Why bring it back to its original day it rolled out of the factory? It's old, it earned its right to look the way it does based off of the one picture in your back story that I see. I vote patching what you absolutely have to do structurally and leave the rest. I am not a body and paint kind of guy either. I have a 52 willys truck that I've built, it's not rusted out but has rust and is pieced together from about a dozen trucks. We could call it a rat rod and I love the way it looks.
