So my daughter was in an accident and banged up her RF corner of her 93 240sx convertible. Not her fault, but they totaled it and we paid the salvage value and kept the car. The damage appeared to be mostly bolt-on panels, so we decide to try and DIY some or all of it. We've pulled off the bumper, fender, and headlight, and have found that the corner of the radiator support and wheelwell is bashed a bit as well.
What I have:
1) The Nissan auto body manual, showing exact alignment dimensions to get thye corner back into shape
2) An air compressor, older oilless 30 gallon Craftsman
3) HF "purple" HVLP gun
4) Various mechanics tools
5) ZERO experience at bodywork.
Parts I have:
1) Replacement front bumper assembly, same color but dinged
2) Replacement retractable headlight assembly, differrent color cover
3) RF fender, same color but horrible shape from JY (first lesson learned, never send someone else to pick up parts)
4) Another JY fender, one easy dent, completely covered in surface rust - looks like the PO installed a replacement and primered it but never topcoated, so it surface rusted.
4) Hood: RF lip was bent down, and it may have bent slightly somewhere in the middle.
Things I need to do:
a) Straighten bodywork at corner so panels will align
b) Pound out dent in fender, sand to bare metal, shoot primer, basecoat, clear.
c) Fill dings in bumper, touchup
d) Straighten hood, touchup or reshoot?
e) Shoot cover for pop up headlight.
So what I'm looking for is guidance on
- paint sources
- whether I should get spray cans of touchup or try my hand at shooting
- Video tutorials of how to do all this shit.
- And of course the expected advice to take it to a shop, etc.