I used one of those cameras too look inside and it doesn’t seem bad at all inside I even scraped around with a pick and it seems solid just the two small holes, seems logical to just patch

 

If you've got solid metal, go for it.

 

As long as the repair was done well, a back half would not affect my purchase decision nor my valuation. If fact, I might add additional value if the job was well done because you know it had not endured 20 years of exposure or even if it was off a donor truck, I would assume someone going to the that trouble probably took the time to use a rust converter on the inside from both ends of the back half as well as the front sections from the cut location. Additionally no one would back half a truck and not recoat the back half.

98% of buyers would not notice unless you tell them. Having sold 12, I don't think one buyer has looked under the trucks I sell. Part of that is because I do so much to them before selling they know I have left no stone unturned.

There are some with good frames, but low mileage with a good frame are getting harder and harder to find. I have been looking at and considering a rusted frame truck because I see them with very low miles out of the NE occasionally, which is hard to find on southern trucks where they are more likely to have seen lots of sun and hard use.

I don't remember your mileage, but I do remember how good it looked and I know you are going to have a lot in the engine. I still think it is at least a $6k truck, maybe as high as $9 depending on mileage. Values are going up based on what I am seeing. I continue to have more interested buyers than I have trucks and time to restore them, that said the demand is not for projects. Buyers want completely restored trucks that need nothing. Most folks not on this forum dread the steady $1-2k repair cost every time they turn around because they don't know where it ends. If you do every known failure pre-emptively, they know they have 50-75k without major issues and are willing to pay a premium for that.

 

Thanks, that's good info.
Mine has 122k miles.
I feel more considerate of a back half now.
That's definately the easiest route for me.
My Dad is a retired engineer, I know he would weld it square.
I've had everything to make mine run for a while now, just need time to finish, couple months.

 

When you say back “half” are you just talking about the rear section that starts behind the rear axles?

 

Yes, and the repair parts are the boxed frame sections(left and right, 2 seperate pieces) that start above the rear axle, and extend all the way back.
The center section/hitch receiver gets reused, as that part isn't boxed and is usually ok, and fortunately mine is too.