[Overdriven]

Bare metal does look cool, when it's straight. And it's nice to know how perfect it is and not wondering whether it's all filler making it look that straight. I wouldn't want a bare metal vehicle for very long though, no way it's going to last that way. Plus after awhile everyone, including you, is going to wonder when you're going to actually finish it by painting it. Polished aluminum and Delorean's are the only vehicles that can get away with having bare metal finishes indefinitely.

Paint can be stupid money, stupid money to do it right anyway. My father and I always did all out own bodywork including primers leaving only the final paint to the pros. Last one we did was around 10yrs ago that cost about $1k from Maaco to do a color change (door jams, underside of hood and decklod) in a single stage. We took off everything, no bezels or emblems to mask around just Windows. That was cheap, and that's what we got. Bad orange peel and so much crap in the paint (did they leave the booth door open or was someone jumping on top of it?) that our buddy who wet sands and polishes stuff for a case of beer wanted $ on top of the beer. Don't go cheap, you can do a better job yourself.

In fact if you have a capable air compressor that's what I'd recommend and what I'm going to do with my c10. The way I figure it, if it's still going to need to be wet sanded and polished after a pro paints it why not do it myself. Wet sand and polish takes care of orange peel and all but the worst runs so it can be fixed even if I mess up. After all the primers I've laid down I'm comfy in my skills but I'll watch some videos when the time comes anyway. I might be able to borrow a finishing paint gun so I may not have to buy one. The guys at the paint supply shop are super helpful so I can always pick their brains. Don't buy online, support the local guys and they'll be way more helpful than a computer screen.