I have done everything on my resto project myself, working on build primer and blocking now. If I go back 2 1/2 years and just add up the materials, tools, primer and paint products I would say I am at about $2,500 or so. When I am done I will have painted every surface of the truck. Fixing just the exterior and not taking it down to the frame would be cheaper obviously. I bought a little pressurized sandblaster, several cheap then one pro paint gun, gallons and gallons of primer, paint, and chemicals, sanders, many sanding blocks, etc. I have probably spent $300 just on sand paper. I can't go to the auto body store without dropping two bills its seems like...
I started knowing next to nothing about auto body and paint at the beginning, but my skills are improving. Its a real fun learning process. It helps a bunch that my wife is ok with living at a body shop [the mess, the fumes] and parking her car outside in the snow, so I feel lucky about that. The best part is yet to come though when I roll the truck out of the garage done, all my friends that think I was nuts to take apart a functioning truck will be so surprised
. Just be sure to not embark on a project of that magnitude though without being honest about the time factor. I work on my truck nearly every day for several hours [8pm to 2am mostly] and I am hoping to drive it before it gets cold here again in September.