Excellent advice, guys. Thank you all. I've been taking it all in with my "reasoning" mode on, and yes, it makes sense to just get a donor shell and transfer everything to it. I noticed the doors don't close the same and require a good "slam" to shut them properly. I'm afraid the secondary damage is bad and numbers like $10k or above to get the car fixed are quite frightening. At this point there are two options, one reasonable and one a bit on the extreme side. Here it goes:
Option 1: Find a good solid shell and transfer everything over. I'll keep as many of the original components as possible and just use the new chassis. Should keep costs way down and my sanity way up compared to straightening the current car.
Option 2: There's an old engineer who's friends with my brother. He runs an architectural engineering place and has done everything from buildings to cars to plane jobs. The guy knows his stuff and after seeing his extensive resume, I'm convinced he can build a spaceship to another galaxy if he really wanted to. Anyway, he's been itching to tackle a "fun" project and my brother had suggested converting my '92 Ranger to a mid-engine setup, to which he delightfully agreed. That never came to fruition because I started driving Big Blue. My brother is going to ask if he'd be interested in cutting the front clip off and building a front tube chassis for it. We'd probably move the engine back a bit to get a good weight distribution and center of gravity, along with some other cool mods we could potentially do on a tube chassis setup. Beforehand, we'd have to cut the front and straighten the rest of the frame anyway, but labor would be very very cheap if he decided to tackle the project.
Of course, at the moment, the second option is only an idea and nothing more than a daydream, but there is possibility for it to happen. It would be a Frankenstein's monster, an insult to purists, but would have potential to be an absolute beast at the track.
If that doesn't go through, I'll stick to my first option. I'll keep you guys posted, as I'm hoping for a reply from the engineer by this week.
I have been trying to make a decision like this since 1991. The emotional attachment to my first car and the work I put in to it to begin with have taken up space in my Dad's garage this whole time. I have stripped the seats out and that was as far as I have gone with the car. I was thinking about pulling the engine and using it as a practice engine for a tear down and rebuild. I thought about selling it on ebay just to see if anyone wanted anything from it instead of taking it in for scrap.
Really stinks to have to make a decision on it. Sometimes it feels better to just hold on to it and expect some beacon of hope even if it sits there for decades without being touched. It really is a difficult situation, and I can totally relate on the emotional side of things. If I had a garage to store Big Blue in, I'd probably end up in the same situation. Unfortunately, the car is exposed to the elements, and I'm in a battle against time and mother nature. Hope you can figure out what to do with it without it hurting too much. How bad is the damage on yours?
Here are more juicy pictures of automotive carnage:
