for 500 dollars if it looks nice and theres only one noticable run, thats a deal. I work at a body shop and the paint alone cost me either 170 or 270 for a gallon, another 100 for the clear and my boss basically absorbed the rest of the cost of sealer, and reducer. i would imagine i sent close to 500 painting my car alone then on top of that there was the body work. I did everything myself since thats my occupation but if i added up all the hours it took i would be charging well into the thousands. Glad it turned out well for you.

 

If your going to do the body work yourself it shouldnt turn out too bad when i paint i always prime said because its a fail safe against little chips and the original clear reacting with the new base, i know you can seal it but ive had bad experiences when i dont prime. Wet sand the whole thing 220 then prime then 600 on the primer. Or 600 the whole thing if you dont use primer. As far as the hood i would take it somewhere if you have never worked w/ fiberglass reisen(sp) but if your adventurous go to autozone and buy a bondo fiberglass repair kit and follow the directions. The difference between good paint and awesome paint is how you finish it make sure they put good clear and a enough that you can personally finish it. When you get it back wetsand it with 2000 by hand no sanding block, then get a good buffer not from wal mart and some polishing coumpound not buffing compound and spend a weekend on it. If you take your time it will look good. IT is possible to take out runs so if it somes back with some dont freak just contact me and ill help out.
good luck

just do you know i prepped and painted mine and it looks as good as most 4k jobs do.

 

Do u have any pics? Glad it turned out good!

 

one quick note from some one who works in a body shop and paints almost everything that leaves. i would only prime where you actually do body work. Primer isnt meant to be a sealer, thats why they make Primer/sealer which i always spray over the primer/filler after the primer filler has dried to maufacturer specs. The Primer/sealer helps prevent bleed through, and help use less paint(doesnt absorb as much paint as primer), and better paind adhesion. The only use of blocking the whole car is if you have chips all over, otherwise just use a little putty on the chips and block that with 180 then primer/filler that area and block the primer out with 320-400, or 320 then 400 and if you want you can go even finer but it wont make a difference once you seal it. Then while you sealing if your planning on changing colors of the car seal the whole car otherwise if you not doing a color change you shouldnt need to. If you want to get all fancy and try to make a show car primer filler the whole car and sand every little chip wave and what ever out, but if you do that like i said be for just use 320 your not going to sand primer fast enough with 600 wet just use 320 dry then if your concerned or your car is some matalic use 400 dry and once its all sanded seal it. then paint it and clear it once its cleared go at it with between 1200-2000 wet and get all the dust and orange peal out while useing a block, your hand isnt flat like your paint should be so use a block but not a hard block just a firm sponge block. i would finish it with 1500 -200 before you buff. Get a good buffer again not a kmart one and some rubing compound like perfect3 from 3m and buff it to a smooth shine but dont burn through and same goes for while your wet sanding. Now finally i can think its safe to say that you know little about autobody and doing a whole paint job as your first prodject ever is a huge task if you want it to look good and not pay more cause you need to pay someone to fix it. Unless you have someone with experience there to help you i would sudgesst leaving it to the pros until you have a better grasp on it.

 

Painting Is The Easy part. But I would Highly recomend sending it to someone who has some practice at it(it does take some talent) If you use Macco I strongly advise buying your own paint, Dupont, Diamont, Sikens, or any other major brand. The biggest problem for Macco is the cheap paint they use! If the paint sucks its not going to stay on. As for the rock chips sand as much of them as you can without digging in to the rubber. Then use some spot puddy and prime the whole bumper about 3 to 4 good coats to make sure you get any waves leveled out. Be sure to put flex additive in the primer! As for the hood be sure to sand a nice bevel in the cracks, kind of like a ditch that way when you put some Duraglass (like bondo but with fiberglass fibers) on it and sand it down you still have enough left around the crack to hold it good. You will need to sand the cracks and surrounding area with 36 gritt. Then block the Duraglass with 80 gritt then 180 gritt , followed with primer. As for the sanding of the whole car use 400 gritt followed by 600 if it is a metalic color. Use care not to sand one little spot so that it leaves a divit that will show up after it is painted.
Let us know what you decide.

 

I'm really going back and forth about this right now. My 94 could really use a fresh coat of paint and a few dings fixed but I'm not sure what to expect or if it's even worth it. I have a pretty good pile of cash right now but I haven't gotten eny estimates yet and I don't have any idea of what's fair. Then again, events like last night when some idiot old woman parked next to me and smacked her door into mine make me wonder if it's even worthwhile, why try to have anything nice when someone will just screw it up for you ?