Good question.
12-weeks in a body shop would seem like a long time. However one guy working when ever he could squeeze the time in, with not ideal conditions is breakneck speed, especially if your trying to make it look like a pro did it.
Once you've summoned up the courage to do it, I'd spend almost every free moment that I had energy, working on it. Dozens and dozens of pain staking hours.
Imagine:
-------------------------------------------------------------
Disassembling all the removable body parts.
Sanding by hand 2 to 3 times the entire body. No machines on the composite parts.
Fix any defects in the panels.
Build a makeshift spray booth.
Prime every part 1 to 2 times.
Sand the primer without going through.
Spray the base colors.
Mask, mask and when your through, mask some more.
Spray the clear.
If something goes wrong (and it always does) bugs,a hair or dirt lands in the wet clear, it's start all over again sanding and painting.
Color sand the clear 3-times with 1500/2000/2500 grit paper wet until there is no orange peel.
Buff and polish as many as a dozen times to get a perfect finish.
Then there are the accessories, wheel centers and small pieces.
Lastly, finally something enjoyable, reassembly and trying not to damage something you've toiled over.:smile:
Then something you've never done. Clear bra all the areas susceptible to flying rocks.
I think 6-months to a year or more would be the norm for a do-it yourselfer. Designing, building the parts from scratch and painting the first time took just about a year in '05.
But that's another story!
Jack
