Gday,

Theres a thousand ways to skin a cat.... I'm sure you'll get a variety of opinions on here.

I know rare spares stock all the common replacement panels, would be more ecconomical to buy than fabricate, unless you have a mate that can do it for a carton

If you do however goto the trouble of panel replacement, why not do a full ground up rebuild? Ie - Body Off Chassis.
Monting Points, Chassis Checks, Body Rubbers, Alignment etc... after all, drivability / safety is more important than looks, right people?

In regards to your specific questions, well... I'd just bog `er up and then we can go for a spin, blocker

Cheers