This is a familiar struggle to a lot of us. I have like $15k more into my car than I planned when I bought it, and that's not even close to thinking about paint and body work. I don't have advice on the rear end work or anything, but just wanted to commiserate. I wish you the best of luck in getting it to at least a reliable car you can take out whenever you feel like. I'm at that point now, and while my car still needs a ton of work I also love being able to just take it out for an hour if I want without worry.
