My 86 C10 - to build or not to build? Your thoughts?

[TimQ]

Sorry for the long story, but I figure context will help for those willing to chime in with an opinion. Thanks in advance!!!

I've had an 86 c10 for about 10 years now. I picked it up with about 65k miles on it to use as a utility truck...picking up mulch and lumber, moving my lawn tractor, etc. It's been a great truck and it now has about 87k miles.

I'm in grad school now, so money is somewhat tight, though that will be changing once I graduate in May of 2011. My original plan was to have this truck get me through 2011 and then sell it when I move to a new town figuring I'd just buy some new utility truck. Well, then I did a repair, got attached to the thing, started visiting boards like this, and got the itch to do more.

Let me explain...



I've never been into cars or trucks...they are just something you use for me. I've never even changed my own oil. But, that sort of changed recently...

About 3 months the truck started really acting up. She would run rough at times and, once in a while, stall at speed. Most of the times she'd start back up but on a few occasions I had to get towed (good thing I have AAA).

My mechanic suggested it needed a new carb but wasn't able to find one locally. I ended up finding one online. During my research I read about how simple it was to replace a carb and decided to give it a crack myself. It took a while to get all the hoses off, labeled, and then reattached, but when it was all back together, I started her up and it sounded great. Idle was smooth again, engine was quieter, power was back, and I was hooked on tinkering with her some more. Most important, however, was that I couldn't imagine selling her in a year. But, she's got some rust which would have to be dealt with sooner or later.



As a grad student, I don't have the time or the space to do a complete frame-up restoration. I also don't have the desire to have a show truck or anything like that. I just want something that runs reliably, looks decent in front of my house, and that will last me a long while.

After doing some initial research I figured I would find a local body shop to deal with the body rust and put a new coat of paint on her. Then, over the next month or so I figured I would redo the interior (seat, dash, audio system, and floor/carpets).

I figured in a few years, once I was back to a normal income and more spare time/space I could revisit any other issues (maybe rebuild the engine and/or look into cleaning up the frame and the rest of the underside of the truck).

So my question is this...am I crazy to spend a few grand on the paint job and rust remediation now figuring I'll get to the rest later? I'm mostly worried about spending the money on the body only to have it go to waste because I didn't do something else now.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
TimQ