Bodyshop says no

[BadDog]

If you've already primed/protected that metal with anything, or done you own rust repair, most body/paint shops won't want to touch it because if anything goes wrong down the road with how their paint job reacts with your work underneath it, it's not their fault, but you're still gonna be P.O.'d at them. That may be the real reason you're friend/neighbor said no: he probably values your goodwill more than the potential profit.

Don't be afraid to do the paint yourself though. I never painted a car before and I painted my silver BC/CC job. Check my gallery for pics of the whole process.

Check out autobodystore.com, they have lots of how-to info for DIY-ers, and good prices on materials, guns, etc., and a very active/helpful community.

I used a portable Campbell-Hausfield compressor that had a 30-gallon tank and put out ~11 CFM set for my Devilbiss HVLP gun. Kept up with my gun when running just fine :-) I had a homemade PVC positive pressure booth, a cast iron pipe hooked up to the compressor that went up, across the wall, and down (with 2 drain valves in it) into a Devilbiss wall filter, and used "last chance" ball-type filters on my gun for every spraying session. I had zero water or oil issues in my paint.

I had to special-order the compressor (~$275) but got a great deal through CH's vendor site on Tracotr Supply's site. It was worth it because I had all the air I needed without a giant 80-gallon compressor, and I can move it into a corner when not using it.

Bottom line: do your homework, do your prepwork, and move your gun like a robot. "Setting up the gun" is easy once you know what you're looking for. My Devilbiss came with great instructions on how to do it. And after your CC is cured for a day or two, you can get to work with nib files and run blockers and sandpaper and give your car a beatiful shine.

[JimmyZ]

FWIW I made a page for those new to this. It's based on the few projects I've done, knowlege gleaned from body shop friends and my mistakes. It might help.

http://warbuddies.homestead.com/RestoHelp.html

2c

[mriz]

Thanks for all the input. It's easy to not think of the obvious somtimes. I'm sure you are correct Bad Dog in that he probably dosn't want his work over prep work he didn't do. I'm just looking for a daily driver quality job as the car will be outside under a cover most of the time. Macco's quality is dependant on who happens to be the painter at that point in time in my opinion. There aren't very many car shows in the area but a drive in an hour away does have a cruise night once a month. So that is definetly worth a try as someone has to know sombody .Around here restoration friendly shops are few and far between. Even my friends brother who owns a shop dosn't want to be bothered with it. Carl As you stated in regards to level of quality and products mabye thier business may not be set up to deliver what I need which is a +- 2k job. My "mint" car had hidden collision damage so 2k is the limit. My time window for painting if I have to do it is until the 2nd -3rd week of September. The weather can change quick and my wife gets the garage back in October.Thak for that link Jimmy Z and Again thanks for the replies.