There are 1,000's of mid 80's diesels out there for under $5K. There are even quite a few with less than 100K miles and priced under $10K.

If you're flexible, I recommend looking for "By Owner" in Dallas and Phoenix areas. That keeps you away from road salt and seacoast corrosion. You can find great examples in SoCal, too. They will be overpriced and may be "customized."

I would not mess with an SDL, but they are big and well laid out.

Good luck.

__________________
will