I recently received a 1996 F150 with 104k original miles and i am in love. Overall its a 9/10. The paint job is a 8/10 but i will be painting it red since its white right now.
I only have a few concerns that i would like some input in to.

The under body is very oxidated. I got underneath and sanded some out but it would take for ever to do it by hand. I got an estimate to clean it and paint it black and the cheapest i found was 300 dollars. Is this a good price?

I want to put herculiner in my truck bed. yay or nay? ive heard both good and bad reviews but i want some more input.

The body has no dents on it except for a very small one that i gave it on the right rear fender when parking near a pole x). And the bumper has a dent as well but i can fix it easily.

The wheels were very ugly but given that i work at discount tire i was able to get me some new wheels for a very low price. Honestly the truck is amazing for the year that it is. It runs super smooth and gives me no hiccups (other then a weird noise that it makes when i start it up and drive for a minute or so then it goes away till i turn it off and on again).

Im in love with this truck and at some point in the past i wanted to sell it and save up for a car. But after much thinking ive decided to keep it and make it a sweet looking truck.

Other mods that i would like to do in the future would be:

HID lights
All terrain tires
hood scoop OR hood stripes
Truck bed tonneau
Window tint
Replace the original gray leatherish interior with black leather interior.
Stereo system (nothing crazy but something more 2013 lol)

Feel free to help me out and give me some advice

thanks!

Cristian Vazquez

 

Dude, you may not want to hear this, but just drive the truck. Dont paint it if the paint is a 8/10. Clay it, wax it and leave it be. Unless if you plan to spend at least 2k on a paint job, you may put on a crappier finish than what it has now. Also, white to red? Heck of a color change. You ready to paint the door jams, doors, under the hood, remove the bed and fenders to do a quality paint job? Thats alot of work.
Just clean it, love it, and dont hack it up. You will get way more thumbs up if you keep it nice and presentable. Whatever you do its your choice, your ride, but when it comes time to let it go for sale, all that stuff done wont bring anymore money to you. But a clean not hacked ride, would be the one most will stop to look at.

 

Get this for the oxidization, and roll it on yourself. Honestly to do a proper job underneath you have to remove the cab, bed, fenders... sandblast it, then roll it on but who actually has time and patience for that.

Welcome to FTE btw! If you somehow learn rocket science and get your
PhD, you will be able to post pictures (which is in my opinion shouldn't be
such a hassle) then show us some pics!

 

You could always paint the stripe down the side to accent it.
I wish I had a pic of my old truck. It was white with a maroon roof, a pillars, and side stripe.
It was a very simple addition and it looked great.

Don't put hood scoops on it. That screams ricer ugliness.