Django Model Inheritance. Hiding or removing fields
If you are inheriting the model then it is probably not wise to attempt to hide or disable any existing fields.  The best thing you could probably do is exactly what you suggested: override save() and handle your logic in there.
I want to inherit a model class from some 3rd party code. I won't be using some of the fields but want my client to be able to edit the model in Admin. Is the best bet to hide them from Admin or can I actually prevent them being created in the first place?
Additionally - what can I do if one of the unwanted fields is required? My first thought is to override the save method and just put in a default value.