Thanks for the kind words everybody. The attaboys feel good.
Next big project is patching up the floors and fenders. I've been dreading this because I don't want the truck to be down for long and I feel like this is where projects can snowball.
I bought a full complement of outer floors/rockers/a-pillar extensions/kick panels and made sure they arrived in good shape before I started dissecting.
The truck doesn't look bad from a distance but the floorboard holes are going to force me to peel the onion all the way back.
I made it as far as pulling off the outer rocker and drilling spot welds for the kick panel last night. there was more rust than I expected, so I'm at peace with having to dig so deep now.
That pile of rust and dirt came out of the lower a-pillar. That's bare clean metal on the rear pillar where the rocker was up tight against it. The inner rocker is actually really solid, water just sat in the wiring channel and ate it up.
The toeboard from the floor pan seam up to the fusebox is full of pinholes. i really wish there was a patch for that, too. There are some complex shapes in that panel. I'm contemplating just smearing epoxy around on the inside to fill in the holes...seems less than ideal, but it would look better than my metalforming would...