Hungry

I've been fantasizing about a project car for a while now. I have never had a full-on project car. I've done some of my own car maintenance, but nothing too crazy. I do my own oil changes, I've changed spark plugs (flat Subaru engine) and I recently fabbed up a bracket and installed an oil catch can in my new car. While I have limited car experience, I'm generally pretty tool-competent. I build custom electric guitars, I do other woodworking, etc... I used to be a bicycle mechanic a long time ago (think Tour de France, not Moto GP). While I recognize that bicycles are significantly less complex than motor vehicles, I suspect the same diagnosis/troubleshooting mindset will come in handy with a car. I am not one to set off without doing my research. I understand that a project car isn't fast, easy, or cheap. I foresee this being something I start in 5+ years. Before that time I intend to research my options and procedures as much as one can without a car in front of them. The S30 (preference for 280z) and the Z32 are two cars that I really like. I completely understand that while they are part of the same lineage they are two different beasts. I'm really just looking for something that I will be able to work on, enjoy solving problems and come away with a sense of accomplishment. I don't intend to track it (perhaps the occasional auto-x day). I have a reliable daily driver. This would be a weekend/fun car. I do not intend to modify significantly from its stock configuration - no LS swaps or NA to TT conversions. However, reliability/availability modifications/swaps are on the table. I am not interested in a historically accurate museum piece - just a fun, cool, weekend-reliable car that I can be proud of having improved. I have concerns about rust remediation in the S30. I have somewhat limited space. I can probably only devote one half of a two car garage. While she is patient and accepting of a project car, my partner will need to be able to use her half of the garage for her car. If rust can really only truly be addressed with a full-blown tear down, that might not be in the cards. I also have some concerns about safety. While I don't intend to daily this thing, I also recognize that texting Yukon drivers are an unfortunate fact of life now. I have concerns about the cramped engine bay in there Z32. I hear so many comments about how awful they are to work on! Is it the case that almost all operations require significant disassembly to facilitate accessibility? To ask an unanswerable question: how bad is bad? Long post, sorry. I'm just hoping to get some perspectives on the merits (foolhardiness?) of a S30 or Z32 as a first time project car. Thanks a bunch. I've already learned tons on this forum as a lurker and hope to learn more as an active participant!