questionsfor my first project

[roxxor92]

starting my first truck project in about a month or two, just looking for some advice on where to start, planning on building a chevy or gmc reg cab short box to my liking mostly restored with some custom. i live in northern michigan so trucks without some rust are hard to find, so im wondering #1 am i better off to just find the best body i can locate near here and weld/put new parts on to repair the rust, or am i better off driving all the down south and getting a rust free starting body? also wondering the pros/cons of 73-87 and 88-98. i like both but 73-87 seems to be the preferred years. and any other advice would be greatly appriciated, i am 21 and looking for a new hobby besides drinkin/drugs, and im gonna build somthing that puts all these cheap cars with spinners to shame. i also am not rich and paying for it all myself so its going to be a slow long term project. i make okay money but not a ton so any tips that will save me some money getting started would also be .
you guys will be seeing and hearing lots more from me, i like to do my homework before i start my project