Pull the hood off to paint. You'll be more comfortable shooting it on a set of saw bucks and save a few bucks worth of masking tape. Hit up finish masters for a pint of nason single stage/reducer. They can use your code to get the mix right. Can't learn if you don't try. Did you get the surface rust sanded off before you primed it? Also pick up a quart of wax/grease remover spray it all down and blow it dry before you start your painting. You'll get a better price if the hood is off if you decide to take it to maaco.
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If you paint the hood vertical, you will get less trash in it from painting in not so clean environment. Also helps to keep the spraying even and not bump the gun or hose into the surface.
I strongly recommend to spray a base coat and then clear. With single stage you can't cut and buff very much and when the surface oxidizes you will lose color.
Spray the base almost as several semi heavy dust coats just to get the color even.
If you have any runs, stop, sand them out and touch up.
It won't be shiny, it should be dull but even. Don't try to lay a wet base coat. There will be no advantage.
Then give it flash time to for the reducer to evaporate.
Then spray your clear. You will have to open the orfice some more from spraying the base as the molecules in the clear are much larger. Use mfr air psi.
Start with dusting and tack coats. Check for tackiness by touching inconspicuous area. It should feel sticky, when it follows your finger like tiny spider webs as you remove finger from lightly touching, it's ready for another coat.
* if your dust coats don't feel sticky and no webs develop with finger, could either be a wet coat that hasn't flashed long enough to tack up, or a dry dust coat that doesn't have enough liquid on surface to develop the webs.
If it's dust coat, I usually wait 5 mins then go with next coat.
Keep applying several thin coats make each one a bit wetter than the previous.
Your final coat you want somewhat wet, but not nearly as wet as spray painting, as the clear will flow out some more on the surface.
Keep your gun 8-10" away from surface.
If you have any runs on last coat, it's not end of the world, as there is enough thickness to cut and buff them out.
You will be much happier with a base clear than a single stage and the prep is the same.
After all it's the hood, that's what u look out and see while driving. If you are spending the time to prep correctly for single stage, the increase in time to spray base clear is negligible.
If you see flaws in the base, fix that before you apply the clear.
If you have big runs, let them cure in the sun for a couple days, then you can shave them off with a razor blade and buff the area.
You don't have to get a super wet finish, just think of it as adding thickness that you can then buff out later.
The bigger mistake is hanging a big curtain on the final coat and having to , shave cut and buff out a big run.
The last note. Have some cardboard around to set up your gun for the base, and then for the clear. You'll want to adjust the needle opening and air psi, bc they will be different for both.
You want as little air psi as possible while getting full atomization. If you see big droplets, not adequate atomization.
If the surface is textured, you are either too close to surface when spraying, or too much air psi.
