What to do...
 

heres the story-

86 n/a-almost 160k
paint-6/10
signifigant rust on both rear wheel wells, and some on the front quarter panels
smokes on startup, smells sweet to me, so pretty sure the coolant seals are going
been a daily driver for its entire life
runs great for themost part
has had a few parts here and there replaced new recently
about to put a borla exhaust on it, since the stock just fell apart

my question is, is it worth it to spend the money on a rebuild? i am in high school still and do not make much cash. dont get me wrong, i love the car to death, but im just weary of dumping cash into my car mostly because of the chassis condition. i am thinking about attempting to tackle the rust problem with a friends help. i do not have the money to spend on both a rebuild and body repair.

well if you get a rebuild you can use it as your beater until the day you have money for another shell. but i know what you mean, im in the same predicament with one of my cars. significat body damage, but good running engine... but it needs a new clutch and the parts alone on it are $600 not including its a bitch to do yourself and very cost (people see the porsche chrest and see $$$) to take it somewhere. not to mention all the little things. i dont know what im going to do with it either. right now its sitting in my driveway waiting on the decision...

If you are not concered about the body repairs being perfect, you can do them for less than 100 bucks. You just have to beg and borrow tools if you don't have them. An autobody paint supplier can mix up a liitle paint to match to cover the repairs.

Look around for a good used engine, they can be found reasonably priced. In total you could have both the paint and engine done for less by not going new.

my friend is excellent at metal working and is also good at welding. i also have acess to my schools shop basically anytime i want, which has a lift and every tool ever. we were just gonna cut out the rust, and weld in some new metal and spray some primer on it.