Body Shop needed in Nashville, TN, I need to get some rust repair done Options

[beemie96]

Nothing TOO structural. (At least not yet!). I posted some pics a week or so ago that showed some of the longitudinal rust on the driver side (the passenger side has been fixed already, though I will need the jack-post moved over there). My idea is to remove all the superficial rust on my own and then have a shop repair it. I am considering some of the chassis stiffening kits while I'm having the work done, so please let me know any thoughts on those. SO, here are the questions:

I am trying to get the car to be rust-free, but it is going to be a weekly driver car, not a show car. I will want it to look nice, though. So is it a crime to save money by doing some fiberglass/bondo repairs on my own for areas that really aren't structural at all?

I will have a body shop do anything important, of course.

I have attached a picture (of course). I will be removing everything from the car on my own, so I'll post pics and ask questions as I get to them.

Pic 1 shows that car looks decent from afar. no major damage

Pic 2 shows the rust where the hood seal goes. This is pretty bad. I can get it all out of there, but how do you fix that? Inexpensively... without welding on a whole new front? Can I do something with a f/g hood? I plan to replace the whole front hood (and rear probably) anyway.

Pic 3 shows why I plan to replace the hood. There's plenty more of that kind of thing

Pic 4 shows some troublesome rusting. It's not bad on the underside of this, though (I looked inside the fender and such). But, what can I do to fix it (again, inexpensively). I imagine the rain channel in there is necessary.

I plan to get an air-compressor and some air tools, so any recommendations on that is great as well. I've been watching the rustoration thread and i would like to get a similar tool to his grinder with that kickin' brush thing! Where could I locate? Again, I need to keep this reasonable in cost.

The idea is I WANT to do as much as I can on my own. I like working on the car. I will turn it over to a professional as soon as welding is involved, though. I can f/g and filler alright, though.