Hey BillE
Are you looking for a daily driver type vehicle or occasional driver vehicle???
If you want a driver than do the swap...you may have to find narrower rear end as that era truck the rear ends are wider than your panel truck is. Take a tape measure and see what the out to out is on the 1980 rear end and then measure the out to out on the fenders of the panel truck...
The more modern chassis will be much easier to find parts for...your local NAPA should carry a lot of those parts still..
Good luck with your project
MikeC
