The "Screamin' Rat" Got New Rims & Skins!

Yeah,
The rear bumper and valance (for license plate purposes) is going back on today and the front bumper and grill will go back on after I fork around with some front fender alignment issues. I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I likely won't be able to afford a "proper" strip and paint job for a year or two or more , so I'm gonna button it up and put on the Magnaflow exhaust, finish refurbing the AC (a must in 115 degree Las Vegas), new trac-loc rear center chunk with 3.40 gears and put in a Borgeson power steering box. At least by then, the car will be mechanically and functionally done and ready for cross country cruising trips. I was going to go with 15x8 steel wheels and stock dog dish hub caps (same tires but black wall out) to complete the rat/sleeper motif, but the steelies would have cost nearly as much as the Cragars! Oh well, maybe the shiny wheels will inspire me/light a fire under my a$$ to figure out a way to do a nice paint job kinda on the cheap. Let's face it, a good scrape and squirt costs $8K-$12K, and thats not even for a "show quality" job. That's more than I've got into the rest of the car. It took ten years of it sitting to get to this point, it was shiny when I parked it! At least there is NO RUST to deal with. Even the cowl was perfect!
Thanks For The Looks & Comments,
Gene