I guess it all depends on where you live and how much you want to do yourself. While it has taken a while to take my SC apart, I now have doors off, lids off, glass out, etc. The time I spent doing it is time I am not having to pay the painter.
A friend and I rented a booth from the painter a year back to spray his car. While we were there, we looked at some of the work done by the painter. I remember asking him about how much color sanding he did to get the finish on a hot rod he was building and he replied "that's how I spray, I have not color sanded yet" The guy is good and will be charging $2500 to prep, prime and paint. I'm estimating $1000 for rubber and misc trim when I put it back together, hopefully during Spring break and the family is at the monther in laws
