Need some advice, How to deal with the rust-bucket Options

[pib]

As it turns out, the 'rust-free' '75 I bought has more than a little rust... (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/sad.gif)
From what I've seen so far, the bottom of the firewall needs to be replaced, as do parts of the pan on the drivers side. There is also rust visible inside the tunnel. On the other hand, the trunks are solid, and there's no rust under the battery tray, the body is straight, and mechanically it's in pretty good shape.

This being my first 914, and my first restoration, I'm reaching out for a little advice from those of you who have been there and done that.

So, where do I start? The way I see it I've got 3 options.
1- Sell it for whatever I can get and go look for a more solid car. (and no doubt lose money in the process)
2- Clear out the garage, buy a pile of new tools, and rip into it. (and probably not finish it for a couple years)
3- Find a shop to do the rustoration for me.

I kind of like the idea of ripping it apart (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/sawzall-smiley.gif) and rebuilding it myself, but I've never tackled anything that big before. I've never welded before, though I'd like to learn. I'm just not sure that I'd trust my newbie welding skills when it comes to the structural integrity of something I plan on driving my kids around in. I'd also rather be driving it again in months, rather than years.

I think I'd like to get an estimate from someplace before I decide, so I can at least have some idea of the cost before I decide how ambitious I am.

So I guess my question is, what kind of shop does this sort of thing? It seems like a body shop is the obvious answer, but do they generally deal with dropping the motor and all the mechanical stuff involved? Or do I need to be looking for a specialist of some kind that would handle the whole thing? Or would you recommend that I strip the whole thing myself and just haul the shell over to them? I haven't really started looking for a shop yet, so any recommendations near Monterey would be greatly appreciated. Any other advice would be great too.

I've learned a lot lurking around here, and it looks like I'm about to learn a hell of a lot more. So thanks to all of you who make this such a great (non) club! (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/beerchug.gif)