SilentStalker8mm,
Welcome to the boards
There are a lot of Kimber folks on these boards and they are indeed great guns, but since you mentioned that you would be interested in doing the "custom" work your self, which usually entails picking out a bunch of options and having someone else do the work, I might give the Springfield or Colt "G.I. Issue" models a hard look. Both are in the $500 price range and I'm sure aare shooters right out of the box but those models can always stand a little extra "love".
Good Luck