ive got a bunch of scratches and some rust coming so i need to paint my car. this will be the first time, i had a pickup i did the rust and stuff but had someone do the spraying. i think that is ok i just have questions on the immense amount of things available and different procedures to go with it. i am assuming the scratches have to be sanded to at least the oem primer then i am thinking getting the direct to metal type epoxy primer in the interest if saving money just buying one type of primer. i will need something that will be good on the rust repair.
ProForm DTM Epoxy Primer Automotive Paint, Auto Paint, Car Paint
at 1 to 1 this kit is 2 gal for 105.

the other question is about single stage vs bc/cc, what i am thinking is just painting it all black and the single stage kits are less than half the cost for the base clear so if anyone knows why the base clear would be that much better for a car that sits in the garage 100% of its future life and only gets driven on sunny summer days?

Super Gloss Jet Black Urethane Acrylic Paint Kit Automotive Paint, Auto Paint, Car Paint, Autobody Supplies

My boss painted his 68 charger with summit brand urethane single stage and it cam out pretty nice and shiny.
Summit Racing Paint - Blue Primary Paint Color - Bright cobalt blue metallic Manufacturer Paint Color - Free Shipping on Orders Over $99 at Summit Racing

i looked at summits paint and once you get all the activators and reducers they are way more expensive, eastwood and tcpglobal were way more too.

Every paint and body guy I've ever known has always told me your paint job will only be as good as the prep and materials you use. If I were going to go through the hours and hours of sanding I probably woul spend the extra dough and go with DuPont of PPG if it was my personal car.

i dont have the money for those things, so if im not going with a cheap paint its nothing at all. right now it has mostly just original 26 yr old paint. i dont want to win any competitions with it i just dont want to be embarrassed by it if i decide to go to a cruise in or something

Great topic. I was raised with the understanding one can't paint cars from the north that have started to rust without the rust coming back. Times likely have changed with new rust nuetralizing products. Looking forward to following this thread and your product slection.

depends if its all the way through or not, hoping my firebird is just surface rust because it was scratched and left. on my pickup the rust was from the salt and was from the back and the front so you had to replace the metal completely. all the wheel wells were gone, under the doors, there was even a hole in the bumper. got it to good enough for something that is not going to be shown. i will spend more time on my firebird getting panels strait though

I painted my entire 95 Bonneville re-white once. Cost close to $300 for primer, reducer, cleaner, BC and CC. I used my own air compressor and guns. Aside from a few bugs in the CC, it came out pretty good. Too bad cancer had already set in from the year before. Once it starts, no stopping it. And that was PPG paint.

Is that clear coat coming off the bumper? If so, your gonna have alot of trouble just painting over the car.

mike-where did you get ppg for 300?

john- its more of the 80'* gm paint flaking off if you remember all the recalls and such. so the primer seems ok and i had intended to sand to that at least as there are alot of scratches on the car that are through the cc and bc