While I agree with you on the $3k rust free trucks being a thing of the past, I’d still not pay more than $5k for anything out of the rust belt.
The difference between a CA/AZ/TX truck with a little rust, and a rust belt truck with a little rust showing, is that the first one is going to need floor pans from wet carpet padding, a little work around the wheel wells, and some repair work to the windshield frame. The rust belt truck is going to have rust in every seam, and even though it might be minor now, it’s going to spread and get worse. The body mounts might be good when you buy it, but they are slowly rotting off the truck.
I paid $3k for my 79 that was in similar shape back in 2017, and in 4 years the little bit of rust on the front fenders has turned into needing full fenders, 2 body mounts are rough, and the cab corners started rotting out.
$8500 is a lot of money to me, and when you are talking dropping that kind of coin, doing the leg work to get a vehicle with minimal rust to start with is going to be worth it.
To the op, someone posted these guys on the last site. It seems like most of their business is importing older trucks from
outside of the rust belt. I see the Ohio tag on the truck in your post, but I have no idea how close they are to you.