Painting the body shell

Finally started painting.

Technically, I'm supposed to paint it with the rear fenders attached, but I found some black seam sealer that is a perfect match--and given that I don't have a paint booth, it just seemed easier to do it this way (words I've frequently regretted--but we'll see.)

After a good cleansing it was time for masking.

Always easier than it looks -- it was a lot of work!

 I'm painting a single-stage enamel boat paint. I chose this largely because I can do it without an air-feed respirator which most of the modern automotive paints require. And being a boat paint, it has UV inhibitors in it, giving it a plus over my other options. And from what I've read, it should be a pretty close match to what the car was painted with originally.

Here's my first coat--a light "tack" coat to give the other layer something to stick to...

And here it is after the second coat. Not too bad, considering it has been about 20 years since I painted a car. 

There's a bit more "orange peel" than I liked, as you can see in this close up:

Not bad, but if I put another coat over this, it'll look worse

 So a quick wet sanding of the body shell with 1500 grit, and I was ready for the final coat:

Overall, it laid flat and looks nice. I have a couple small runs that I need to sand out--but that's the beauty of single stage--you can sand out mistakes, then polish it up like they never happened. It's hard to take a picture of black cars--you're seeing more of the reflections of the roof and my lights than of the paint.

On to the rear fenders and doors.