Alright. My hatch was repainted in the past I. I would say about 8 years ago someone sprayed over the OEM paint. Anyways, its cracking and looks like ***. I experiemented and put paint stripper on it and was able to "save" the passenger side rear quarter panel. Its not 100%, but looks a lot nicer. For some reason the paint stripper didn't seem to effect the OEM paint unless left on very long time... it would just remove the crappy repaint. Once I got this off, the OEM paint doesn't appear to have any cracks or damage otherwise. I would like to repaint the car at this point. I like a GOOD quality paint job, not some cheap crap. I want my paint to last and look very good at the same time. I know a little about body work and am pretty good with a spray can, but I have never shot anything with an actual gun. I have access to an older HVLP system I could use and some panels to practice on. Now I am at the point where I need to decide on BC/CC or a single stage system. Seems single stage isn't nearly as crappy as some people make it out to be, but also that BC/CC wins hands down for durability. I would prefer something easier to shoot as it will be my first paint job, I will be learning as I go. I am somewhat picky and again want something that will look NICE when done. What are your opinions? BC/CC? or single stage? Roughly how much would I be looking at in cost for EVERYTHING to paint this car minus the gun and sandpaper? The front of the car (fenders, hood, front bumper) is off a 99 Si. Its in fair condition, so I would like to shoot the car Flamenco Black Pearl to match the front end. The rest of the car is currently 1996 Civic Black, I think its "grenada black pearl"... not sure.

 

My best suggestion is take it to an actual shop. It can get quite expensive to start spraying for just practice. Even though you have access to an older gun, it might not have the right jets or anything for you to shoot. The key to the body work is prep work, so to save some money Id do alot of the prep yourself, then take it to someone to just do the spray.

 

I'm thinking at this point to change the color to white like I originally wanted. Was thinking about shooting the jambs and the engine bay here at my house, then shooting the rest of the car at my dads where I can use his HVLP setup. He has shot urethane single stage before using his gun on my brothers 69 Mach 1. It turned out looking very nice and the paint still looks nice to this day approx 10 years later.