Do the bodywork, sand off the rust, etc.

If you have Bondo on your car, it is a good idea to paint or primer over the Bondo before you go trying to paint your whole car. This is because the Bondo will suck up the first 2 or 3 coats of paint you roll on. When I painted my car, I would primer over the Bondo using various types of rattle-can primer, then quickly feather it in with the surrounding paint (using 400 grit wetsanding) and I was ready to roll over the panel. If I were to do it again, I would rattle can primer the area, then use a rattle can paint like Rustoleum to color the area a similar color to the paint I planned to use. I used an off-white color for my final paint, so I should have used a white colored enamel as a substrate for the final rolled paint. The reason for this suggestion is that (for a color like off-white, anyway), dark colors such as primer, or a rust colored factory undercoating, take longer to color over. Preparing the substrate with color similar to your final color will result in fewer coats of final color being needed to achieve 100% color coverage.

Use blue painters tape to cover things you don't want painted, such as weatherstripping. The good blue painters tape is pretty easy to take off, even weeks later.

Make sure before you paint, you go over the car with mineral spirits to remove any dirt, grime, oil, etc. It couldn't hurt to use a tack cloth after that step.

The surface should be dry before painting (i.e., wipe off all the mineral spirits you used to clean, and give it a chance to dry).

Try to be inside a garage when painting; the paint does not dry fast and the fewer things that fall into it, the better.

If after applying paint, you see an area that needs to be Bondod-- I have used Bondo right over Rustoleum, without sanding down to bare metal. Once you've done the bodywork and Bondod it, just go over the whole area with some 320 or 400 grit paper to get it smooth and feather it in, put some primer or spray-paint the same color (or close) to what you're using; feather that in with some 400 grit, then pick up the roller and continue with the paint job.

I did not keep good notes on the ratio of mineral spirits to paint that I used; but a good rule of thumb is to mix the paint to about a 1% milk type consistency.

I would prepare the mixture in a large mason jar; that way I wouldn't have to stop during the paint job to mix up more paint. Just mix more than you'll need in the mason jar, keep the cap on tight and you'll have it ready when you need it.

Do not shake the paint to mix it; stir it. Shaking it will result in many bubbles, which are bad.

Again, this is what worked for me, but I have read about variations.

Get your roller good and full of paint in the reservoir of your roller tray.

Push (hard) most of the paint out by rolling it 8-10 times over the bumps on the roller tray.

When rolling a door (for example), roll side to side, in approximately 12-18" sections. With (in my opinion) the right amount of paint in the roller, you would have to press firmly on the roller while you're painting the car. The first 1-2 rolls over an area would be moderate speed and firm, followed by some lighter rolls to even things out.

I would roll side to side in 5-6" strips (the roller is 4"); so when painting a door, I would do those sized horizontal strips, going from top to bottom until the door was covered.

If you get bubbles, you can either blow on them, or roll over the area LIGHTLY with the roller (do not add any paint to the roller before doing this). This can help do away with bubbles and runs. Also, the practice of lightly rolling over an area (with no extra paint) a few minutes after the first time you paint it, will help even things out and blend in one "strip" (the 5-6" horizontal strips) with the next.

Keep in mind to apply LIGHT COATS -- light in terms of not a lot of paint per coat -- of a fairly light mixture (referring to the thickness of the paint mixture). If you try to put on too much of a thin paint, it will run; if you put on too thick a coat, you will have orange peel and/or runs. Orange peel can be sanded out -- it wont be there if the mixture is thin enough, but a thin mixture will require more coats. When I was using Rustoleum, I put on thin coats of thin mixture and had very little if any orange peel, but it took 8-10 coats to color. When I switched to Brightside, I put on thin coats of a thicker mixture, and I had orange peel, but it covered in 4-5 coats.

First coats tend to be splotchy/orange peely and otherwise bad looking. I would end up lightly wetsanding them with some 600 grit paper, to get them smooth, then the 2nd and 3rd coat (with about a day in between), then wetsand.

For door jambs, engine bays, etc., it is easier to use spray cans or spray the paint on if you have a compressor. I used a compressor and gun to paint my door jambs, and used a refillable rechargable spray can from Harbor Frieght to paint my engine bay. Using one of those refillable cans allows you to get the exact same color since you're using the exact same paint you're rolling with (although it doesn't need to be thinned quite as much). The Harbor Freight refillable can did not last very long, but it paid for itself the few times I was able to use it.

A common question is whether this paint can be put on plastic or fiberglass which may flex. The answer is YES.

Some people have wetsanded the same day as painting (after 10-12 hours); I waited at least a day before any wetsanding. Dry time will depend on temperature, humidity etc.

Wetsanding helps you get out the orange peel (if any) and also removes debris such as dog hairs and dust specs.

You can get by wetsanding every 2 coats, but if you happen to have lots of orange peel, another coat of paint on top of it is going to make life more difficult. If you have orange peel, consider sanding it smooth, then on your next coat use a thin application of a thin mixture to avoid orange peel. If you are putting orange peel free coats on, you can wetsand the debris out every 2 coats until it's done.

I preferred to use rougher grits (400 or 600) on the first few coats, and finer grits on the last few coats (1000 or 1500).

Have a spray bottle with water in it, a water container, your foam sanding block wrapped in paper, and go to work! Start by spraying the surface with water, and then dipping your sanding block/paper in water then start sanding it side to side. Use a rag to wipe off the surface. You can use water or mineral spirits on a rag to make it shine -- look at it from the side and you will be able to verify that the surface is uniformly smooth, orange peel is at acceptable levels or non-existant, and the surface is ready for the next coat.

Make sure you wipe down the area with a rag and water (to get wetsanding residue off), and before you paint it, clean it again with mineral spirits (as you do before each coat).

I have not gotten to this step yet in any detail (as I work on the rest of my car), but I am really impressed with the work that Aussie Driver (Moparts handle) has done on his Miata. He recommends using Poorboy's SSR2.5 (swirl and scratch remover) and a cutting pad; though others have achieved good results with other brands of polishing compounds.

An orbital polisher such as a Porter Cable 7424 is a well recommended tool.

You may not need to do any final wetsand/polish if you are satisfied with the smoothness of the surface, and the amount of debris that have landed in the paint.

A third option is to to spot wetsanding/polishing on the final coat. If you find an annoying dirt speck or dog hair, wetsand it out with some 1500 grit paper, and polish that area back to a shine.