Step 1: Acquire the paint and tools necessary - I'll be making additions to this list, but this appears to be the basics:
(keep in mind it's been a few years since I've painted a car, and even then, it was a single stage, non-metallic paint)

Unfortunately I am doing this on a semi-budget, so I am using Duponts somewhat cheaper line of paint called Nason. From everything I've read, it's extremely close in color and quality to OE or Duponts Chroma paint, just a whole lot cheaper. This is the brand I've used on a single stage paint job before and had extremely good luck with it.

I bought all this stuff wholesale through Carquest yesterday:
NAS IFE-4 FUL THANE BC/CC MIX (quart) 2 @ 51.98
NAS 496-00-4 CLEAR COAT (quart) 2 @ 25.91
NAS 483-79-6 SELECT PRIME ACTIVATOR 2 @ 11.99
NAS 441-21-4 FUL BASE REDUCER 2 @ 7.92
NAS 421-23-4 NASON GRAY PRIMER (gallon) 2 @ 12.60
NAS 481-16-01 NASON SELECT THINNER (gallon) 1 @ 13.29

I am told this is more than enough to paint a mid-sized 4 door car, so I should have plenty, considering the SC's are really a quite small car, and especially considering the hood is staying CF...

Other stuff needed that I will be purchasing before the end of the week:

air/water separator
compressor
buffer
sanding boards
charcoal mask
body filler
fiberglass backing
3M masking tape and paper
3M (or auto use) sand paper 40-400 grits, assorted

thinner for cleaning (cheapest **** available)

Here's some pics of the paint:

 

Nice! Your car is going to look awesome when it's finished

 

suscribed .......cant wait to see the end results

 

very nice color i was thinking of it before painting mine, i still have few weeks before paint. Do you have a Catalog handy on toyta colors? I decided on aburn sky pearl the 2001 IS color but i'm not 100% sure on the paint code, i came up with 3n3

 

That is some CHEAP clear. Last car I painted my clear kit cost $230.

 

woooo thats gonna lose nice!

 

Even Duponts Chroma Clear (supposedly one of the best paints on the market now) was only like $40 a quart... you should realistically only need 2-3 quarts of clear... Keep in mind, these are wholesale prices, and in some, many cases, significantly cheaper than what body shops and such charge...

 

my paint code book is at home, I'll try to remember to look it up tonight...

 

3N3 is Red Mica, and I looked up auburn sky pearl in the 2001 PPG Paint book and no such color. It may have come off another year, since they always tend to make new colors each year.

By the way goodluck on your project mitsuguy. Looking forward to the end result.

 

http://my.is/forums/f52/2001-2005-is...s-list-228212/

 

can't wait to see the outcome!

 

I'm sorry to tell you, but all toyota colors start with a number not a letter. ASP is just his way of abbreviating the color. Now if you'd like to research this some more and find the right code pm me and I'll be glad to help. Sorry for thread jacking.

 

this is the factory color can anyone help me out?

 

I love the color you chose and I think it's going to look great on the SC!

 

Should look great! keep us updated