I actually used vinyl due on the plastic inner fenders, and it worked great. It has been a few years now with no flaking, etc. I did it with the front clip removed, and sanded the front structure that supports the sheet metal at the same time. I wire brushed and sanded any rust I found then primed it in Rustoleum. This was all then painted Semi-Gloss black (not flat black as the Semi Gloss has more of a sheen). I also painted the front sheetmetal off the car so that I could paint the jambs properly and have the correct body color sheet metal contrasting against the flat black of the structure like GM did when it was new. Then, all of the bolt heads were washed in lacquer thinner, and the bolts were stuck in cardboard and painted either flat black or silver, depending on the application.
I sort of went out of my way to make my car look like a factory installation. It's a bit boring, but low maintenance when it is done this way because it is not expected to look pretty and perfect like a car with chrome and polish would. I have no chrome or aftermarket looking parts under the hood. I painted my Edelbrock intake gloss black to match the engine. It even has stock 305 valve covers with the wiring loom brackets on them, which I use like GM did when they built a 305 car. I dunno, I like a stock look so long as there is no over spray on anything. I do my paint and body the same way, disassembling the whole car and doing it to a high enough state of perfection that you can't tell the car was ever another color. I even tried to paint the firewall dark blue to match the body instead of the factory silver. It did not work out, so I did some research and found that GM painted some firewalls flat black, and I spray painted mine that way instead.
I sort of went out of my way to make my car look like a factory installation. It's a bit boring, but low maintenance when it is done this way because it is not expected to look pretty and perfect like a car with chrome and polish would. I have no chrome or aftermarket looking parts under the hood. I painted my Edelbrock intake gloss black to match the engine. It even has stock 305 valve covers with the wiring loom brackets on them, which I use like GM did when they built a 305 car. I dunno, I like a stock look so long as there is no over spray on anything. I do my paint and body the same way, disassembling the whole car and doing it to a high enough state of perfection that you can't tell the car was ever another color. I even tried to paint the firewall dark blue to match the body instead of the factory silver. It did not work out, so I did some research and found that GM painted some firewalls flat black, and I spray painted mine that way instead.
