200 for a gallon of paint is a good price. i paid 300 for a quart and a half when i had to repaint the hood and fenders on my 01 ram, ram vs. bambi wasn't pretty. when you do your final sanding use 600 grit ppg is a good paint but will show 320 400 saning marks. make sure you use a surface prep cleaner before putting body fill on so the metal is as clean as possible. i just finished a friends 97 ram 2500 v10 ext cab long box. one gallon was just enough so you should be okay with one gallon

One thing that I have come across also is that the red hardener will bleed through the primer and paint and can be seen. Noticed it more with light colorslike white, silver, etc. Anytime I use filler I always buy the blue hardener.

in my opinion, ppg paints are fine quality paints may be worth it for a show car but thier are many brands out there with the same chemical makeup that are waay more realistically priced..ppg spends a lot on image and advertising (or rather its customers do). For something like a 10+year old pick up truck ppg is a waste...I painted my jeep with PPG before I really did my homework....I bought the whole kit for under $300 including clear (the omni line) and I have to say I saw nothing in the cheaper priced paint (thecoatingstore.comI used to paint my vette that made me think it was inferior...

For a gallon, $196 just seems like a LOT of money. But then again, mixing 1:1 with reducer at $26, makes 2 gallons of paint for $222. or only $111 per gallon. Should be more than enough to do the entire Ram and enough to touch up a few places on the Yota.

Also will be using a 2K primer which is a high build, and then an epoxy primer for adhesion promotion (in black) and to cover the gray primer before i spray base. I will sand with 1500 - so no scratches. Will use 2000 grit to color sand before buffing.

Worked on a few more dents this afternoon and after sanding, most were small bondo spots about 3/8" diameter and oh so thin! May tackle cutting of rear panels tomorrow but did not feel like pulling the bumper today.

Did a little work on Ram today. Sanded out the bondo from yesterday, especially the large dent I pulled at the rear of the cab. (forgot to take a photo before it got dark).

But then I found 4 small dents on the hood that I had not noticed so I sanded them to get ready to fill.




Don’t know how freezing temperature may effect paint and clear, I usually store these in an old ice chest during the winter. A freeze was forecast for today, but it was mid 50’s…





Then decided to install new gauge pod, which was black so I pulled off both a pillar covers. To make sure color matched I wanted to prime all pieces with a light primer.







Washing pieces to remove any dust or oily reside.




Primer sprayed on:





Spraying pod:





Pod and a pillar covers finished:




Going to drop rear bumper tomorrow if weather holds so I can cut out beat up lower panels and weld new ones in place.

A lot of work and progressing nicely. Well done. Cant wait to see it finished.

I just found my reciept...Just for reference I paid 289 for the PPG paint I bought locally to paint my jeep...metallic canyon blue.... this was for a gallon of the base and a gallon of the clear as well as reducers and activators and two large cans of 1k primer, with filters and sticks.... It was the omni line and purchased in 2004

Nice job GD. Don't forget to use the practice pillar I sent when you install the gauges.

I already snapped it in and out a couple of times with the "practice pillar" - it helps out a bunch as I am not as worried about breaking a clip off while going in and out with it (thanks!). Existing pillar cover is pretty brittle so I was careful drilling a hole for the wires. Also using velcro instead of screws due to being afraid plastic will crack. Between the velcro and the lip on door seal, it appears to hold very firm. Going to give it a day or so for paint to cure before gluing velcro on pillar. Probably did not need to paint the existing pillar, but wanted to be sure in case an edge showed.....one of those retentive things I suppose.

Pulled the wiring from the pillar to down below the dash. Haven't decided where to penetrate into engine bay yet. Will probably do this when I figure relays for headlights and trailer brake controller.

It is 39 and rainy today, so that pretty much kills the idea of dropping bumper outside and cutting panels out. Something about mig welding in the rain is not appealing......guess I'll watch football instead!

up in canada we get hammered hard on paint cost. i totally agree on ppg product more hype than anything. i was told that the only differnce between omni and ppg was the voc rating not sure how correct that info is. thats going to be a sharp looking truck when your done. are you putting the bumper back on or a roll pan? when your doing the final blocking guide coat works good to find any low spots