Thanks for all your comments and suggestions guys
I passed a couple of them by a friend who has some body shop experience and he said definitely do not wax or spray clear on the truck because both would be really difficult to get rid of in cracks and seams without having to sand blast the entire body.
These two suggestions were my favorite ideas because I've basically gotten my wife convinced it's best not to mess with the color until it's all mechanically sound.
Anybody here with paint & body experience want to weigh in on the idea that using wax or clear coat on my patina will force me to basically strip the truck to bare metal before painting later? Keep in mind I want to avoid this since she's not going to be a trailer queen just a fun ride and driver.