i have the option of an 80s trek 400 or higher or a schwinn prelude of about the same era i assume... both frames are the same price, and we plan on stripping them down and repainting. which one should i get?

Get the one that fits. If they both fit, I would probably go with the Trek. The Preludes I've seen were nice too, but I'm partial to Treks. Also, it wouldn't hurt to know a bit more about the components, if you're not going to use all of it you can trade/sell what you don't use if it's good stuff.