Paintjob time - any advice?, Getting a Maaco job Options

[GriffGirl]

Okay, so here's the deal– my hood is badly faded and the bumper has mad rock chips. Someone opened up a Maaco not too far from me and is having a special on their "Supreme" Paint Service, so I'm going to take advantage of it and have my car painted. I'm keeping it silver, but am changing the silver from Alpine Silver (Maaco calls it Silver Metallic) to a silver that's a tad darker and has more metallic flake in it. I can't remember the name of the color.

I know there are things to be aware of, such as removing whatever I want removed and not taped off, etc. I figure a moderately sh1tty paint job will look better than the way my paint looks now. The guy @ Maaco warned me that with a single-stage paint, there's a greater chance of flaws. When I asked "like what" he said there could be some orange peel, even some dirt. DIRT!? WTF? I'm not expecting a $2k paint job for what I'm paying here, but dirt!?

Lastly, I have a crack in my bumper. Maaco wants $180 to repair it. If I had the $180 to repair it I'd just replace the whole bumper. (anyone in the PNW have a bumper for me! ) So I'll repair it myself. I know it won't be top notch, but I can do the best I can with whatever guidance you 6GCers might have to offer me! Current photo of the crack can be taken/posted if that would help.

What prep work can I do myself? What things can I do before hand to get the most out of the Maaco job? What can I do once I get the car back from being painted, to "help it along" and make it look as good as possible?

[GriffGirl]

I'm pretty close to being talked out of this whole thing now. The reality is that my bumper, the front of my fenders, and hood all look like shiz. The rest of the car looks pretty good, with the exception of some light surface scratches. My car has absolutely NO rust, no dents, one ding on the hood from the battery holddown thingie (my fault) and otherwise is in really good shape.

So what I'm thinking at this point is that for the same or less than the cost of the crappy paint job, I can replace the bumper if he PMs me back, sand and fill the chips on the fenders, and paint the hood and fenderrepair areas myself. I have a Bachelor's in Fine Arts. Perhaps I can employ said degree for the purpose of crafty feathering/blending, and come out with a halfway decent quality job. Lord knows there's plenty of tips on here for auto painting, not to mention the rest of the internetz.

Thoughts and feelings on this new plan of action?