"Tire smoke" is inversely proportional to how wide the rear tires are! The narrower the tire, the less power is required to smoke 'em! You can either build a budget weekend cruiser "rat rod" that will scratch your hot rod itch, or spend decades and wheelbarrows full of money on a "resto-mod", or anything in between those extremes. The folks here on Stovebolt can guide you through the completion of either type of project once you decide on a goal and pick the right sources of assistance. "It's your circus and your monkeys"- - - -we're here to help once you decide which way to jump!
Personally, I'd start out with a good basic restoration of safety-related systems like steering, suspension, brakes, lights, etc.- - - -and make some decisions about the drive train once you've got a safe, reliable basic vehicle to work with. Back in a former life during the 30+ years when I taught high school auto mechanics and built round track racing engines on the side, I told my students "we're going to make it steer and stop first, before we even start talking about doing "go fast" stuff! Some of those guys are running their own shops these days!
Jerry
