Thread: First paint project

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Hi all, this is my first post here, and I realize that this seems to be a classic hotrod forum, but who better to pick the brain of than the rodders that appreciate classic muscle like myself? lol.

My only hotrod currently is an offering from the early '80s, an '83 Ford Mustang GT. I've owned this car for about 9 years, and it's been a mostly garaged project so far.
I rebuilt the original 302HO 0.30 over, bought and tweaked some factory casting heads w/1.90/1.60 valves, installed rumpity cam, RPM intake & 650 dbl. pmpr. Holley, long headers w/ Flowmaster mufflers, T-5, 3.45 geared Tracloc.
It runs out good, but, I never finished the appearance end of the project.

Last year, I started fixing any small dings that were present, after using wax/grease remover & rough sanding the faded original black paint, the car was basically straight & rust-free, replaced the front fascia to an '84 GT (found at a scrap yard for $50, and a better looking part than the '83 GT's... lower air dam w/foglight openings), moved the non-functional hilarious hood scoop forward towards the cowl 3" and molded it to the hood for a smooth look, & primed it w/ a cheap lacquer based red oxide primer/surfacer bought from a local Car Quest store which is also a PPG supplier.
I put a good coat on, then proceeded to block sand and fix any more imperfections along the way. The car is straight, except for minor fill-ins still needed, which I noticed after I wet-sanded the whole car. So, in essence, it's not quite ready, but will be without much more effort.
After doing more research on paint products, I suppose I should've used an epoxy primer over the bodywork, then a high-build surfacer for final wet-sanding?
This being my first paint project, I didn't want to invest alot of $$$ in paint products if my ability doesn't exceed my expectations or confidence.
So, I've been tossing back and forth on the issue of what type of paint to use, bc/cc or ss?
I've pretty much concluded that a metallic acrylic enamel is out of the question unless I'd be happy with orange peel and no color sanding, so I would definitely go with a solid color on the enamel.
Bc/cc is more expensive when using the best products available, but will be easier to fix defects in the clear coat.

So, my question is, will a high quality solid colored acrylic enamel be my best bet for a practice run on my elcheapo project?
Can I color sand and buff a high quality acrylic enamel finish effectively?
As in "high quality" I mean name brands....PPG, Dupont, Sherwin-Williams etc...?

My color choice will be based on how good my prep work has been so far, but I won't go back to the original black.
My choices will most likely be a bright Ford Chrome Yellow, or Hugger orange or?
Both of those colors seem to work for the fox-bodied Mustangs, but I want to do it right... jambs, trim removal, misc. parts removal, etc...

Any advice on products or application will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.


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