From your pictures (engine hoist, tool boxes, etc..) it looks like you might be real mechanic...with skills and stuff. If you think you can bring it back, then go for it!
I am certainly no mechanic so I'm intentionally ignoring an engine tear-down and rebuild. The PO's were actively using it for hunting (and were actual mechanics), so those components seem to be ok. The engine runs strong without smoke and the trans shifts ok, so I'm leaving that alone. Likely just whistling past the graveyard, but it's what I can afford and/or do myself. No million dollars here either.
Not sure what you'll have to do with the engine/trans.
The back end of mine looked a little worse than yours from what I can see in the pictures. You look like you still have good steel. I had to cut the rear passenger side shackle bracket off, reinforce the frame and weld a new bracket. It had a bubba-fied rear bumper ball hitch that I had to cut off. �Mine also looked like some backed over a stump and bent the lower draw bar supports...had to cut those off too.
Although mine does have a body, it's of little value other than the ID plate and
maybe the gauges. So at least you don't have to wrestle the body off of that one! �:D I got mine for cheap and rebuilding best I can on the cheap too. But for me, that's half the fun.....ok, it's ALL the fun right now. :-)
AS down to the frame as I'm gonna get.....
Ignore the red circle...from a prior post. You can see the extra 10 inches of bumper garbage I had to cut off.
Not finished, but �cleaned up. Need to put on a cross member....
