This has been quite an experience for me. I've never taken anything like this on before, but it has been enjoyable thus far. If I can pass anything on to someone wanting to tackle a project like this, it would be research, research, research.
Nobody told me I couldn't do something like this, so I decided I'd go for it. My dad bought a '57 Chevy 210 two-door hard top when I was in High School. It only had 62k original miles, so we just had it painted, and replaced the seat covers, headliner, and put on some new whitewall tires. A minimal restoration effort, granted, but the car looks great.
Soon after the '57 was completed, my dad bought a '56 Chevy 210 two-door hard top in June of 1987. This car was in a lot worse shape. The interior was shot, some sort of a V-8 and 4 speed tranny had been forced into what was originally a 6 cylinder car. The car, however seemed to be complete. This became my project car.