I have learned many things in my life and one of those is that
whenever I do something new, I'm in for lots of surprises.
New areas of experience will always be harder, cost more money, and require lots more time and effort. The sooner you come to terms with that, the easier it will be.
Your truck probably has the same amount of rust as mine did when the original owner had it bondo'ed in 1990. My cab must have been heavily rusted and it has so much bondo I plan to get a new cab and deal with the DMV fallout head on.
I figured it would take me 2 weeks to get my truck running.
That was 3 years ago! Good has come of that time period: I have fixed a lot of the rust and wear problems that the truck has had since the 1980's. It'll be a much better truck than it was when I came to own it. I have acquired NOS parts, lots of tools, and a whole lot of experience doing new things. Problems the original owner just overlooked I will fix.
I love the look of your truck: 4x4 (right?), cab lights, stepside.....take your time, understand it won't be cheap, and keep going. You'll get there. Just don't do anything you cannot easily undo.
