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Quote:This is a wise path to follow, but as others have/will say, the body is your first objective. It doesn't matter how good a car is mechanically, if the body is rotted, then the car is junk.

In my view, once you have a body that's worth keeping, then go for the primary safety items first. This means those items that will keep you from coming to grief on the road. You can include
Brakes
Tyres
Steering
Suspension.

As long as the engine runs, then any non critical repairs or upgrades can be defered untill the car is safe to drive & is ready to restore some performance to.