Leaving the patina
i'd much rather have patina (beat to **** look)then a shitty paint job.
and seriously the 80's? they screwed up a lot of cars with some really stupid looking styles..
I wasnt into goofy paint jobs, and fender flairs. Always peferred stock colors, and stock body lines. My first paint job was 68 dodge bright blue irridescent. Factory color for 68 charger. I used a borrowed air compressor and a binks syphon cup gun. Took me several month of flat blocking and priming to make sure the car was good and straight. Prep being the big key. After i shot the paint, i waited 2 weeks and wet sanded it with 1500 grit, and ran a buffing wheel over it to remove overspray, dust etc. Turned out pretty good. It was not a shitty paint job, even for a first timer. At 13 i also helped my older brother bodywork and respray a 68 camaro RS/SS he restored. He taught me a lot as well.
Can you get a shitty paint job first time? You sure can, thats why i recommended practice painting a scrap fender first to learn. Lots of curves and shapes. You only learn and expand your capabilities when you read and try new things.
Again it goes back to reading , learning, and applying what you read. Being my chargers paint was a metallic i had to spray the whole exterior of the car in one shot. I later learned if i stick with solids i can spray a piece at a time and it will match, again as long as pulling from the same paint can and thoroughly mixing before shooting.
Only other times i shot metallics was B5 on my 69 charger, and turquoise green on my 94 chevy pickup to fix some minor body damage on the lower bed side. With the right tools, knowledge and practice anybody can do this. At the very least respray your own engine compartments when doing an engine rebuild if they need a freshen up.
My current guns of choice are a satajet HVLP for pretty much everything color related. A china freight for laying down primer. And a mac tools mini syphon cup gun for door jambs and small spots.
Like i say to my trainees at work that i teach to do aircraft sheetmetal repair, after they are doing nice test repairs on scrap, and they are getting ready to drill to do a repair on an actual aircraft for the first time. (Dont be skeeered) you can do this.