John,
Welcome to the board! I'll throw in my .02. I have an FFR that I bought partially completed. Which means I didn't get sore arms from all those rivits!
I don't think you can go wrong with ANY of the manufacturers that have been talked about. I seriously considered a Unique, as they are close by. It just happened that I ended up with an FFR. I have worked on Fords forever, so nothing about them intimidates me, and I enjoy working on it.
Best of luck.
As far as a get together is concerned, some of the guys have expressed a later time, and to keep it up on the northside of town, so hopefully we can all do lunch sometime in February, and have a hearty debate about the pros and cons of all the replica makers.
Take care,
Bob