Opinions and thoughts wanted!

Sounds like you already know what you want - a car that can kick *** when you need too but has manners the wife can tolerate for a ride once in a while and won't land Jr. in jail if you toss him the keys. I would get the motor in it now (?) running and definitely keep the manual steering and 8 3/4. You can always swap ratios. And consider the A/C. Clean it up and put a carpet kit in and go cruising!