Thank you, Ansar. 
It's something which I'd wanted to do for a very long time. And perhaps all of the other builds have been a sort of "practice" for this one. I'm planning to DIY paint this completely...at my home. This baby is going to get a red paint job, with yellow to orange to red flames. It's going to be pinstriped white. We're going to shade the flames to give it a 3D look. Also on the cards is repainting the wheels matte black. I'm also going to experiment with an oil based, matte enamel paint for painting the sidewalls of the tyres white. We'll be adding chrome bits and bobs (gauge bezels, door handles, hinges, exhaust pipes, headlight bezels, custom billet radiator grille, etc)...just to show off certain parts, dramatically. Of course, none of this will be at the expense of performance...which will remain our primary focus.
For the tub, I'm thinking a custom built design made out of angle iron, which would incorporate a flat tray made out of wooden planks (and would also serve to keep the custom built fuel tank concealed). Some custom designed pipes would complement this tray nicely. And finally, a custom designed pickup gate at the rear, bearing the beast's pedigree..."PHANTOM".
For the seats, I'm inclined to stick to the metal tub which you may have seen in pictures, for the driver's side. For the passenger(s), we'll fabricate a seat which can easily accommodate two people, and will stay true to the overall period look of the interior. No sound system, no heating, no air-conditioning. The pillars will be sliced by a few inches to lower the roof-line dramatically, at a rakish angle. We'll fabricate a fiberglass hardtop, and a canvas softop...both of which will be easily removable.
I've come to this conclusion that leaving it looking unfinished - the quintessential 'rat rod' look - in a patina of rust, won't do it justice. It should perform well...AND look great, at the same time.
