Just my opinion, but personally I wouldn't buy any vehicle with any kind of rust problem (out here in SoCal rust free vehicles are available). That said, a paint job is very expensive out on the left coast unless you are like my friend that is a real pain in the rear and had his car painted at one of the places that start at an advertised price around 400 dollars. He snivelled, complained, whined etc and was a general pain, and, after they repainted it 3 times, he finally got a decent paint job (he's from NYC).
Painting (with no real body work) at a cheap place (hope you're a persistant complainer) could set you back at least $800 if you use one of the advertised cheap paint job joints (with no other body damage) and you sand and prepare the surface rust yourself. Engine work (you pull the engine yourself and reinstall it) could set you back $1000 - $2000. Hows the tranny. Don't forget its possible you may need the motor and tranny mounts replaced. Power steering pump, suspension rubber, door and trunk rubber etc. Its been my experience, and, not to discourage you, but sometimes its better to buy a newly restored vehicle and pay a little more, specially if you aren't going to do most of the work yourself.
Hope some others give their opinion besides me, because I'm estimating it on what it would most likely cost out here in SoCal. The more work you do yourself the less it will cost. I'm trying to be on the conservative side of fixing up a car and may be way off base.
