Its definitely not 8lbs, I'd guess my hood alone weighs 5lbs more than a clear coated unpainted carbon hood.

 

just go to the gym already

 

Sand the whole thing down to bare metal then cover it with foil/vinyl I don't know if it's heavier or lighter but I'm guessing lighter.

 

that's more likely. i could see if you did some 30 coat lacquer 70's paint job, it could be 15-20lbs, but its not...

 

When I painted my FC I maybe had 20lbs of materials in a box when I started, Considering I did not use it all and the ammount that was sanded off and on top of that the paint giving off the voc's when it sets up I would guess under 10lbs more like 5-7. Thats Bondo over the dings then sand, Primer surfacer over the whole car then sand, then a base then clear then sand the clear flat and buff.

Given the ammount that went into the gun on the scale and the fact that it gets considerably lighter when it dries Im going with 5-7lbs total.

Nobody seems to worry when they put 18-19 inch rims and tires on their car but suddenly a few lbs of paint is a big deal? I easily gained 20lbs with 17X10's vs 16X7's

Take your floor mats out

 

It definitely is 8 lbs. That info comes from the owner of a local high end body shop. He has been in business for more than 25 years, and has painted thousands of cars. 8 pounds is a fact, not an opinion.

 

...and I am instantly reminded why I stay away from posting on forums. Always some douche bag armchair engineer chiming in with some ignorant bs that turns a well intentioned thread into a flamefest. Thought I was on Honda-Tech for a sec.

As someone mentioned...Im not talking about an FD Delorean tribute. (If) the paint weights 20lbs, Id like to remove it first before applying new paint. Im not looking for opinions on how you think I should build my car. My question was intended to anyone with actual experience or data pertaining to the typical weight of an automotive paint job.

Great logic. How much weight is saved by using a carbon hood vs the stock aluminum? 3-5lbs? How about sound deadening? Titanium exhaust? Individually insignificant I suppose. I think you know where this is headed...
1(1000)=1000(1)

Because all paints have the same pigment/density/viscosity/etc? I hope you dont do anything terribly important for a living.

No. Its Sebastian fuc*kin Vettel.

Thanks to the rest of you for your input. I think its really interesting.

 

Ok Sebastian. Read it all. Try to see the logic. Try to see the common sense. If you can't see it .............. read it again

 

I can't really comment on how much car paint weighs but where I work we use some kind of paint that comes in 5 gallon buckets.

I can't remember which color it was but one was much heavier than the others.

It's non automotive paint but some paints do weigh more or less than others.

 

I believe the brand new fenders are thinner metal than the old stock ones, believe it or not.

When rolling the fenders, my left front fender rolled like butter. That fender had been replaced with a new one.

The right front fender was considerably harder to do. It could just be the quality of the metal, but IIRC the new one was actually thinner.

If I get ambitious I will go out to the garage and measure it later.

 

Sure, but the adage was that a gallon of red weighs less than a gallon of other colors.

I'd have to ask a body guy if it takes more paint in red to get a good color than other colors.

David

 

Dave,

Take a scale to any car parts store. Grab several cans of differently colored spray paint. I would wager that the red paint is no different than the others.

 

Paint weight sepends on the type of paint and the quality of it. If it is bad quality you want to remove it all off anyway because it would reduce the quality of your paint in the long run (chipping, etc). But make sure to paint it with good quality paint and primer. And always give it a good waxing for that extra soothness

 

there are poor hiding colors that take more coats, and there are tri coat paints ( such as CYM ) that are additional coats.

reds, yellows, and even some blues can be poor hiding.

single stage colors will be lighter then mettalics

high solids primers will be heavier then finishing primers

high solids clearcoats are heavier then some other clear coats

I can weight any kind of paint you guys wish I have some on hand

 

Since you offered, please weigh a can of red paint vs cans of different colors. To be fair the paints must be of the same type and manufacturer.

Thank you in advance

 

we can be more scientific, how about the total weight for a gallon according to the mix?

red is actually one of the lightest, white is heavy- you would think white would be light, but its not.

paint I am referencing is DuPont Imron

kenworth white: 4407 grams ( 9.715 lbs )

dark silver metallic 3783.5 grams ( 8.34 lbs )

peterbuilt red : 3968.5 ( 8.749 )
Chrysler dodge truck red : 3919 grams ( 8.639 )

seven-up company green : 4066 grams ( 8.963 )

 

There you go people, scientific proof that shows why red cars are faster

 

but it takes more coats to cover, so it might be 3 coats of black where the red will be 5-7coats

 

OMG not to mention that the paint probably loses weight when it dries. The debate about stripping the car was a little bit of a stretch.

The red vs world paint debate is beyond reason of any sort. Paint your cars aesthetically! Or I kill the kitteh!

 

Got those =P

 

I think thats pretty interesting. Regardless of whether it is a big deal or not, the weight of paint on a car is something that I have never really thought about and therefore it sparked some curiosity. I appreciate these sorts of things that remind you that no matter how long you've been around racing/race cars, there is always more to learn.

I came across this:
http://www.speedtalk.com/forum/viewt...4d7de0b6d35f91

The last few posts are interesting and suggest something around 20-40lbs (40 was including undercarrage). Of course this is taken with a grain of salt, but food for thought nonetheless.

Thanks for the great data you guys are contributing!

 

Good grief...

 

Is anyone taking into account the amount of weight that goes away once the paint dries?

 

Or over-spray.

 

The can stated % of VOC's they will all evaporate so add up #gallons of paint * (1-VOC%)* (weight of full can-empty can) . I bet 6-20 lbs is about right.