thanks for all your advice jacko... i am a very patient guy and would love to give someone money to paint my car, its not me being a cheap skate... i have always wanted to paint my own car and am looking forward to doing so. I am very grateful for the positive input everyone is giving me and understand that the questions im asking here are probably very straight forward.

Jacko, you mentioned about letting it dry and leaving it a week. The problem that this may cause is that ill have to drive it back 50 miles to get it back home and dont really have anywhere i can leave it under cover, I could probably find somewhere. Is there anyway that it can all be done in one day or am i asking for a shit job if that is the case?
You said about the metallic flakes standing on end, how do I stop that and what are your flattening procedures? I mean using blocks or hand or a machine and what are the grit paper steps, do you keep it wet all the time etc etc?