Is it worthwhile- and can you even get good equipment- to rent the spray equipment to paint your own car?

 

The biggest question is do you have the place, time, skills and patience for the job. You can get by with the basics as far as equipment(larger capacity air compressor, good name brand gravity feed spray guns, sanders, and all the materials needed). I pretty much researched and learned alot on my own without any school or training and if i had a problem i was never afraid to ask others for advice.

 

firehawk1988 is right. You can rent a paint booth if you want (Check your local online yellow pages for "Paint/spray booth rental" Most major metropolitan areas have this.) Buy a nice gun (Not with a plastic hopper if you are painting metallics.) And do a lot of research. Maybe run an ad in your local craigslist looking for an experienced paint/body guy to help you. (With so many people out of work, you'd be surprised how many people will help out if you throw a few hundred bucks their way.)

I have also seen quite a few nice paint jobs done in peoples yards with "Cheap" materials, that turned out really good!

 

Thanks guys. I was leaning towards doing all the bodywork and prep myself and taking it to my local 1 Day to shoot- the one here has a good reputation and is willing to work with me- but I love to do as much as I can on my car myself.