That was kind of my point - just be sure that the only rust is what can be seen. You don't want to throw any kind of power at a car with a marginal sub structure. That's all I'm saying.
But also just to be clear, if you're going to do a lot of the mechanical stuff, it may not be such a stretch to do the body (if funds allow). Then you have it out of the way and don't have to worry about for a long time. I know that cars can get lost in paint shop jail but pick a reputable place and work on the sub systems while its out of your way.
Frankly, it almost seems kind of silly to do all this work to the mechanical side and leave the thing all ratty. I know that would bother me but some guys can live with that.
Just trying to help illuminate some things that may not be apparent when you first start out with these types of projects. They always seem to snowball. It would take a certain kind of discipline to 'only' do what's needed.
