Hi Damo,
$1500 and painted in one afternoon.
This means zero prep, just painting it. You will be amazed how many defects will suddenly show up once the car is a consistant colour.
Most of the $ go into the prep.
Whatever you do make sure you bake the car in an oven before painting it. Otherwise bubbles may rise to the surface on the first sunny day. Then you car will look like swiss cheese...and thats no gouda.......see what I did there
If you are doing the prep yourself and dont want to spend the money on an oven then at least leave it outside on a hot sunny day and maybe put some plastic over it to keep the heat in.
My cobra is currently getting painted. The painter is doing an excellent job on the prep. Its a lot of work and he has had to bake the car more than once.