FWIW, here's a 55 Chieftain You tube video that a father and son bought, and got running, then drove it back to their home 900 miles away. There's lots of good info in this video. They say at the beginning that it sat over 20 years, later on they say 42 years..........
While these videos won't answer every question you have, it gives you a great visual of what you're going to be dealing with. I'm sure this will at least will get you headed in the right direction. Sometimes visual aids work better than reading about your subject.
Links to the 2 videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zvs77J2WXzs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbEoT_cKxxo
Hope this will be of some value in your process of getting your car back on the road.