Hmmmm.......I suppose I could lend a professional opinion or two...
As far as the mechanical stuff goes, all I can say is it looks like she has a valve cover gasket leak...And the radiator is frankenstined in there. A bit of a fixer upper Im sure, but if it runs and drives well, its probly worth taking care of the little problems and making a solid daily / winter driver
As for the bodywork..you have your hands full.The drivers door was poorly repainted, and Im sure it has had its rust "repaired'' once already.the entire side looks to be repaired.The doors and front fenders, probly easiest to just replace, either with new sheet metal or used. For the fenders, Id spring a littl extra for new repalcments, just to hit with a healthy layer of self etchng primer, front and back, then rustproof the inside with atf (Old school
)
Im sure the hood latch just needs an adjustment, likely from the light hit the bumper shows residual damage from. That should be an easy repair, but who knows how many layers of previously done work youll be dealing with.
As for the rear quarters....replacing them would be quite the hasstle. Cutting off bits from an old quarter may seem to be a viable solution...but then youll nd up with a welded seam around what was removed...There's really no way to hide that. You could do a half assed grind, bondo, rustproof and paint manuver, but for that cost, you midaswell have done it right (The afmormentioned method is likely what the 600$ a side will get you. Granted, it will look grea, but such repairs typically last no more than 5 years)
Your best bet, if you pick up this car, is to worry about the mechanical issues first. For the body...a good wet sanding and buffing will get rid of all the unsightly scratches and spiderwebs(Black cars are a PAIN IN THE ASS!!!), as well as remove the nasty orange peel left from previous paintwork. Itll look pretty damn good for a 15 year old daily driver that has seen many a harsh winter. After driving it about you can decide weather or not its worth permantly fixing its skin cancer...but in the mean time, use some sunblock. Clean the paint thats there, and take some sort of rust prevention methods for whats already there (Wire brush it out, use naval jelly, that crazey stuff that turns rust into somewhat useable metal, etch prime, rubber undercoating , ect.)