I am unsure how to proceed with painting mine. As stated, I suck at bodywork and painting. I have so much mechanical work to do that paint is far in the future. But I remember when I was still working I watched an old guy I know do the bodywork on his 1983 Malibu. Every nice day he would use his lunch hour to do a little body work, then sand, and primer. He took his time and was very good at getting it smooth. Then when he was done he took it to MACCO and told them to 'do the bodywork' then paint it a nice chocolate brown metallic. He explained that he was not as good as a real body-man and they would find his mistakes. But by doing the grunt work they could concentrate on making it perfect. They did a really fantastic job and the paint was just beautiful. He saved a TON of money by doing the time consuming stuff. The MACCO painter saw the work he had put into the car and gave him a flawless paint job. I think it was a base-coat/clear-coat. Sounds like a plan.