Hey there. I have never done any auto painting before and thought it would be fun to take off my hood and see what kind of pro job I could do to it.

Any expert painters out there who could offer some tips or a basic checklist of steps and/or tools needed would be great. Thanks

I do paint & body for a living. I can help. Paint & body is a complex process, and have too many variables to address in one post. Everything depends on the results you want.

I'd plan to strip the hood completely (paint stripper, or sandpaper- don't over heat it and warp it). Etch prime or epoxy prime. Then high build, sandable primer. Then paint. Base color & clear will give the best results, but single stage is ok too. I wouldn't do a metallic color in single stage, though.

You are going to need a DA sander 6", probably. A variety of blocks, if there is body work to be done. Decent paint gun. There are sets for under $100 that will produce decent results. Again, it all depends on the condition of the hood & your expected results.

Keep posting up as you go, and I'll try to help as much as possible.

Thanks so much for the tips. I'm not expecting the kind of results I'd ever get from a private but if what I can pull off with the hood is satisfactory considering I have hardly any budget, then maybe I can move on. Someday I want to drop $12K on a pro paint job. Thanks for being available!

I have painted a few cars in my garage with varied results. I used to buy materials at Heckindorfs off of Santa Fe and Hampden, but found a place - Auto & Industrial Coatings at 323 Airport Blvd #110, Aurora, CO 80011 (303) 856-7651. The owner here is fantastic, he helps with which chemicals pair together and he sells materials at a good price. he also sells paint is any quantity, so you're not stuck with a pint or quart left over. The advice from Gunnibronco is spot on; remember cleanliness is key. I use some dawn dish soap in the water when I wetsand, that seems to help with my poor working conditions in the garage. Practice, practice before you spray color, don't think color sprays the same as primer and I would suggest to spend the money on a primer gun with at least a 1.7 tip (some like 2.0 or more). The flash time is dependent upon air temp, take your time.

1) Once you have a flat surface (body work etc.) sand to 320/400 before primer.
2) Spray etch or epoxy primer
3) Sand to 600/800
4) Respray if you sand through or spray a sealer coat
5) I re-sand, but people say you don't have to
6) Spray base coat/color (2 coats)
7) Spray clear (4+ coats) Expect orange peel and the extra clear allows you to color sand it
8) Sand clear with 1500/2000
9) Polish with polisher and correct foam pad. Take your time here.
10) Polish again with swirl remover

In the pic of the windshield, I used a house of Kolor red sealer coat to get a deeper red color (the base/primer color does change the resulting color).

You'll see my setup in a pic below, I used 3/4 conduit with foam pads covered in duct tape.
I just finished this 69 a couple of weeks ago and am still putting it together. I even tried to add ghost flames in between one of the top coats, I'll leave you to judge the quality. I used a two-part metallic paint on this project and added the white pearl flames between the two top coats. I'm also available to help if you want guidance for a do it yourself garage job. There are tons of little tricks like air treatment before it gets to your gun, toilet paper filters, water containment and oil from your compressor etc.

Awesome. More great stuff. Nice job, by the way