First things first:
Do NOT let anyone tell you this can't be fixed or that you're attempting the impossible. You definitely have a long road ahead of you, but I've seen worse. I live in the middle of rust country myself, and my best friend has a far-worse '68 Charger he's gathering the parts to restore. It was his first car, and we only just recently found it again, almost 25 years after he sold it. Hang in there.
Next, get a factory Body Service Manual. I suggest a paper original first, but the CD ones are very handy as well especially if you have a PC in the shop. All the "hard points" of the car are laid out in print; this should assist you in building a jig to which the car can be bolted. Wood will suffice if you make it stout enough with bracing, etc. Take measurements and make supports for places on the floor panels such as the seat mount points, etc. so that you can lay a panel in there and have it supported from beneath. The more supports from underneath, the better.
To expand on what 69.5CUDA said about removing parts:
Don't cut out any panel or rusty area unless it is the one you are about to replace. I can't stress that enough. Don't go batshit with the air saw or cutoff wheels or you'll end up with a pile of scrap metal.
EVERYTHING is a reference point to something else; for example don't cut out the trunk extensions until the new trunk is in place. Think in terms of logical order. Start at something
solid and work out to your hard points, one replacement panel at a time.
You will make your own life a living hell if you're going to try and save a buck on shipping by buying components. Order a
COMPLETE floorpan, nothing less. Order a
COMPLETE trunk floor; don't fuck around trying to patch in four pieces. Get full quarters; they're a ton less work in the long run. The bigger the assembly you can find, the less work you'll do and the better the result will be. Truck freight is a bitch, but it will be soooooo worth it when you've got a complete floor, toeboard to rear seat, to install rather than a jigsaw puzzle with several seams you can potentially screw up. Make sure you will be there when the truck arrives.
You must inspect the panels before you sign for them. If you don't, and it's banged and bent, you've got no recourse and a ton more work on your hands. The truck driver will be in a hurry; that's tough shit. Open the box, remove the panel and set it on the floor. Look closely, and if you find anything that you can't fix with nothing more than a sheetmetal Vise Grip, refuse the delivery.
Shop around for your panels. AMD is always a good choice but it's not always worth the extra expense. Panels that can be shipped UPS, I highly recommend Summit Racing or Year One (though their shipping is sometimes ludicrous), because those two companies will bend over backward to make you happy. Summit sent me two decklids, both damaged, then issued me a credit for both plus $100 when we determined UPS couldn't get it here unbent. I still have both. The next decklid I ordered from Year One. Bent again. They sent a call tag and picked up the old one, but the new one was already shipped. That one is the one that's going on my car. Joe eBay likely ain't gonna work that hard for your business. Get on Year One's e-mail list; they're constantly running sales anywhere from 20% to 30% off--I actually get about two per week. It will ease the pain of their shipping prices considerably.
Most importantly, work on the car every day you can. Even if you're only out there for 20 minutes, try to get a little further on the area you're working. The longer you stay away from the car, the easier it is to stay away from the car, and the easier it is to get frustrated and abandon your dream. Don't ever think you can't do it; I recently replaced the roof on my Challenger by myself (and I do mean by myself--no one even helped me place it on the car) despite the fact that I've never done any bodywork and am actually a pretty awful welder. I didn't tell myself I couldn't and I took my time to make sure everything was right about 5 times before the bonding and welding started. I had some excellent coaching from the board (thanks restoman!). The results were not only good, they were downright inspiring to me. Now I feel like there's nothing I can't tackle on the car.
With a car this bad, you can do whatever your heart desires and no one can knock you for it. Rather have a four-speed? Go ahead and convert it. Don't like the original color? Change it. Want diesel stacks poking through the rear-seat roof area? Well, you can do it but we'll most
definitely ridicule the shit outta you on that one.
Parts for E-bodies really aren't that bad unless you want a Rallye dash and don't have one. Those is pricey...
reeeeeal pricey (went through that myself). Don't look at the bottom line all at once, though. Order what you need, as you need it. You aren't gonna finish the car in two weeks. Start a car account and put something in it every paycheck. Money for tools is
never wasted.
Form a game plan and get after it. Start a thread in the Progress section and keep us posted. Oh, and let us know where you are... we're a helpful bunch, if a bit silly, and many here have worked on others' projects if they were close enough to do so. Because friends. :dance:
