I think a new front end is not out of the question. Depends on how much time and corrosion on the airframe.
The early DC-3s were better at resisting corrosion than the C-47s. The early birds were made from the same aluminum alloy; the C-47s (depending on when and where they were build used different alloys for the skin and the stringers. Some had major electrolysis problems.
At Otis Spunkmeyer we had a C-41, the first military DC-3 which was built in 1938 and a 1945 C-47 (DC-3C) which had only 9300 hrs on it in 1995 when I started flying it. In 1997, we discovered major corrosion in the C-47 while the C-41 had almost none.
I think Bassler probably has the type certificate or knows where it is.
This is from my website.
Douglas DC-3s - Otis Spunkmeyer and Transwest Air Express