Originally Posted By: Astro14
Sink several million into the restoration, and you'll have an airplane worth, perhaps, $500,000
Exactly.
Time is not kind to rubber parts, like seals and hoses... or EXTREMELY high dollar items, like fuel bladders.
Understand that an FAA certified aircraft operates under a type certifiacte - you don't just walk into Napa and have hoses made - the parts MUST be accompanied by a Form 8130-3 and MUST come from an FAA-PMA approved source, so even if you did find what you needed on ebay (LOL!) if it doesn't have the documentation, YOU CAN NOT USE IT (unless the plane is re-categorized to "experimental - exhibition category").
So, yes you could fly it again - if you throw huge piles of money at it.