[PhilB]

Painted a Shell Valley in July 2000. First complete car I ever painted; had done a fender or two previously. Used urethane; 4 color and 4 clear coats. Sanded clear coat with 1500 grit, buffed and polished. It's not show-quality but I think it looks great and I've gotten a number of positive comments. Total cost including gravity-feed gun, materials to build a positve-pressure garage spray booth and all painting supplies was about $1000. The sanding was work but all the time put into prep really pays off. I bought a painting video and asked many questions at the paint supply. The paint system was high-end PPG; color ran about $350 a gallon (Dodge Intense Blue Pearl). I didn't stripe, thought that might be pushing my skills a bit. Again, don't scrimp on materials quality. Someone with a lot of painting experience I'm sure could do better with cheaper materials, but for the novice, spend the extra money. It's not as hard as it looks and it will save $$$.