The outer part of the body was actually in pretty good shape. The problem was that the floor was rusted out. The fenders were OK but would have taken a lot of work. The bed had been replaced with a God awful piece of metal that I was going to replace. No tailgate and I wanted a tailgate. Most of the bracing underneath was rotted out. Figuring up all the parts got me to at least half the price of a new tub kit. When I figured in the time and labor to get it the way I wanted it I decided to go with a new tub. Also I lost the vision in my left eye about 5 years ago and trying to weld is really difficult now, especially on light materials and I used to be a welder. No depth perception at short distances.