ where it doesn’t look like it matches the colour of your car.
This is, very occasionally, due to weathering of your vehicle, especially if it’s an older car. The difference can often be blended in with a good quality polishing compound (we sell this individually and also as a PaintNuts Scratch & Scuff Kit and Drill Pad kit).
But there’s a more usual reason why we get these enquiries.
| PAINT | CLEAR COAT | PRIMER | |
| FRONT BUMPER | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| BONNET | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| FRONT WING | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| ROCKER PANELS | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| FRONT DOOR | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| REAR DOOR | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| REAR WING | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| REAR BUMPER | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| BOOT | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| ROOF | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| SIDE MIRRORS | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
Too much or too little?
It’s possible to get great results using car touch up paint, even if you’re not a DIY kind of person.
Please read our ‘how-to’ guides though! Because the main cause of the colour not matching your car is down to people not reading the instructions and:
- Applying too much paint in one go - a blob or a thick layer
- Not applying a sufficient number of thin layers to build the colour up
- Applying touch up car paint over original paint - a disaster!
- Using a pen or brush on a large area (aerosol is more appropriate)
How to apply - overview
- Car touch up paint should be applied in thin layers and built up to the correct colour. Like cooking, you can add but you can’t take away!
- Also, make sure you’re applying paint to a surface that’s smooth and clean, and never paint over the edge onto original paint.
- Always shake the paint before you use it. For example, metallic grey is made from 8 different colours - it really does need a good shake.
We’ve written a guide on how to apply car spray paint guide - check it out before you start work.
Ready to order?
Our car touch up paint is precision-measured and mixed to the highest specification. It’s bodyshop quality, durable and easy-to-use to achieve a good result. It’s available as a precision pen, bottle with brush, and aerosol. We also supply it in larger quantities to trade customers.