I have a slightly off topic response to this thread. I have been closely following it since the OP started it. OP - thank you for sharing this journey with the rest of us. Now comes the sort of off topic part. When I first opened the thread, I thought - hmm, this might be interesting.
As I have been reading, an interesting thing began happening to me. I am a 67 year old guy and I had pretty much lost interest in my Cuda. It has been put on jack stands and pretty much untouched since last summer.
Following this thread has gotten me re inspired to get mine back in the game. My upcoming weekend plans have changed in order to get mine back in shape. I am going to start making time for this again.
OP - thank you for inspiring me again. I will keep following along with you and the direction you decide to take with this prize car.