How far should i go with swapping stuff out in the front end?

i have a question, why are you so insistent on keeping 13 or 14" wheels?

anyway... if you want to be a dedicated cheapskate and do the absolute bare minimum here's what i'd suggest.

73~73 spindles with the factory 11" brakes, these are widely available and cheap. to run these you'll need the large upper balljoint so either source some 73~76 upper a arms, again widely available OR you can get the ball joint adapters from dr. diff and run your stock small joint upper arms.

you'll need new lower ball joints for the disc spindle, but beyond that you don't need anything else unless you're planning on rebuilding the front end. which, you're planning on rebuilding the front end, right? right?

from there, stock 14" big bolt steelies will fit and again, are widely available. they're not going to take a tire much bigger than a 205, but that's no matter because there really isn't any good tires in 14" anyway.

and no, you don't need power brakes. just size your master cylinder appropriately. and don't forget an adjustable proportioning valve.