Meet Fiona – (Purchased in Florida / Lives in North Carolina = Fiona). Originally from Michigan, she lived most of her life as a garage kept weekend off-roader, with all the custom modifications made in 1988. She is the dream truck that anyone who grew up in the 80’s wanted. Lifted 6-inches with armor underneath, sitting on 32-inch Cooper STT Pros and original Harley Davidson 15-inch Billet wheels.
The original bench seat was replaced with a pair of bucket seats out of a Mustang, analog gauges sit on top of the steering column, and an original CB radio (included, but not installed) sat underneath the dash. A 3-inch steel roll cage was included inside the cab along with exterior roll bars in the bed which house KC Hi-Lites facing forward (spots), backwards (flood) and on the sides (flood), all controlled by switches above the mirror. In the front, she has two fog lights attached to a steel bull / brush guard, along with a 6,000 pound Ramsey winch (which was available through Ford accessories) and recovery hooks. In the bed, two baja-style jump seats are bolted in with 5-point harnesses, a wheel hub storage box and two torque supports were installed to prevent bed flexing. The gas tank has been upgraded to a 16 gallon and the original tape deck has been replaced with a Kenwood USB head unit. A dash camera and backup camera have been installed with a MicroSD recording capability, hung over the top of the original rearview mirror – it has GPS capability but just lacks an antenna.
In the engine bay, professional modifications were made in 2018 by Tubby’s Customs (Pinellas Park, FL) and Greg’s Classic Auto (Durham). The original 2.8 V6 was replaced with a crate Ford 302 V8 roller motor (carbed, 4 barrel), which has approximately 2000 miles on it, feeding into glass packed 3″ exhaust. Engine mounts have been custom fabricated and factory A/C was installed. The transmission and rear end are original; however the front locking hubs have been replaced.
As with any classic vehicle, she has some minor issues. The time in Florida was not kind to her paint, and some of the original hand-painted pinstripes have faded away. There is some heat discoloration on the driver’s side hood that is into the paint and will need a more serious reconditioning. Lastly there is some surface rust on her chrome recovery hooks and because the gas tank is a higher capacity replacement from the 80’s, the neck is a little too narrow to take in a full throttle filling, so when you put gas in, you have to feather it or pull the trigger half way, otherwise it overflows and spills.
Overall, she’s a wonderful head turning truck. I’m only parting with her because she’s too pretty to throw another two yards of mulch in the back or go bogging through the mud with. She’s more than capable of all those things and then some.
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