gregnash
Anal Retentive Analyst
AAAAAAANNNNNNNNDDDDD..... that's what she said! If only other womenz understood that a manual stick is so much betterer than a boring automatic one (regardless of battery operated or plugging into the wallBoys!
Coming from a female here in the forum, the 60's are the best. I much prefer controlling my vehicles via a manual stick to a boring automatic transmission shifter.

All joking aside... welcome to the world of MUD. You WILL learn a lot here regardless. and Like @CaptClose said, basically you either want manual and carb with round eyes or you want auto and efi with rectangle lenses. Both are pretty much the same truck so choose wisely.
Rust is the biggest killer on these vehicles and there is a few documents/threads out there that talk about where to look.. Basically if you see a bit of bubbling rust then there is lots beneath.. Take a decent magnet with you when you go look at a truck and run it along the lowers of the truck (rockers, wheel wells, fenders, doors, etc.) as those are the common spots for rust. If it doesn't stick but there is paint and everything "looks" ok then that means there is a bunch of bondo present.