My preference is Sems Rust Seal because it does not have to be covered. Rust Mort is fine in places you plan to seal, but for any surface that will remain exposed, Rust Seal is the deal! I have places that have remained rust free for 30yrs with just Rust Seal.
Especially on dark colored cars, body work is critical and where you must spend the time. You could put the paint on with a splatter gun and, given enough paint, you could wet sand and cut/buff it to a mirror IF the body work is good. A wobbly mess if it's not! I went through this 30yrs ago... Knowing nothing, going to the auto body supply house and asking questions (go find a friendlier place if they're snobby), meeting the guy who would teach me how to do body work and who painted my car the first time, etc.
My best advice from one amature to another: Realize this is going to take time; know it's worth it. You will develop a feel for the work, and you will get better and better at feeling high and low spots. Use your palm, your finger tips are too sensitive. Check final fills with a light guide coat of black spray can primer and sand... Any lows will show up. You often have to work a large area to take care of a small spot. Use the Evercoat body filler that was suggested... Best I've ever used, will save you tons of sand paper and frustration. You can cut through a lot of BS using an orbital sander, but only for the rough in... Everything else is probably best done by hand with a sanding board. If you can, try to match your panels to each other... Door to front fender, door to rear, so that when painted you don't get a huge change in where the reflection hits as you walk past the car... You will learn how to "head bob" as you look the reflections over (this kind of stuff is not as noticeable on a light colored car by the way! And that's why dark colors are harder). You won't be perfect! Wiping the car with the liquid grease and wax remover (prep sol as i recall) will shine the primer up and allow you to see reflections a lot better so you can check your body work and your reflections panel to panel. Don't ignore the lower rocker panels as they can reflect a lot (I didn't do as good a job here as I should have, that's why I know).
Whether you do a single stage or a base coat clear coat paint system, be sure that you don't go light on the paint... Plan to wet sand and cut/buff the paint, so have enough on there. I prefer a two stage paint, as it is easy to put on a few extra coats of clear. You can fix a lot of terrible paint applications with wet sanding. I did a black car for my friend Tom several years back, single stage (Centari paint). I spent a lot of time getting that car straight. He got a little too eager one night and he shot it himself. When it was dry, it looked like someone had applied the paint with a drywall gun. Doh! It was a lot of work, but I was able to cut and buff that puppy to a fine mirror finish... It was beautiful (Pebbles on this list saw it when it was up for sale several years back. I also did Damn it Bill's black '70, and his wife's '69 car that's metallic blue and its an Earl Scheib paint job!). You will need several stages of sand paper, like 1000, 1500, 2000 grit, a variable speed buffer, some buffing wheels (I like foam, one designed to cut, the other to fine cut, one more for swirl removal) plus 2-3stages of buffing compounds, swirl remover and my favorite wax Eagle One Nanowax. Watch your sharp edges when you sand, and when using the buffer. Avoid using the edge of the buffing wheel, keep it flat. You'll develop a light hand.
If you don't want to shoot it yourself, go talk to a shop like Maaco and the like and see what they would charge to shoot it with a couple extra coats of clear. Be really really nice to the guys, and they will probably take a little extra time for your little gem! These guys shoot paint all day long and usually know their product pretty well. I had a $400 Earl Scheib paint job on my car for years that looked like a $4000 dollar job after I cut and buffed it.
This will be a fun project! You won't get it perfect (even after a dozen cars!) but that's ok... If you're gonna drive it it's gonna get some chips etc, so who cares! But there are a few things that I mentioned that will help you end up with a great result that you will enjoy for years to come. Have fun!
