I am lucky to have a neighbor who is a master mechanic and an absolute whiz with classic vehicles. He has pretty much guided me over the last 3 years on what to do with my truck and has insisted I do it one sub-project at a time. I'm SO glad I have. I might get more expensive than what you may be planning on. I had done the basics first to make it driveable(rubber parts, fuel lines, radiator cored and new hoses, new wheel bearings, brake job, tune -up, oilchange, new battery and cables, oil lines etc...) Then I added dual exhaust/new mufflers. Then came the tranny rebuild and added O.D.-very expen$ive. Then rebuilt wheels and good radials. A full gauge dolphin instrument panel, and lastly HEI. I'm currently building a 261 stroker and am in the planning stages of new disc brakes and suspension rebuild. I'm already in for 9k and it will be about 16k by the time the engine, brakes and suspension are completed. And that is doing a good portion of the work my self and farming the rest out to my neighbor and a host of local good old boys who know their stuff and are relatively cheap.(Another bonus of my well connected neighbor mechanic). Remember I haven't even got to the body or interior. I am also lucky to have started with a well preserved truck w/ a pristine original interior. It has a not bad/not great $300 12 year old paint job that was done in Wyoming by my fathers friend. It is the original color and was an exterior only paint job. No body work was needed.
Anyway, the morale of the story is I would strongly suggest this approach as it has worked well with a yearly budget and you get to feel and see the improvements one at a time. Also a LOT less clutter and confusion. And then all your mechanical stuff is done and tested before it's time to paint. Last but not least, I haven't been without use of the truck for more than a week and I've driven it to several shows and a host of short and long road trips over the last 3 years.
