So you can see that if someone wants $7500 - $10,000 for a car that has had almost everything "done", you are still getting a pretty good deal. They have probably had to absorb a good percentage of the "restoration costs", while you get the benefit of getting a complete car that you can drive right away. Because "driving" them is really the greatest pleasure we can get from them. I would much rather be IN them than UNDER them.
Save up your money and hold out for a nice completed car. You still get to tinker with it, and modify it to your tastes, but all the while, driving it.