Leaping In - 1954 Chevy Truck

I finally made the leap in the summer of 2004.  Living in NY, there seemed to be only three ways to get started on a classic auto.  Pay top dollar for a totally complete project - where I would learn nothing, buy someone's "partial" project - where they usually wanted top dollar for a box of parts, or a rusted heap that hasn't started in 15 years - where the usually wanted top dollar.
I spent a few months looking at Craigslist and Ebay.  I found what I thought was a good compromise with a guy who listed his truck on Ebay - but it never met his minimum.  After the auction was over I emailed him and said I would buy it at the last failing bid and he accepted. 
He bought the truck from Texas, so I thought the body and frame might be in reasonable shape - and it had already been converted to 12V with a 350 engine and 400 transmission, and it was already registered in the North.  Pictures looked okay.
For better or worse, I went for it.