I'm kind of on the side of buying a used one for a terrific deal too. But I can understand your position. I think the one thing Blizz was talking about is the cost of the truck, even tho you have it, it does have value just as it sits and could be sold outright. So, you can't just figure you've got a free truck. You could sell it and use that money toward a completed truck. I think that might be what he meant.
Back to the original post. I like the idea of taking that short sleeper and turning it into passenger seats. Put some nice big windows on each side. 3 captains chairs across and leave enough room for a walkway between them. 1 on 1 side and the two together over toward the other side. Or you could get a jacknife sofa in there and get one narrow enough to walk past on one side into the living quarters? That'd give you another bed. Or two small jacknife sofas on each side that come together for a bed as in this coach:
www.balinfamily.com I think that looks like a cool way for friends to ride and add sleeping. My coach was made on a day cab and it's kind of seperate between the living quarters and the cab. Makes it hard to conversate with passengers.