My story begins in February 1989 when my dad, Arvin Nall, bought a new 1989 Ford Lariat. After retiring from St Regis/Champion Paper Mill, with 33 years of dedicated service in Pensacola, FL.
My dad, as long as I can remember, drove a Ford P/U. Beginning with a 1972 F150 long wheel base Ford P/U.
He drove the 1989 Lariat for 12 years, fishing, selling watermelons and traveling to visit grandkids with his wife, Beulah Nall of 56 years, my mom. His health began to deteriorate in June 2000 and was unable to drive. At that time, my dad sold his 1989 Ford Lariat to Mr George Dunn a local watermelon and cantaloupe farmer who attended the same church as my dad.
My mom, Beulah Nall 75 yrs old, passed away in February 2003 from Alzheimer’s and my dad, Arvin Nall 84 yrs old, passed in December 2003.
Mr Dunn continued to grow watermelons and cantaloupes, selling to local customers. His health deteriorated after an accident and became unable to drive. In November 2021 Mr Dunn contacted me, wanting to know if I would like to buy my dad’s 1989 Ford Lariat. The truck was in rough shape and was not running, but was restorable with 65,000 original miles. I was excited to get the truck back in the Nall Family and begin restoring it to its original condition.
I promised Mr Dunn I would send him pictures of the finished restoration, but unfortunately he passed away at the age of 92 and never saw the finished restoration.
Today I continue the restoration project by installing a new intake manifold in the 302 / 5.0 liter engine with an electronic fuel injection system, headers and dual thruster exhaust.
Also, with the patients and professional help from LMC Truck Parts and Accessories am able to find and install the correct components.
Still work in progress and a long way to but, it’s going to the paint shop in two weeks to the original color scheme.