The most challenging part of determining how many gallons you need to paint your Chevy Caprice is measuring the square footage of the car's exterior. Some variables include the possibility that the exterior measurements can be found in the owners manual and that the exterior square footage will change depending on the year of the car.
In most cases, one gallon of paint will cover 350 square feet. This makes your job much easier because most cars are under that much in square footage--this may vary in the model of Chevy Caprice. For instance, Chevy Caprice models in the 1980s are larger than models in the 1990s. If you are not given the exterior measurements in the owner's manual, the easiest way to measure the square footage of the exterior of the Chevy Caprice is to begin with every rectangular surface on the car: the hood, the roof, and the trunk. For the doors to the car, use the roof of the car's measurement again, same for the trunk and the hood. Therefore, the estimation for the square footage of the exterior of the Chevy Caprice is 2(Roof)+2(Hood)+2(Trunk)= an estimate of the square footage of the Chevy Caprice.
From a minimalist point of view, beyond auto paint, all you need is acrylic reducer. Acrylic hardener, clear coat, and primer may be used depending upon the results you wish to achieve. This will all become factors in how much you will need, depending on if you are using it and the measurements you acquired. On your clear coat or car paint always add 1 ounce of acrylic reducer for every 4 ounces of clear coat or car paint. If you are using an acrylic hardener, add 1 ounce of hardener for every 8 ounces of clear coat.
