as stated put the work in i think it will be so rewarding, first things first. have a fire and throw the interior in it!
suppose you need new driver & passenger seats, you could try taking the covering off the door cards if you think they didnt bother glueing it? if they did of course new door cards is a must. i couldnt figure out what on earth they had done behind the seats but i'd just get stuck in and rip it all off leaving whatever is underneath showing, it cant be any worse than the way it is at the moment.
As for the crash damage etc, i'd just throw max power to the papers with a sob story tbh, you'd maybe make the money on the story to pay for the repair of the car?