Bad news
He came in tonight and said thanks so much for my help but he has decided to keep the car and restore it himself. I wanted to cry
He was really nice about it and said sorry he knew I had my heart set on it but he really would like to do it himself. Sometimes that happens, happened with my almost first muscle car, a '66 Impala SS. Guess I get to keep looking for the right restorable car.
Thanks to everyone here who helped me decipher the cowl plate, you are all a great bunch and I'll stick around
