New Paintjob.....Sanding, Stripper, Body work....need advice getting fustrated
 

I bought an '89 GT about 3 months ago the car's exterior needed some work the clearcoat was peeling big time. The body was in good condition with onl 90000 original miles it has a small dipple from where i had to pull a small dent out of the passenger rear quater. was wondering if i should fill it with body filler to cover it up just kinda weary since I have seen first hand how body filler can screw a paint job my friend got his rx-7 painted a year and had to do body work all over the car and now the pain is starting to crack. I want to do it right the first time i have self etching primer which says it fills in minor scrathes and such just need to know if thats good enough. I have one more concern the car was originally black/w silver ground effects and a red stripe I finally got the stripe off with stripper the other day but I had a friend that told me i need to buy an activator or something to make it stick to the urethane bumpers/ground effects. I have had others say just wet sand and shoot it just looking for some clarity on it. I know i sound like a jackass but never trie painting my own car so alittle advice on the first try would be nice..
BTW the paint i'm using is an acrylic enamel along with an enamel clearcoat.

any tips would be most helpful. Vic


I'll post pictures of both my cars the '96 & the '89 when i bought and the state its in now......

Anything done down to bare metal will need an epoxy sealer applied, otherwise a good sanding and shoot. Any plastic or rubber you paint needs a flexible additive and an adhesion promotor or it will eventually crack.