Hey! Nice car you have there. I always did like that color, but settled for a white one myself. You can't be so choosy when buying used.
You can haul just about anything in it. It just "fits".
I've carried a lazy-boy, a water heater, a stove, a dresser, multiple bales of hay at once, a sheep, lumber, rolls of fencing, and much more.
I agree about the lower grille block. I used a foam exercise mat cut to size. Poke a couple holes through and secure it with zip ties around the grille cross pieces.
Shift early, keep the rpm low, use neutral whenever you're not actually needing power like on downhills. (but careful to avoid over-speeding) With the gear ratios the way they are, high speed means high rpm, so slow down if it's reasonable to do so.