'73 914 2.0....what to do first?, New to a project like this...where to start? Options

[AKFish]

HI there, my name is Dominic and I have an avid reader of this forum for nearly a year, now its time to get rolling on my project...

About this time last year, I purchased a 1973 914 2.0. The previous owners bought it as part of a bundle of 914's and only kept a couple.
I have some documentation from when the car was first purchased, but the more recent owners have proven elusive. It was owned by a member here named "kurbfrog" but he/she has not responded to my contact attempts, so recent history is a bit murky. Sounds like the guy I really want to talk to, headed south of the border in a bit of a hurry.
I acquired the car in a partially disassembled state. The engine, a 2.0 with it's original FI still attached, is out and pretty much everything is removed from the engine bay and the interior. Many of the removed parts are carefully bagged up and some even have labels. On the whole, the car is in pretty solid condition, however, there are some of the typical rust issues.....
The engine shelf has been cut for A/C and there is rust in the hell hole and I can see rust developing in the outer long (I think that's what it is called). My reading here would suggest that there is a lot more than meets the eye.
What I would really like to do is find out if the engine runs...and if so, just put the car back together and drive it for a while. I could decide after that, if a "rustoration" is right for me...I have zero background in fabrication/welding.

Question: What are the MUST DO items to perform on the engine while it is out, to give me the best odds of getting the car going again?

P.S. My car came with this 1975 Roller that is pretty well gutted.

[mepstein]

You will have to cut out all the rusty metal anyway so getting to the rodent mess won't be a problem.
You can repair the car without a frame. Jack it up level with multiple jack stands and keep the doors on the car so you have a reference point for door gaps. Also measure often as you weld in metal using diagonals to keep measurements equal. Don't cut away more than one rusty area at a time.
Read some of the classic threads on rustorations including "digging into hell".

[AKFish]

You can repair the car without a frame. Jack it up level with multiple jack stands and keep the doors on the car so you have a reference point for door gaps. Also measure often as you weld in metal using diagonals to keep measurements equal. Don't cut away more than one rusty area at a time.
Read some of the classic threads on rustorations including "digging into hell".

@mepstein thank you. I’ve spent many hours reading as many of these “rustoration” threads as possible. It seems like sooner or later I will have to pick up a grinder and go to work....just not quite sure where to begin.

On the advice of @bbrock and others I have gone poking with a screw driver and the pointy end of a slag hammer and it seems like the majority of rust is aft of the jacking point. I didn’t find any soft spots forward of the jacking point on either side....
Passenger side....I think this is the “outer long”.