[dan42]

You have a beautiful starting point! I love that color combo. I think your budget is reasonable but be prepared to spend more for things you didn't anticipate, or upgrades you might feel like doing, since you are doing them anyways. I am in a very similar situation as you, in terms of lack of time and desire to beat up my 57 year old body on doing something that I would do poorly. It's not what I do for a living, so to have a reputable professional do it makes sense. Realize that paint will take a big part of that budget, and a ton of time as well. Paint/body work varies greatly but you should be able to get a good paint job in Sacramento for 7-10 grand I would think. My personal opinion, and the way I built mine, is to put as many modern comfort/safety/reliability features in it as possible at the same time as retaining it's originality and charm, what attracted you to it in the first place. For example, the disc brakes (I went all four wheels but didn't need to), hei, formed foam on the original seat, overdrive whether auto or 5 speed, etc. I am fairly far north of your budget with a so-so paint job, but virtually everything on the truck is brand new - from suspension to gauges to radiator to engine to tranny etc. I still have a little interior work to do but it was worth every penny I put into it, and I know yours will be as well. There are decisions to be made along the line even if you have planned it out (i.e, what size exhaust? Headers or stock manifolds? Where to put the gas tank? What kind of radiator?) and that's where you can lean on your mechanic to help you. Hopefully he has experience building vehicles and can make decisions on stuff that are best for the build. Good luck and don't stress too much about it, it's almost like building a house, just remember how cool it will be when it's done.