Scotty, I have a 1999 Nissan Altima automatic with 144,000 miles. Do you think it's a good idea at all to get a paint job for it? And are they reliable cars? The paint is chipping on the roof and trunk lid.
Not worth it.
I would leave it as it is and consider it "Character."
Leave it as is. A really good paint job can run thousands.
I wouldn't waste the money, it'll end up costing more than the car is worth.
If you have some spare time, get a body panel from the junkyard & practice painting that yourself. When you're confident enough you can either do the entire car or individual panels, just keep in mind if you don't do the entire car the fresh panels will look a few shades off. I'd also pick up a cheap hammer & dolly from harbor freight to practice dent/crease repair, a small can of bondo wouldn't hurt either. As for sandpaper you'll need both wet & dry types along with a sanding block to maintain uniformity. As for the grit, that all depends on how nice of a job you want.
I taught myself how to paint about 25 years ago, if you pay attention to every minute imperfection like I do prep is going to drive you nuts.
Make sure you use a good primer (adhesion makes all the difference), the color layer can be whatever you like & always apply a clear coat to seal it otherwise moisture/road salt/dirt WILL soak into the underlying coats & start rusting the metal especially if you must use body filler.
Don't listen to people who say that you can't use rattle cans, that's all I use....again it depends on brand. On one job a guy only wanted his 90-something Corolla bumper painted, nothing else. The bumper came out so nice that the rest of his car looked all the more crappy & he was yelling like a child that I do the rest of his car for free. Naturally I told him to leave but the lesson there is don't just do one panel or you'll be extremely disappointed. Also on that job I used nothing but the cheap 88 cent walmart cans of paint for color/clear coats, prep & between coat sanding made it look so nice.
Primer wise I had to spend a bit more as it was a plastic bumper & needed paint meant for that material....as will you with the front/rear bumpers on your car being "soft" plastic. I'm not sure if your wheel well arches have hard plastic trim, but that will take some extra care in prep so you don't dig in to the material.
Obviously I can't teach you everything here so check out some YouTube videos on basic vehicle paint prep & application, after that start looking into the same for fiberglass, plastics & the various urethanes used.
Again, pick up some steel & give it a try. Steel street signs work well for getting your fundamentals down & not getting driven away by screwing up the peaks & valleys of contours or edges. The other upside is they're nice & thick so you can use it over & over. I'm not a fan of chemical strippers however if you get a sign where the text isn't paint but some sort of sticker you'll get some practice with that stuff. Don't forget safety glasses, rubber gloves (for strippers/solvents) & some sort of respirator unless you want achy lungs for a couple days.
