Welcome aboard 57Chevy501,
Since you have "Iowa" in your hometown's name, I'll give you my answer. If it were mine, I would buy an aftermarket weld in set up that's been engineered to work on your truck. I wouldn't do the Nova/Camaro thing. Buy a Classic Trucks or Custom Classic Trucks magazine and look at all the different vendors that offer front clips and complete chassis'. Do your homework first, there's a lot of them to choose from,
Scott