[Scott R]

You have a few "issues" with a 73 that may or may not be a concern to you... The 73 has four wheel drum brakes, and no power steering. If it's not already been converted to front disc, you will need to budget that in. All said and done depending on which method you use to get there it's about $500-$700 for a conversion, or as much as 1k for a later axle and a rebuild.

Next on the plate is the 73 has the three speed transmission, this was probably fine back in the day but not great given our current speed limits. A popular conversion is to the 78> 4 speed with a modified t-case or a 4 speed t-case bolted to it.

Last up is the 1F, replaced shortly after with the 2F. The engine has some oiling issues sometimes and it runs hot. This is where the v8 conversions come in, or a 2F swap. However the rebuild parts for the 2F and 1F are very expensive, think 911 engine expensive.

If these issues have been addressed then it's probably a good buy, unless it has too much rust to be saved.