It has been my experiance that with the new urethane paints the very aggressive solvents need a sealer to avoid visable lines where any body work was done. These new paints really bite into the sub layers.

In fact I AM going with original color an paint type - acrylic enamel, with the color being 1976 Medium Chestnut brown metallic. This of course makes all the painting "easier" since color is original, and, since the car is completely apart, no worries there....I can get at everything.
To date, all I have been able to paint were the engine compartment, radiator frame and cowl, but they turned out BEAUTIFUL, albeit with some dust in them. I do not have the luxury of a dust free environment, I'm gonna have to figure out the best way to handle that. The paint I used was Deltron, with reducer and hardener, the gloss on the paint is unbelievable - like I painted with plastic!
Along those lines, can anyone tell me - DUST - IF I get dust in the finish, can enamel be compounded like lacquer? Can it be carefully sanded after drying and then "rubbed out" with the proper materials to gain the brightness back?
I recall my '79 wagon with original enamel finish - I was able to compound it without any issues.
Chris

A couple days prior to painting blow all the dust off the walls & ceiling then wash & squeegee the floor. About 2 hours before painting open up windows & tape furnace filters in them. Wet the floor down & put a couple box fans under the garage door & pull the door down on them. Let them pull any remaining dust out of the air.
 
Wet the floor again prior to paint. Dress in a disposable painter suit, wear a food prep quality hair net & blow yourself off outside to remove dust. Wipe your airhose clean as well.
 
Air compressors throw oil mist in the air as they run. I have mine in another room. Don't spray any WD40, tire dressings, armor all or silicone sprays in that garage for a couple weeks prior to paint,
 
I not a pro by any means but I use $50 spray guns for primer & sealer & my $279 (12 years ago) Sharpe HVLP for paint. Use a brand new disposable auto painters water filter at the gun for primer, sealer & paint. Stack 2 of them if it's humid the day you spray.
 
Use the correct reducers for temp & humidity levels & for gods sake follow the paint manufacturers directions to the letter. This goes for flash times as well as sealer to top coat intervals. If you eff up the sealer don't paint. Let it dry, fix the mistakes(runs, etc) wetsand then seal again & paint another day. 
 
I hope some of this helps.

I am not throwing the Macco idea out the window, but I really want to do the paint myself. I take a lot of pride in knowing that everything done to my cars is done by ME. All but an alignment and resurfacing brake components and flywheels. Other than that I do everything myself.

I will need to see how long my dad will let me borrow the garage, as they have a big meat freezer out there as well as their second refrigerator that they don't use to much.



I was thinking of blowing dust off EVERYTHING in the garage one day (with fans running under the garage door like you stated), then let it all settle and do it again a day or two later and let that settle. After that, I know my dad would make it mandatory to put up plastic sheeting over EVERYTHING in the garage, but I would do the ceiling as well, just going around the lights though. I was thinking I should cover the floor with plastic as well, to ensure I don't ruin my dad's garage floor if i spill or over spray.

A few questions:

How much does a disposable paint suit cost? I was thinking of picking up two or three since I probably won't get it all done in ONE day.

Also, how much does a good mask go for? I was thinking of getting something decent since I plan to paint my station wagon as well, down the road, and my wife and I plan to buy another Tercel Station Wagon like her first car and repaint that too.

Food prep quality hair nets arn't a problem, I work at Jack In The Box and we always have those available, it's company policy.

Chris,
I've always done all-over primer and have never used sealer.  It makes sense to me that it would probably yield the same result.  The main thing is to not have any bleed-through, whatever method you use.  Hope it turns out great!
Dwayne :smile:

I know others have had good luck with cheap guns but if you plan to do a few paint jobs spring for a Sharpe, Binks or DeVilbiss gun. A good one can be had for $125ish & last a lifetime if you only paint occasionally. I have yet to paint an entire car with my $300 gun(painted 2 of my buggies) but I have it when I need it. I do have 4 cars to paint if I ever find the time.