I say go for it.This is exactly how I started out 8+ years ago,Painting and doing body work at home in the garage. I eventually went to college for it and now work as a painter. I honestly sometimes get better results at home in my dirty a** garage then at work Because of the high volume of cars being painted and lack of proper cleanup. If I can dig up my ol refinish procedure I will send it to you. It may help out a lil.

 

I would go for the paint correction with a buffer first to see if you can bring back the old paint. You're going to have to use a buffer anyways if you re-paint, why not skip a step and try to buff it out.

My car is a '97, I thought it needed a paintjob - but first I tried wetsanding it to see if it could be saved. I wetsanded it with 3M 1500 grit paper, Buffed it with 3M Perfect III #5940 Extra cut rubbing compound / 05734 white foam pad and then polished with 3M Ultrafina #6068 w/ Blue pad #5733. After that, you can top it off with a paste wax like Pinnacle Souveran.

Good tips here:
http://www.autopia.org/forum/
http://www.detailcity.org/forums/

 

cool; I'm going to browse these forums now! thanks!