I am new to body work. I'm not really itimidated by it cause my 68 chevelle is really straight and virtually free of rust. With the exception of the clogged water valve in the fenders(typical) and a door crinkle it's straight with fairly good lines. My question is. I am looking for an everyday driver. The paint is the original gawdy ivy gold. With the exception of some stone chips, it's not bad. I am looking to paing it black with silver or color changing ghost flames. My thing is I don't have access to a paint booth to strip it and primer it. In fact I don't even have a garage to work in to make one. There have been some spots that I have had to sand down to the metal to get rid of the paint chips. Am I better off to spot prime and leave origianl paint as much as I can for a base. I know the primer is one of the key things to get a good paint job so I don't want to screw it up I want to do this once and I want to do it right. I don't have a media blast shop close by. And freighting this puppy can be rather costly. I can put it in the body shop, but being only two in town, they take forever not to mention the work they do is poor. I've seen their work and earl scheibs would have painted cadillacs next to these guys. With the phrase " we will paint every bug and bird dropping on your car for 99.95." need I say more This is my first project at 25. It's came a long way, but longer way to go. I don't want to give it the krylon touch, but is there a good primer that someone could reccommend for what I am doing. Or am I going about this all wrong????

68 2dr chevelle coupe
350 headers and flowmaster
350 turbo with shift kit

I most cases 30 + year old lacquer does NOT make a good base for todays finishes. Even if it has been repainted, the products of today are far superior. However for a daily driver, that you just want to have all the same color, it may be worth a gamble to paint over top of what you have if there is no sign of paint failure. What are you planning to do about color in jambs? There have been many posts about this question. also look up MARTINSR'S posts, Basics of Basics. Good Luck, Karl

Thanks for the help more ambition. That helps a lot. Should I take everything off first i.e fenders hood and trunk, strip them, then primer or should I leave it all on the car. On the jambs I was going to use a chemical stripper. Only problem I have found with that is that it eats Bondo too. I know this from stripping my 70 chevelle that I had. I'm not sure how much but was pretty sure that it had more money invested in the bondo than the car was worth. I scrapped it after I found that someone braized in the quarter panel about halfway down the roof and applied about 3 inches thick of bondo to cover up, instead of melting down the lead and taking out the weld and doing it right Was a tweaker project gone bad, oh well. what do you expect for 200 bucks right.hah

If this car drives be VERY careful when you choose to start this project and on what part. From your post it sounds like you are a little short on equipment and a facility to perform what you intend to do. Without a garage, compressor, and some spray and sanding equipment, I have this vision of your ride being a pile of parts,(basket case) sitting in the yard. I have said this many times before and will repeat: I own a body shop, I took my 66 ElCamino in shop to "paint" eight years ago. It is STILL not done! Full frame off, new floors, roof, many repairs to correct old sins. Driveline is done, frame is done, most body and paint prep is done, the more I work on it the fussier I get. There are many challenges to completing a car, $$$, time, etc. You may want to consider doing all the mechanical stuff to insure it is safe, reliable and fun to drive, defer cosmetics until you have more rescources available to do it with the proper equipment. Aerosol products have their place, however in most cases they are not intended for overall use. Review posts on paint prep and products. I have even toyed with the idea of buying another velle just to have one to drive until mine is done. You may have fewer distractions and responsibilities in your life than I have, and my experience on my Elcamino may not hold true for you. Wish you the best, enjoy your car. Karl

Thanks again. I am working on the engine now. I am getting ready to start on the front end and do a brake conversion. I know that I don't want to do a frame off cause I did that with the 70...and like you said basket case. Not unitl I have a shop to work on it in will I attempt that again. I do have a compressor and stuff with some some air tools but lacking a long board and wished I had a mig but you know how it is.I think I am just going to spot prime the bare metal and leave to body work for last.