Painting dilemma (long). What would you do?
My painting experience is as follows. I've painted hundreds of race cars. They've gotta look good at 150' @ 150mph. That's a"300" paint job. They gotta look good at a mall showing too. On the other hand one of my best friends owned a high end body shop for 35 years. I welded a million panels for him and painted zero. After he retired I picked up his hand tools, guns, ect. The most important tool I couldn't take... The paint booth. They don't just keep out dust. They provide proper temperature, humidity, and lighting. You can do awesome prep at home, but painting is gonna require luck. Here in the North East...It ain't happening. Find a Maaco type shop near you and bring it there prepped. I'll paint race cars and work trucks in my driveway, but a car that matters I'll take to the pros.