In a message dated 99-03-30 11:47:19 EST, you write:

<<
 But for little jobs, beware: it can get messy.  Have you a wind-free place to
paint?  If not, overspray can dull other car parts; masking the whole vehicle
to paint a small fender patch isn't unheard of.  Are you prepared to use
proper acrylic enamel paint?  That means mixing, hardeners, other additives;
again, messy.  Has the rest of the vehicle's paint job oxidized, even a
little?  If so, you can make a 'perfect' match to its paint, and the freshly
painted patches will stand out like a sore thumb.

  >>
I've painted cars in my drive way with pretty good results, not recommended if
your neighbors drive is only a few feet away. Notice I also said "pretty good
results", sure, not perfect, but then I'm not going for first place in a car
show either.  I've never heard of taping a whole car to touch up a small spot.
I've taped the immediate area and used cardboard boxes to catch overspray, and
its worked fine. As for mixing, hardeners are nice, but not absolutely needed.
I did'nt use a hardener when I painted my Westy a year and 1/2 ago, mainly
because of the precautions on the can ( outside air source respirator). Mix
the paint outside, over old newspaper, it aint that messy unless you happen to
miss the can completely and dump it on the ground, in which case you've got no
business mixing paint anyway.  As for matching the color, again, it's a matter
of what you're after, stopping the rust (or at least slowing it down) and
making the vehicle look better, or  a trophy winning trailer queen? I was
quoted 7K by a professional auto body shop to do mine, and for about $7 to
800.00 I turned it into a respectable looking vehicle doing the work myself.
And, that to me is what these lists are all about, doing the work yourself.
Jeff S.