that's pretty much what i was thinking about doing, except trying to figure out a way to put the side view mirrors on the inside of the car.

Question I have is what sort of materials to use that are sturdy, reasonably priced, and will look good once finished?

With the grill I was thinking of filling it in with spray foam, then trimming and coloring it to make the grill block somewhat "invisible". If it weren't for the fact that my wife loves the looks of this car as well as the car itself, it would make things a lot easier.

hadn't thought about doing much blocking on the bottom, but your pattern just might do it. I would think there would need to be a way to open the air flow when needed without destroying hard work, ie not just using spray foam.

I do have fog lights, so I'm thinking using a piece of Lexan to cover them up