I can relate to this completely. I’ve also bought a Camaro in a box. 67 convertible, 4 wheels and a steering wheel to move it. No seats, nothing forward of the firewall sheet metal, wiring harnesses, top was gone but the frame was there, or anything else mounted. The rest was in boxes, crates and laying on the floor or stuck in the trunk, or inside the garage. The owner had big plans that never happened. $1500 and I took it away on the trailer with the pickup bed full.
I shared a hobby shop with my fellow camaro club friends and worked on it every day after work and some long weekends. 80 or so man hours later I was driving it, then had a friend paint it Tahoe Turquoise (thanks to seeing Jerry McNeish’s Z). It was a driver, not a show car. I just cleaned everything/rust prevented it/rattle canned it, assembled it. I eventually put a 5 speed from a Pontiac TA and a hydraulic clutch in it, and I enjoyed it till I sold it.