New to the forum, but have owned my GTV6 for 7 years now, and am just taking over doing the work myself now (too poor to pay someone else, plus its a lot more fun that way

I will state my intentions very clearly (or at least as clearly as my ADHD will allow me to!

My car has a small amount of rust and rather faded paint which I am planning on treating in the next couple of months with a full-body sodablast, PROFESSIONAL rust repair, and a paint-job by myself. I don't have an eternity to have the car off the road, but I want to ensure that the car will remain rust-free for the next 10 or so years if I am going to pour money into it. Paint finish is not my main concern, as long as the body stays healthy!
So, for a small budget of $4000, I need to:
a) sort the rust out and paint it back up to make sure the car doesn't dissolve!
With the change (if any, I may need to save for a bit!) i would like to improve the car. This is NOTa list of everything I want done now, but rather some ideas of where to start FIRST. Any suggestions are welcomed

My priorities are...(and keep in mind this is on a tight budget!)
1) Handling. I see no point in having 200hp at the treads if my car can't hold speed around a corner! My car currently has dead-stock suspension, so what would be some nice improvements? Some rough figures would be nice too

Having an adjustable setup would be nice, but $$$ is precious to uni-students!!!
2) Power. NOT my first priority. Engine-transplants are completely out of the question here guys! LOL. I have a stock engine that I will just give a bit of a tune-up to bring it back up to factory-power, and am only looking at the lower end of the upgrade spectrum. Yes I know big power doesn't come cheap, but with the suspension all set up nicely, every HP will be more efficient on the track:) I have noticed my muffler has taken a few hits, and the pipes have been a bit flattened a little in certain places courtesy of speed-bumps and my pizza-delivering days - perhaps these are better things to start with than actual engine-mods?
This is a car that I will GRADUALLY develop, not into a full-on race car, but into a nice street-car that is as capable as it can be on the track

I know this sort of help is spread out through the forum, but hey, we're Alfa owners and everyone loves putting in their two cents!
(Keep in mind that I am in Australia, so any suggestions on US or Euro suppliers is a little redundant for me - unless they have cheap shipping!
