Looking at, evaluating and pricing a project car.

I have seen a lot of posts over the years where people ask our opinions on the value of a project car. I have a few ideas, and I would be interested in other people's comments.
1. The car's price must be in line with what it will be worth when finished. If, for example, a nice 69 Dart GT 340 4 speed is worth $35K, you can't pay $15K on a ROUGH car that needs everything. Even if you can do mostly all the work yourself, you will have more than $35K in it when finished. If you like doing the work, you can factor that in.
2. In my opinion, if you cannot hear the motor run, you should assume in needs a complete rebuild. If the person says something like, "All it needs is a battery, carb, water pump, etc. and it will run" you need to take that with a grain of salt. If it was that easy, they would get it running for the sale. Same with the transmission. If you cannot see the car move under its own power, I will assume the tranny needs a rebuild. This may seem harsh, but that is my hard rule. The old, "it was running when it was parked" doesn't hold much water with me unless the seller can really convince me.
3. About rust! Rust repair is time consuming, and some parts are expensive. A car with too much rust will take a big hit in value in my opinion. Plus, it is my experience that however much rust you see before the paint is stripped, will wind up being only about half of it in the long run.
I have looked at a lot of project cars. Some for myself, and some for and with others. These are the rules I use, and if the seller is reasonable, you can usually agree on a fair price.