Restoring a Classic Car: Farming out or DIY?

Pretty much before even buying the Austin-Healey project car I decided to do as much work as possible myself and to subcontract difficult parts of the restoration job or jobs that would be nearly impossible to do myself or even illegal, like painting in a home garage. Also by spreading out the job, I could spread the cost over a couple of years and manage the cost and progress. I didn't need to write a big blank cheque to a restoration shop as I had other and more important financial priorities. I also decided that -since this is not my daily job- I would not impose myself a strict deadline but to move as fast as possible as budget allows to avoid stalling of the project. 4 years later after 2 relocations and buying a home in California, which largely shifted priorities and budget, the project nearly came to a grinding halt. The hardest part bodywork is done, the next big expense is paint. I am doing smaller restoration tasks right now and I am checking out various paint shops and looking into possible processes, like doing the prep work myself and have a pro paint the car, then doing final fitment of the panels myself. I still believe in the overall process, I enjoy working with the pro's and learn from them at the same time. At times when I am super-busy with job and family I prep the next step by reading and learning from marque and restoration books, the web, marque email list and car forums. Important to keep that flame burning...