[rgunlock]

To the OP's question, yes you can build a truck from the frame up farming very little of it out for others to do the work. Don't have the skill sets? Consider it a challenge to learn them. A lot of it comes down to what your expectations are for the end product. No skills but you want a concourse show truck, not likely. No skills but you have the time, patience and willingness to make mistakes and put up with do-overs in order to get a much nicer driver quality truck than you'd be willing to plop cash down all at once for - go for it.

Mine took over 6 years. I worked most weekends on it because I preferred the shop time to playing golf or watching tv. The cost was spread out enough that it never really hurt the budget much. I did about 99% of the work myself including body and paint, although I did drop in a crate motor rather than build one. Most things I did on the truck were first time for me. I think I ended up with a very nice 15 footer, but I don't expect it will ever be in a show. I don't think I'd ever sell it due to the time and effort put into it - its very special to me because of that. If it lacks something I want in a truck, I've got enough invested already that I don't feel bad spending for that upgrade or toy.