Have a friend who redid a GB 49 of same vintage. The vessel is gorgeous. He was able to use his "connections" to have a top flight yard to do much of the work at cost, still investing several hundred K.
For those with skills and a wallet, redoing old boats is lots of fun and the end product life rewarding. Lacking either of these not so good.
Hmmm, bought a 76 Coachman motorhome once on Ebay, unseen.... :"Sir Gasalot" We're talking $2500 here, not thousand. Please, please don't let me do this with a boat.