1982 4x4 NorCal, Need some help

[joe510]

Hello Marlin Crawlers, I wanted to introduce myself.  I am Joe from the Bay Area, CA and I have an 82 4x4 pickup that needs a lot of work.  It runs really rough right now and only on the days that it feels like starting.  The body is rough and needs a lot of TLC.  It does have a lift kit on it but it rides so stiff that I hesitate to drive it anywhere.
I have two problems with my project; the first one is that I have no idea where to start.  Should I just get it running and drive it while working on it or should I tear the whole thing down and rebuild it from the ground up? 
The other problem is that I keep losing focus all the time.  I will spend countless hours scouring the internet for other projects and look at the things others have done to their rigs and think to myself  "Man I wish I could do that"  I just keep getting off track. 
I also have no help over here.  I do not belong to any clubs and I don't want anyone to build the rig for me,  I am looking for people in my area (Bay Area CA) that know what they're doing and would like to lend a hand for the same in return. 
I recently bought and parted out a 94 toyota 2wd pickup for the motor and wiring harness cause I wanted to go with injection.  Now I have the motor torn down so that I can have it rebuilt and I am not sure how to make the wiring work in my 82.  So I decided to buy an aftermarket SDS fuel injection kit and put that on the rebuilt motor but then changed jobs and ran out of money.   I am lost at this point.
I don't know how to post pictures but I know that there is a link, and I intend to use it soon.  If you have any suggestions for me or advice please let me know. 
I also plan on posting this message on another forum so if you see it there too, please don't flag.  I am just trying to get as much help and advice as possible.
Thanks for looking.
Joe

[builttoabuse]

I say  get ir running wheel it and build it  as you feel like you need next upgrade

[_HOIST_]

I would get it running right first, then do one thing at a time (within reason). If you tear it all down and go for the gusto, you'll most likely hit a lack of motivation somewhere in the line because of the endless list of things you still have to do. I had focus issues as well at one point, but learned to stick to one thing at a time, so much so that I'd scour the internet for hours JUST ON THAT ONE SUBJECT whatever it may have been.