10's on $5,000 ?

I like it a whole lot. You don't see many '79 pickups in that good of shape anymore. If you can get a late eighties early 90's front clip and doors the metal is much lighter gauge. The 79 grille and one year only core support for the quad headlights in good condition is a name your price item among the Macho and LRE/MNE express crowds. You should easily be able to get enough out the early sheet metal to pay for the later body panels and then some. Plan on converting over to manual steering, the cast iron power steering gear on these vehicles is close to 100 pounds that needs to come off the front. Look for a mid 60's to '71 donor truck with straight axle or seventies slant six van for a donor. The rear suspension is going to be the biggest challenge, the best thing you can do with it is to take the factory rear spring mounts off and build slider boxes off the side of the frame and make some beefy ladder bars. As far as rear axle goes, a Dana 60 out of a 3/4 ton or van will work nicely, and easy enough to find with 4.10 gears and a powr-lok to boot.