I found a '79 non macho on Ebay. Looks to be in pretty good shape except for rusted out bed panels, and doors. Just wondering how hard it is to find relacement skins. This truck is pretty cheap, and looks like a great candidatefor my long awaited Simon & Simon Macho project. Just checking with those of you who know more than me how feasable it is. Thanks!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230360375955&viewitem=&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26its%3DI%26otn%3D2&category=39413

it even looks like it has the original mirror heads!

too bad your not closer to CA, I could get you a rust free bed for 200-400 bucks.
It would be nicer to start with a rust free bed....
for what it's worth, there was a long bed macho roll bar at Chryslers at Carlisle this year for 150 bucks....I wanted to take it home soooo BAD!!! It was there friday, and gone on saturday....

That's just my luck. I used to live about 2 hrs from Carlisle, and used to go to most of the auto events there.
What kind of shape was it in?

eww, a michigan truck. run away.

pretty nice, that is why I went back on saturday, but it was gone....I was trying to figure out a way to get it back home, and by then I figured it out..but it was gone...it had the under bed support plates too...

Man, that really stinks.
I've been planning this project for years, working out every detail.. It always seems when I have the money I can't find a truck, and when I find a truck I don't have the money. I'd still like to do the S&S truck with a real macho, but I kind of resolved long ago that I'd likely have to settle for a regular Power Wagon due to the long bed machos being so scarce. Then there's the issue of ruining a real macho by making the S&S modifications. Kind of on the fence with that one. It might be better not to use a real macho, and leave those for the faithful restorations.

the other thing is are you going to go with the correct 79 style, or the later dressed up 81 with the 79-80 decals on it? Another thing is are you going to go manual or auto, because the show had them both ways. Last long bed macho I saw for sale was in Ill a few months back, really rusty, and had a plow on the front...the other one was from Kansas and sold in march for about 1200 bucks...Ill truck was RED, and Kansas truck was Canyon Red Sunfire metalic.
There was one on Montana Craigslist, a 78 Sunrise Orange Macho Long bed....but it was like 4500 or so....

My plan is to go with the correct '79-'80. The rest really depends on what truck I wind up getting. I'd like to have an automatic. I'd also prefer the 360 to the 318. I'd like to have the frame, mechanics, and interior be like showroom new, but have the paint look like the first season of the show. I started to fabricate the bumpers with a friend, but never got them finished. As far as I know they're still in his barn.
I have a lot of parts collected and stored back home, and even bought a red 318 '77 "Sno Commander" long bed from my uncle about 15 years ago. I soon realized that the '79-'80 hood wasn't interchangable with the '78 and back. Then about 10 years ago I got an offer I couldn't refuse for the truck. At the time there were some things going on in my life, got married, etc. I needed the money, so the '77 went. In the meantime I've restored 2 Jeeps and a military deuce n' a half. The jeeps were to sell, but the deuce was for me. I wound up selling that too. Situations change over time, and some projects fall by the wayside, but this is one I really want to do. I've planned it since my early 20's.

the hood is interchangeable, you just need to swap the wiper cowl as well. i just stumbled across a m880, likewise in michigan, but for $750. i can dig up the link if youd like.

Back when I had my '77 I looked into swapping the hood out and discovered the cowl was different as well. I would have had to change the radiator support and headlight buckets as well. It was more than I wanted to tackle at the time. But the possibility of using a '78 back truck opens up my field of potential donor trucks considerably. I like the fact that the older trucks are simpler to work on as well. Back home my local body shop had an early '90s long bed Cummins that was thrashed bodywise, and I also looked into that for a donor truck. They used it for plowing snow, hauling parts, and pretty much any nasty job they had. I didn't realize at the time that the one S&S truck was an '81 and up front end. So I checked into changing the front clip to the '79. I found out it would cost almost more than the whole truck to get a '70s bed and front clip. I did like the idea of the Cummins though.