OUCH!
I'd:
1.) Get that reliable consistent job. It will make your other options happen faster. Get a job with a car?
or
2.) Look for a beater Honda, something that you can sell for about the same amount of money as you bought it for. I once bought a 1987 Acura Legend coupe (faded pealing red paint and torn leather interior) for $125, drove it 50,000, and sold it for $500 when I got my SSR. But, I am not proud.
3.) Given that those parts can be straightened for much more (?) than a shell of a old Chevy truck would probably cost you in clean condition (repairable rust, minor dents, etc.), I'd sell your junk for scrap and start looking. Times are tough for many people who now need to unload that prized project they were waiting to get to. If those parts were rare, then you wouldn't have this great option. I passed on an excellent Chevy example for $1200 not too long ago and went with a more expensive Studebaker truck instead. The painter who now owns that just chopped the top, had a custom bed fabricated and bought a $12,000 Chevy crate motor for it. He has a Chevy truck in there that looks like yours does now, and it now looks great, but at TWICE the original estimated bid, and it still is known as the POS. Alignment was a big problem, too. Even fitting the headlight rims was a big waste of time (I did that).
Whatever, and however you do it, good luck! I'd say you are due some.
