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Something that would be sweet...get a chameleon paint job done. Blue/green or red/orange, or even black/greyish...in the words of siragan...that would look hella sweet.
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$250 + per pint.
Color sample post...
http://www.feoa.net/modules.php?mop=modload&name=Forums&file=viewtopic&topic=1937&forum=20
And an in depth paint prep I did on ERDT.
Maybe you can get an experienced painter to spray the paint where ever you have prepped it. Each state has different laws on the spraying environment.
If your changing the color of your vehicle, take it apart. The insides of the doors, hood, trunklid should be first painted, reinstalled then remasked for painting of the exterior. Also behind the bumpers and the spare tirewell is visable from outside so it will have to be changed too. On an escort be sure to remove the quater window and the molding below the window and on the door to prevent chipping later on.
A mask and protective clothing should be warn when painting. Cover your hair and wear gloves such as dish washing gloves. Dust can be kept down by wetting the floor. Wipe down the air hose and keep the portion next to the car off the ground.
Once prepped, primer is really only needed over body work areas. If your changing the color the entire car needs to be one color, usually a neutral color such as gray. A sealer is used for that and it also helps keep the shine.
1. First the vehicle needs to be washed (soap and water), then use wax and grease remover over the entire vehicle including doorjams and such. If you start sanding the car with wax still on it you will most likely get a bunch of fish eyes in the final paint. Note, Do not prep or paint in a room that has silicone of any type, example: silicone based polish. It will still be in the air and on everything else in the room, you will have a non-cureable fish eye problem.
2. Mask all windows, If any grinding is done for bodywork the metal shavings can scratch the windows and if hot enough melt the sparkes or welding right onto the window. It can be removed but a white spot on the window will remain. In some cases people will set sandpaper or other objects on dusty glass also creating permenant scratches.
3. Sand the car, 320 Grit 3M sand paper on a D/A (dual action sander also called an orbital sander) for quick prep. Make sure the disk is not spinning before it is on the vehicle to prevent slight grid marks that will show through the new paint. If no bodywork is needed or as final sanding after body work is finished, wet sand with 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper on a 3M rubber squeegie. The smoother the prep work the smoother the paint. Sand from all directions to prevent imperfections in the paint such as grooving, up, down, left, right and on a 45% angle both directions. If the car is not taken apart, all area´s that cannot be properly prepped such as the seam between the bumper and fender, front door and front fender will eventually start to flake away showing the old color.
4. Remask or mask over existing to paper to prevent contaminants and other parts you don´t want to paint. This includes windows, lights, wheels/tires, inner fender walls (should be black), antenna mounts, etc.
5. Use a blower to blow all dust from any creases/grooves. Wipe down with wax and grease remover (prep-sol). Most prep-sol´s are not designed as a finishing prep before spraying. Sikkens M600 ($30 USD a gallon) is a finishing prep and usable before painting. Wipe down with an automotive tack cloth.
6. Spraying primer or sealer is the same, Spray with a 50% overlap to produce a glossy coat allowing to tack dry between each coat. A minimum of 2 coats is recommended. The type of spray gun you use also determines the finished product with primer, sealer or the final paint. The best results are produced with HVLP gravity feed. The Sata NR 95 cost somewhere between $400-$500.
7.Do not scuff the primer or sealer, if any dust has gotten in the primer or sealer and you wetsand the top coat you will sand the paint off the top of the dust and creat a primer/sealer colored spot on the car. Wetsand with no courser than 400 and no finer than 600 grit.
8. Repeat step 5.
9.If you plan on using a translucent or candy paint do not use white for a base. White or light colors will create a blotchy candy paint job. Candies are designed to go over metallic bases such as silver or gold. House of Kolor has a Kandy Base Coat that looks exactly the same as their real candies and is much easier to paint. Also spraying lightly will produce dry coats and affect the adhesion of the paint, even wet coats must be sprayed. When spraying a true candie color over base 4 to 5 coats is needed or it will prematurely fade in a year or so. No fading will accure when sprayed properly. If a run is created in any layer you must start over (sand smooth, prep, spray base, candy, clear. Candy paints require a base color, usually 2 to 3 coats, 4 to five coats of candy and if your going to wetsand and polish you really should spray 4 coats of clear. Thats 11 coats of paint minimum. If you chip or scratch it, good luck matching when you repaint 11 coats on just one piece. There is also a trick to spraying metallics to prevent dark streaks in the metallic. Dark colors are hardest to take care of and easiest to see imperfections, light/bright colors are very easy to take care of and hides imperfections well.
Dupont paint (base) has a 24hr window before clear must be sprayed making it best for graphics.
House of Kolor paints stand out the most and have great custom colors with a window of one hour. Seems to outshine everything. Depending on temp and humidity, House of Kolor clear or kandie must be recoated in approximately no longer than 25 minutes. If it dries to much before recoating it will begin to look like alligator skin. (dry, start over)
PPG dries hard like the old lacquer and get brittle resulting in easier chips.
all basecoat, clearcoat paints must be sprayed wet on wet. If you have graphics, use 4 coats of clear, wetsand with 400grit repeat step 5 and re-clearcoat for a super smooth finish.
10. Wetsand with 1000grit 3M sandpaper (other sandpaper is rated differently) using the 3M rubber squeegie as a backer, this will sand only the tops off the orange peal texture of the paint until all the texture is gone once again sanding from all angles. Two types of polish and two wool pads are needed using a variable speed polisher at its lowest setting. First polish with a courser compound with one pad. Change pads and polish with a finishing compound such as the 3M Finesse-it II finishing compound. Dont skimp on polish, if it dries up you can burn the paint. (then repaint)
With all that said I recommend having it professionally done. If your looking to get out of it cheap by doing it yourself you´ll most likely have the same amount into it after getting the right equipment. Hutchins D/A sander $240, Makita polisher $250, Sata NR 95 Gravity feed spray gun $400, Clearcoat $250 a gallon (approx.) Base coat, primer, sealer, sand paper (d/a paper, 400 wet/dry, 1000 wet/dry and other courser bodywork sandpaper), bondo, prep-sol. aircompressor. Not including any special equipment for bodywork.
Just remember "You get what you pay for".
Most everything is listed above. There are always forgotten things.
If you have any further questions please contact me.
