Alright it's time to set some things straight.
Since you're so fixated on the brake problem let me elaborate:
The car started eating brakes in 2007, I thought it was a bad rotor so I replaced the pads and rotors. The problem came back in 2008 so I ordered new calipers from rockauto and then got a refund when I was told they weren't in stock. I also started trying to source a good set of calipers online but couldn't find any so I instead had the rotors machined two different times while I tried to get a hand on some calipers. I haven't been driving the car much in the last few years because I was trying to squirrel away money and parts and save up to do everything at once.
The car sits most of the year, and saw a week of action this year when my daily had a flat and I had to wait a week to get the tire in because no local shops had the size I need. I take it out and drive it every once in a while in the summer, but it realistically barely sees even 500kms in a year right now because of the condition it's in.
Why was I looking for a show quality resto? Because if a job is worth doing it's worth doing right. I can spend $7000 at a shop getting a mediocre paint job or $8500 getting a good one. The fact is that neither of those are affordable but the point of the matter is I've never been a person to settle for mediocre.
As far as hard work and dedication go, my car comes after I have my future taken care of. I've been living by myself, paying for school myself, and working full time since 2007. Putting in a full time course load and full time work is not an easy thing to balance in your life, and I spent all last year and the year before trying to find someone to mentor me on the weekends so I could do my car and hopefully do it myself. Didn't get a single response in my search (even made two threads on FaBO). Now that I'm in the upper years of my University career my courses demand even more time from me, so finding a mentor for body work isn't an option anymore.
I worked 28 days in August 2011. 31 days in August 2012. I work my *** off to afford the middle class lifestyle I enjoy and to afford University so that one day I may not have to work myself to death to live comfortably. I got to where I am today by being realistic about things.
Can I afford a classic car? Definitely. Do I have the money to sink into the car? Yes. Would it be a good decision putting that amount of money into a car that, if I needed to, I couldn't sell for even half what ended up going into? No.
I love my Scamp. My first kiss was in this car. My whole high school life was in this car. It has never stranded me, has never broken the bank as far as repairs are concerned, I've had lots of great road trips and adventures in it but frankly I have two choices for restoring it and both of them cost me my future.
Choice #1: Learn to do the body work myself: That means giving up school or work or both. Not an option.
Choice #2: Pay someone to do it. That means sinking more money into the car than it's worth and possibly breaking the bank doing so. If something, god forbid, happened to my job and I needed to sell the car I'd be ruined.
Maybe I should've been more clear about the situation, but mainly I was looking for people's opinions and thoughts who've been in the same place. Making the rational decision instead of the emotional one. It's hard to separate the two sometimes but the only way to get ahead in life is to do what makes sense. When you have money to burn you can sink whatever you want into your emotional frivolities but frankly that's not an option in my case, at least not until I get to the career I want.
For now I'll do what's right for me in the present to protect my future.
