Many varied opinions here, and I can understand all.

A question I have is this: What would cost more, restoring it to steam now while it is taken apart, or putting it back together cosmetically and doing a full restoration later?

While I know the actual answer to this question, and if she is to return to steam at some point, it would be better to do this from her current state; The real question is what would be the cost difference between restoring her cosmetically and to steam, or just to steam. Would it be worth the time to put her back together and then take her back apart later?

A compromise would be to restore the running gear and all rolling parts, and leave anything off that could be done later. When her time comes, rebuild the smaller parts like the air compressors and reservoirs, generator, turret, etc... and don't flue the boiler until she's ready.

If she were to pass an ultrasonic test today, is there a time limit that 223 would have to be put back to running condition before needing to be retested?

Casey