Yep, did pods & fairing for my Tourer.
Firstly, use a degreaser / wax remover
before you sand anything otherwise you'll embed wax or grease into the surface which will effect re-paint.
Sand [WET] start with 6-800 grit and finish prep for paint with 1500 at least. All irregularities left behind will show through primer, paint & clear. I don't like filler primer's.
For pin holes & light scratches that remain you can use 3M's Acryl-Green Spot Putty #05960 and sand it down.
For deep scratches and gouges use body filler.
I rattle can painted [Colorite] these parts.
If you do the paint, and have questions, give me a shout.
Can anyone paint, maybe not. But, the last vehicle paint I did with a rattle can was in the early 70's. My 10 Speed, well let's say I couldn't wait to replace it with a car!
And I screwed up my dad's new Impala where I had run into it with said 10 Speed before he got home. I believe the entire sub-division went on vacation that week. Sheet hit the fan good.
I'm sure you could do it. You've got natural abilities.
But, count on painting the entire piece whether it's the bucket or the lid. If the color is not factory you'll have to have it matched and use professional spray equipment. That's OK, but adding the hardeners has to be right.
Custom color rattle cans would be extremely costly if at all possible.
Prepare yourself, getting an excellent final result requires huge amounts of sanding at every step including final clear coat finish sanding, polishing & waxing.
P.S. You can lightly wet sand the primer, especially if it's a little fuzzy, but never sand the color coats. Leave your finish sanding for the clear coat.
You can spray over gel coat too following good prep work.
