I once painted a Chevelle (a lot o' years ago). I read all the books, removed chrome and trim, sanded and primed (primer looked real good). Prepared the surface for the final coat and shot the color. I used a compressor that was too small and could not keep up with the paint as it flashed.

It looked real bad.. I was very disappointed and at the time several hundred dollars poorer! In the end, I swallowed my pride and took the car to a shop where the guy immediately sized the situation and took care of my mess. I put the chrome back on and the car looked great. If I hadn't received orders to go overseas, got married and had four kids, I'd probably still have that car!

With the new HVLP guns (a good one is a Binks HVLP — Model SV100, about $150 from several on-line sources) , the minimum compressor size needs to produce 10cfm at +/- 40psi. More is better. The Binks gun needs 10-14cfm at 25-27psi. You have to have a compressor that keeps up with the gun or you will experience what happened to me - the paint will flash and as you lay on additional material it will be rough. The compressor needs to be a constant duty - 220 volt is certainly better than 110 if your shop is equipped with such.

The air needs to be very well filtered as well to keep contaminates from entering the gun (clogs up the works) or worse, splotching out with the material on the finish.

A spotless, well vented enclosure with gobs of finely filtered fresh air is a must. You can fabricate a "poor mans paint booth" using 1 x 2 wood framing and clear plastic with box fans and furnace filters. However, you need more than a respirator, you need lots of fresh air too because we do not want to read your obituary!

If you want to give it a go, look at this web site - http://www.paintforcars.com They have a great selection of material for substantially less money as well as a help section and a lot of customer testimonials. They have a wide selection of acrylic enamels, lacquers, and urethane clear coat finishes.

Good luck my friend!