Ol’ Red

I was born a Chevy man. One moment, one accident, and one truck changed all of that. After totaling my daily driver in a freak accident, I HAD to get back into something, anything, so I could continue to keep my obligations with work and retain my income. And to make things worse, I did not have a lot of spare cash at the time. I knew I’d be driving a clunker at best that summer, but whatever it took to keep me on the road and reliably get me to work and back home every day was all that mattered. And there she was, an old beat up, uglier than sin, rough around the edges 1986 F150XL 302 efi V8 2wd longbed. The kicker, the truck was born and raised in California, spent it’s first 15 years there, and then was driven cross country to my home state of Maine. And at the time I bought it, had 86k original miles. The man I bought it from, wanted way more than what I thought it was worth, or so I thought, at the time. So I used all the plainly obvious work that stuck out like a sore thumb, to bring that number down. I could not believe I had just bought a Ford. I was a bowtie till I die junkie. But how quickly that changed. After replacing nearly everything steering related in the front end, the truck was a dream. Tons of power, tons of torque, and tons of space with an 8′ bed and XL cab. Slowly but surely, I began to realize the other half of the cookie weren’t so bad. I fell in love with that ugly old Ford. And she has been the personification of turn key, hands down, of all the vehicles I’ve ever owned. She’s never broke down and left me stranded. Never had trouble starting. Absolutely none of all the stereotypical “Ford stories” happened to me. It actually has turned out to be the utter most reliable, dependable and enjoyable truck I’ve ever owned or driven. So, at last, I decided since the ol girl has such good bones coming from Cali, to do a complete frame up restoration. Before I began, my father convinced me to do a compression test, which we did together. Twice. Because all cylinders fired within specs the first time, he thought something was wrong. So he went out and replaced all the o rings in the gauge, and we ran it again. Straight across the board. We were both in awe. After having my first child, my daughter Juniper, I thought how cool would it be if my old 86 could be her first truck. So on that note, I gave myself a realistic goal. 16 years to completion. With nothing more than the necessary tools required, for the most part, and a really good shop manual, combined with pure grit and determination, I dove in. I quickly ran into issues with the local parts stores, either quality issues or parts that didn’t fit. Even an alternator’s, all with the wrong pulley wheel. So I had to remove the old pully wheel off the junk alternator and install onto new alternator. When I finally discovered LMC TRUCK online, it was a God send! And from that moment on, I decided that the entire truck was going to be rebuilt using the catalog. Great parts, great prices, great selection. As she stands now, she’s been completely restored from the cab back. After removing the bed, I was able to strip to bare frame, literally. With multiple wire wheels I went to town. Then primed and sealed the frame. All new everything, is the easiest way to list the parts replaced haha. Sticking with only the stock axle, driveshaft, leaf springs and bumper. Everything else, down to nuts and bolts is new. But the ol girl, or old red as I call her, is far from complete. It’s not the fresh from the factory looking truck you guys typically post for your stories. But she will be one day. Even if I clear coat the incredible petina finish, she will turn heads. I love this old truck, and LMC truck catalog is the absolute best for keeping them on the road. I look forward to keeping you guys up to speed as the truck work progress’s! Thanks
Jacob W