How to get rid of rust, bubbling, failing clear coat, and more?

[AliMusa]

I just got a 2000 BMW in rough condition that I want to restore. As you can see in this album, it's got issues with rust, bubblng, failing clear coat, fogged up headlights, etc (http://imgur.com/a/VbNXN). I want to get rid of the terrible gold color and find a cost effective way to DIY paint it. Haven't looked far into it at all yet, just thought of the idea and now I'm posting here.


I want to fix the rusting issue as well as the bubbling issue, the failing clear coat, want to get rid of the failing tint, and clear up the headlights. How can I accomplish all of this on my own? Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[EngineerNate]

So, some thoughts.

Steam is your friend when you're removing tint. You'll probably have to use some sort of goo-gone to get rid of all the gunk though. be careful removing the tint from the back window not to damage the defroster traces.

That hood looks beat. The chrome on the grills is never coming back. I might consider trying to find a hood from a junkyard in better shape. My reasoning for this is that it looks like there is significant amounts of rust around the grill openings. Even if you remove the chrome/plastic grill pieces, it's going to be a very large job to get all of the remaining rust off of that hood. Rust under paint is a recipe for continual problems over the life of the car. It's difficult to tell from the pictures, but it may have some denting where the big rusted spots are. Since this is a part that can literally be unbolted and replaced, starting fresh isn't a bad idea.

The rusting on the rear corner is pretty common on this era of BMW. Only way to fix it is to completely remove the paint in that area, chase out all of the rust, repair any metal that has been compromised, and repaint.

Failing clear coat needs to be removed and replaced. It's probably easier just to sand or strip all the paint and lay down a new basecoat+clear than to try to both remove enough clear to eliminate the failed spots and oxidation and successfully recoat and blend in with the old paint job. Realistically, if there's any widespread clear failure you're looking at a complete respray for that panel.

[AliMusa]

Your news isn't as bad as I thought it'd be, so that's sort of good. Didn't expect or even think to just get a replacement hood, but this is a good idea, so thank you for that. Any idea how much I can expect this to cost?

I honestly planned to repaint the entire car and expected to have to sand it, so the failing clear coat and the rusting on the body isn't a big deal if I have to remove the paint and fix the rust. It's what I expected. However, I have no clue where to begin and how to correctly do this. How do I safely remove the paint, chase the rust, repair the metal and properly repaint myself? This is all new to me so I'm unsure what sort of sanding is required, what grit, and all the other supplies that will be required for this job. Is there a tutorial anywhere that would be great to follow? Any help or direction will truly be greatly appreciated.