Wow Russ, I went through this thread as well - what an utter ordeal your whole project has been. Man, I can relate to the problems, though my car was in much better shape "complete-wise" than yours when I bought it.
But thinking back, when I bought it TEN YEARS AGO, the amount of rust repair I had to do was absurd, especially the passenger side inner fender, which was DESTROYED from battery acid. The radiator support was swiss cheese, the cowl had a lot of rust, the quarter panels were both beat, the doors had rust, the floors were rusted from leaking water around the windshield, the gas tank was leaking, the sender was shot, all rubber parts were toast, headliner was ripped, the heater box was full of leaves, there was a colony of ants living on the top of the gas tank, the brake system was shot, the radiator leaked, the suspension was shot all around, the interior was fading, the sun had destroyed the rear inner plastic panels, the steering wheel was utterly broken.....
BUT THE CAR RAN AND DROVE.
Geeze, these projects are so crazy. Hope you get done what you want to get done!!
Chris