You have all been a great help and I appreciate that.

What I have gathered here is that the specific areas that gather rust can be a real pain, the frame to body connection area must be solid, underbody needs to be solid and if it runs thats a big plus.
I am no mechanical but I know my way around the garage and am comfortable with most work except the body welding and sand blasting. I have a co-worker who does this on a regular basis so I'm covered there.

Any other tips or suggestions would be great.
Thanks everyone, James