Well Burn, depending on the shape of your vehicle now, any scratches will need to be feathered out
with sand paper, D-A with 150 to 220 grit depending on depth, any dents or dings will have to
be filled and sanded level (use a sanding block) with the sheet metal this will require a courser paper along the lines of 50 to 80 gritt, you have a couple of choices on filler, body filler which is for deeper imperfectionsor spot puty or glazing putty for minor imperfections, both of these you can start with 80 grit and then finish with 180. Once you have all the body work done sand the entire panel with 320 grit
paper to prep for primer, if your going to refinish the entire vehicle. If your just doing spot work
keep the repair areas as small as possible and feather out any 180 sand scratches with 320 about
4-6" beyond the 180 scratches. then mask and prime, (put on 3-4 coats alowing for flash time between
coats usually 15 minutes) just those repair areas with a catylized fill primer and don't forget to
treat bare metal areas with a corrosion primer. Once your primer dries break out the 500 wet and
dry sand paper and a good sanding block, don't forget to guide coat your primer spots so as you
sand you will find any low spots that may require additional work. Once the primer is sanded with
wet and dry paper you will need to finish sanding the panel with a grey Scotch Brite and some scuffing
compound use water with this also, once your done taking the shine off the rest of panel wash the vehicle with soap and water let dry well and then blow out nooks and crannys. Mask areas you don't want
painted with 18" paper (good quality masking paper)cover the rest of vehicle with plastic, wipe areas to be painted with wax and grease remover (wipe on wet and wipe dry quickly we don't want any fish eyes)
Now for the fun part mix paint and spray (follow paint manufacturers mixing instuctions) probably 3 coats don't forget flash times, once you have paint on and blended out time for 2 coats of clear. When you are done and vehicle has set for 24 hour you can polish out any runs, dirt ect. Oh always wash vehicle with soap and water before starting any repair!! Thats the basics of repair useing base coat clear coat.
Single stage paint is about the same except that you would paint entire panel and paint probably won't
match adjacent panels.
Look for an automotive refinish store. They should be able to help with any questions you might have.
Some paint names are Standox,Sikens,DuPont,PPG,Martin Senior,Glasruit,Spies Hecker,Auto Color.
these are all the high end manufacturers. Some less expensive are Omni and Western however
these two don't have all OEM colors available. For that custom finish there is House Of Color.
Hope this will help you. Have fun!!!