When I bought my '03, that's what I did. I paid $500 when the bone yard offered $300. The guy was a good guy and way underpaid, so he needed the money. If nothing else, I figured I could part it out. I just hate to see a good vehicle scrapped. There are enough cars that really NEED to be junked, I like to see decent ones rebuilt and reused. It's cheaper and less polluting to restore than build new.

As for "Tin Worm", it's rust perforation. Surface rust is considered patina but tin worm is like ship worm to ships. It eats the body, or hull, away. It's fairly common to also call heavy rust "Cancer" and I did use that term long ago. I was at a car show and we were talking about the restoration on a nice car. When one guy mentioned it had a lot of cancer, one guy had to leave and was crying. It turned out his wife had just died a few days previous from cancer. Hence, I use the term "Tin Worm". In the end, any car or truck is just glass, metal and rubber. I don't want to relegate someones loved one to item status.

If you have a decent tow vehicle, a short bed Dodge 1/2 ton will fit on a U-haul car trailer easy. I suspect you'll enjoy the truck and it'll serve you well. Just be sure to post some pictres when you finally get a chance to look at it. Even if it has a tree growing through the bumper.