[MidLifer]

Looks very clean from pictures. Couple of small things I noticed which IMO detract from value:

- The paint scheme and interior are not original
- The dash and doors have been cut to accomodate the stereo and speakers
- The door panels were cleaned up but apparently not replaced

This is a 'custom' not an original truck, and so long as you are good with that and like what you see, there is no harm in that.

You want to check the quality of restoration work that was done - these trucks rust in common places, mostly the rocker panels and cab corners, you want to see if the PO replaced that sheet metal and didn't just bondo over the rust, and also how well the work was done.

In the price range you are considering there is quite a bit of inventory on the market, so don't jump at the first truck you see. This site of course has good trucks for sale, as does cars-on-line.com and a few others. Do an autotempest.com search within a day's drive of your home and you will most likely find others.

Mechanically these trucks are easy to work on and any good mechanic should be able to do an inspection and find anything wrong with them. All old cars and truck leak various fluids, but you should check out or have checked out steering, suspension, and drive it to get the feel of the engine and trans. A compression test is easy to do yourself and can give you good data about the top end condition.

Happy hunting!