gerard,
spend some time reading the forums at
http://www.autobodystore.com/cgi-bin/config.pl?index
you will find out so much information fast! it is a very active forum with tons of info daily. the owner (Len) will even answer your questions. he has a spray painting 101 instructional video he made, which is very good! he is working on part 2 now, which will be on bodywork I believe.