I learned early on with these cars, once it becomes decent deal territory "buy it and figure out what you bought once you get it home". I think at $18k, it seems to be a good long hood project.
The steel wide body and still having the long hood front end is a plus in my eyes since that is along the lines of most 'back date' builds currently. Obviously the wide body doesn't help it's original condition value.
Gas tank looks like it was cut and welded/modified in some odd way.. junk it.
If your intent is not to flip it, then you are not a flipper.. If you buy it and it turns out that it's way too much for you to handle.. sell it.. make money to invest towards the next (hopefully better) car.. this still doesn't make you a flipper..
I was trolled hard when I bought my first few cars and you can't take peoples hate/jealousy personal. Even if you bought this car, and sold it for $5k profit, that really just helps you get closer to your keeper car.
If it makes you feel any better, we bought a '73 911E Targa that apparently had low miles and seemed to be in good shape but was sitting for maybe 25+ years for $35k and we just had the motor completely rebuilt by a local pro (hint, it cost more than we bought the car for
) and there is scary rust repairs we still need to do...
$18k is an easy pick up. Hopefully the person who is #1 falls through.
Good luck!