this is going to sound like a dumb question but i have a 1988 gt ttops with some rust on the exterior but not a lot. My question is should I sand and prime the whole car myself?, sand only the rust spots and then prime those spots myself?, and then get it painted or should I just have an autobody shop do everything? I do have all the air tools needed to do this.

 

How much patience do you have and how much experience? Also do you feel like trying to fix it if you mess it up?

 

i have a lot of patience and i have done body work before but not on a whole car and i will fix it if i mess it up but would it be cheaper for me to sand the car and do the primer and then have the body shop just paint it or will they still charge the same if i send it to them the way it is now without any sanding or priming done

 

It will be a lot cheaper if you do the prep work, but only if you do it right. You have to remember that you would have to pay them for the prep work and paint if you just drop it off, the more you get done the less they have to do and it will be cheaper.

 

Cars generally rust from the inside out, so any repainting you do of rusted areas will likely be a temporary fix. If you want to fix the areas permanently, you should cut out the rusted areas and weld in new metal.

I've done quite a few restorations--partial as well as full--and they take a lot of time to do right.