Advice on acquiring a 67 Chevy

[topher10]

I am new to this board and coming to you for advice. I have driven the same car for 14 years since I graduated from high school (a chevy cavalier), and have managed to keep it running all this time. Well, its finally about to die or at least no longer be worth repairing (clutch). So, I am looking into getting a replacement used vehicle to commute to work (10-15 miles one way, in traffic).

My grandfather has a 1967 or 68 Chevy Stepside with a 6 cylinder in it, 3-speed on the column transmission. This truck belonged to his father (my great-grandfather). It has all original parts to my knowledge, and probably only has about 30,000 miles on it. It probably never left the county they live in.

I am told that it was in good running order with my grandfather driving it occasionally. But it developed a leak in the rear differential and my grandfather parked it so he could work on it. Well, that was about 8 years ago, and it has not moved since.

Because my current car is about to die, I am considering trying to get this truck running again, and using it as my primary mode of transportation. I think that my grandfather will help contribute to the cost of getting it working, because he would love to pass it on to me to keep in the family.

I guess my questions are:

1.How hard/expensive do you think it will be to get running after 8 years.
2.If I do get it running, would I be crazy to regularly commute to work in it, putting it through the pace of city traffic.
3.What sorta of gas mileage can I expect. I am hoping close to 15 mpg.
4.How reliable will it be if we do get it running, though I know that is difficult to answer. Will I be constantly tinkering with it is perhaps a better question. I would like to work on it, but I dont want to have to always be getting something fixed just to get to work.

My view is that I would rather put $2-3000 into this truck which my great-grandfather once drove, as opposed to putting $7000 into a used Chevy S10 or Ford Taurus or something similar. Its possible my grandfather wont even let me pay him for it. But I worry that even if I get it cheaply, that it would be a poor choice to use for a commute.

Any advice would be appreciated.