So, I grabbed that Nebraska find in spite of the fact it's a rattletrap. I rolled into Michigan after 2000 miles in 4 days, rested 1 day, and then drove another 500 miles for my donor truck - an '01 Silverado Ex-Cab 2WD 8.1/Allison, a California truck with 130,000 miles. With a clean donor cab & doors, bed, cap, wheels & tires at what I paid I see a free engine and transmission but that's the only place I expect to be ahead in this build. Avery's posts inspired me to go this direction, and I'm damn tired of 6.5TD's.
Don't look for any sudden progress, we just bought a foreclosure with a knock down garage and no barn so I'm without a shop temporarily. A steel building arrives soon, our summer is going to be filled with construction projects.
I want to have my build on the road for the start of the 2019 Summer Season...