Not everyone has the stomach for it, or the wallet for it.
One man's project car is another's boat anchor.
The OP was overwhelmed with what he saw, and first reaction was to walk away. Stick to this.
There's a cruiser out there that won't present as such an overwhelming prospect. Will it be more dollars? Probably.
I don't remember any regrets for cars i didn't buy. There's cars I really wanted over the years, but logic prevailed, and i have no regrets.
On the other hand, I have had a few I decided to buy against my better judgement, and regretted it every time some POS nickelled and dimed me with some bullsh!t, horsesh!t issue. It's like salt in a wound!
There's also been times I've bought POS cars with the view that they are disposable. A major failure means the whole thing gets junked. Not worth fixing. If it lasts a year, I'm square, if not, I've dropped a grand or two, no more.