Where do you stop is dead right. I started off doing some cleaning-up of the interior carpet and dash pad etc, then looked at a few areas of the outside where the paint on a previous small body repair in the late 70's was showing its age. Then I took a good look at the whole thing and thought even though it was straight enough and only had two small rust repairs needed about the size of a 5 cent piece each that it could really do with a tidy-up across the board.....
Started into it, found a few things like painted-over blackouts and other things that seemed odd about my ute (rivetted on sidestrips on the doors and rear panels only, console mounts etc), did a bit of homework about a few things that then led me here. Realised what I had in my possession and thought I really should give this thing what it deserves. The only thing I wont end-up doing is pulling the body completely off the chassis (doesn't need it except to replace the slightly perished mount rubbers).
I'm lucky I can do most of the work myself (given the time to do it), or at least have a panel beater neighbour who is easily enticed with the right grog (afterwards of course) to get the panels dead straight before the paint. The paint itself and the spraypainter I'm more than happy to pay for as I have no real exposure to using 2 pack. I reckon I'll get out of it cheap at 12-15K all up including EFI stroker engine and rebuilt TH400 (main cost of the engine was the COME racing crank kit and the engine machining - $4.5K including the reco'd heads), and the auto (basic kit through it, no major issues for $1450 including a new dominator converter) as I'd rather pay someone who does them for a living to get it right first time so both of the big dollar items apart from the paint. There wont be much on the ute that hasn't either been reco-d or replaced or repaired back to "as new" when it is all over. I am lucky I started with something that was in very good nick to begin with and with the preventative work that has and will be done on the rest of should see me out in 30 years time....
I'd hate to be paying someone for the time it takes to do some of this stuff properly. Stuff that isn't fun like sand blasting bits and pieces, rims etc, cleaning and removing old paint and years of built up crud (the red sand staining was interesting in some areas from the many years my wife and I spent in the NT and Western Qld) from underneath. Single income now with a 2.5 y.o son doesn't leave a hell of a lot of $$ for this sort of thing and I guess that (in relation to the point being made about how many unfinished projects end-up on the market) I am lucky that mine wont (as I've set a timetable of events and $$ that is easy enough to keep to), but I do understand people getting half way in and then losing time and/or interest and then flogging-off what is left just to be rid of it.
So much for a quick neaten up of mine... I wouldn't change a thing though.
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