fixing up 88 mustang

Price a quality paint job if you can find a shop that will even do it. Once you get that price you can decide if it is worth doing the other repairs or not.

You can repaint the plastic interior pieces yourself, use vinyl paint found in any auto parts or paint supply shop. When shopping for quotes on a paint job, educate yourself on the different types of paint jobs there are; Enamel vs Lacquer, the really cheap ones use single stage paint, no primer, and only look good from a distance. Shop around!

Agree Ken. A quality paint job will involve removing all the trim and sanding it down smooth and fixing all the little dings, a sanding primer will make for a glass smooth paint job. Primer and a quality paint, and for a Great looking job a wet sand and polish.

Thanks Ken and F_O_R! I've been told $5,000 would cover a good paint job. The problem with the interiors is that plastic has broken off in some places. I've been thinking about buying a new car, but even friends of mine are urging me to just put that money into the one I've got now. I would spend much more than the car is worth just to paint it, of course, but I'm wondering if I'm just beating a dead horse, so to speak.

BTW, it's a V8 5.0 convertible. The catalytic converters are new too.

5K should buy you a very nice paint job, especially considering it's a convertible. At that price, they should be block sanding the body between primer coats to get it perfect, shooting multiple color coats, a final wet sand, then shooting a clear coat, then finally cut and buff. Only you can decide if it's worth it, there are collectors and groups out there for Fox body Mustangs. BTW i'm sure there are catalogs for Mustang interior parts, check out any of the Mustang forums on the web for leads.

Thank you again to F_O_R, Ken and also LX30215. Your insights have been very helpful!