It would be a real shame to butcher up another all-original truck with some history when there are probably half a dozen project trucks within a hundred miles of you, gathering dust because somebody ran out of money, skill, motivation, or all three, somewhere along the way. I'd suggest leaving this one in "as found" condition and searching Craigslist or some similar site for one of those vehicles to use as a project. If you find something in the late 1950's or newer, it will accept a "belly button" (everybody's got one) V8 conversion and an add-on independent front suspension and rack and pinion steering from a sub-compact pony car. That way a failed project will be rescued from the scrappers, and the overall cost will be reduced by taking over somebody else's butcher job at pennies on the dollar.
Jerry
