[porschenut]

Wow. I'm no expert, but from all I've read and learned about restoring cars, the best candidates for restoration are cars that are already in good shape, not rust buckets like that one. My guess is that any professional restorer would take one look at it and say you've got to be kidding. If you've got the skills, the budget ($$$$$) and the time (3-5 years) to make this thing "as new" again, go for it.

Personally, I think you'd be far better off buying a decent car to begin with. In the long run I think you'd save money and an awful lot of headache.

But I've never done a full restoration so my opinion may not mean much.

I agree with the guys who say forget about starting that engine. It's clearly going to need a full rebuild so I would say that whether it runs or not right now is irrelevant.

You're not going to need a battery for another couple of years. Don't buy one until you need it.