This forum is my favorite place, you guys are the best. I'll pursue every legal option I can. By the way, my brand new gas tank was laying in the middle of the road between our cars. A fireman on the scene asked if I went to church, because I must have had an angel. They couldn't figure out how it didn't explode.
Yesterday I found one of his car parts, some plastic shield, laying on top of my console near the shifter. Can you believe it flew through my rear window?
I'll hunt for some cheap daily driver of any kind to get me by. I'll also start looking for a 70-74 shell with a decent frame. I've gotta start turning a negative into a positive. The freshly rebuilt 318 ran great, had only 600 miles on it, but what I really wanted was a 440, so after I get a frame I'll slowly, and with the advise of this board, learn how to put one together.
I guess the hard to swallow takeaway lesson from this is I'll build a beautiful car, take it out only once in a while instead of as a daily driver, and insure the hell out of it every step of the way.
If anyone knows of any shells at a reasonable price, please let me know. Or just like all the kind posts on this thread, any advice on this situation is greatly, greatly appreciated. Thanks.