hi all,

i snagged a 1999 f-450 7.3 v8 super duty / dually last week, first time ever owning a ford let alone a diesel. i know nothing about diesels but have family members who are educating me... and friends... everyone says i stole it for the price i got it for. it's a flat bed. 78,000 miles on it. 2wd though, automatic. clean title. originally it was a telephone truck for 10,000 miles, work box was removed and a flat body built (it isnt the prettiest and ill either put an alum flat bed on or a box). then the second owner used it to transport dogs that he bread across the state (hauled them on the back). both owners local, friends know both of the original owners.

the inside is as stock as stock can be, no power locks, no a/c, no power windows, you get the hint! her car has remote lock, so i keep having to make sure we lock the doors lol. the outside has not even been washed yet, we cleaned the inside pretty decent yesterday, took about 5-6 hours. it was super dusty, probably the first good cleaning it has ever had it seemed like. it shined up like a new penny though! the cab is in really good condition, no rust anywhere at all and i'd like to keep it that way even though i will be parking it outside (not sure if it previously was or not). i have not had a chance to even wash the outside yet. the weather has been bipolar lately anyway, so it would most likely be pointless right now.

i got it because it was a flat bed, in the back of the photo you'll see the first truck i got last year. 77 k30, its been fun tinkering with and learning about fixing trucks with my father in law but it isnt very dependable. just a plow truck. it plows the gravel area where this is parked... and gets driven out to father in laws to be worked on and thats its life. a paperweight lol. the f450 fit the bill for what i truly needed, hauling building materials and more reliable which is why i got it. the k30 was more to see if a truck would be useful or should i just get another suburban. i guess people have been telling me the f450 can go for 700k miles if i keep up with it... which shouldnt be hard. it just needs new rear brakes, which are shipping to me right now! everything else checks out, three mechanics have looked at it in awe (family and family friends). they say it's more truck then i truly need but keep it anyway.

anyway... this is going to be a work truck but also going to be where i rack up the miles and not on her car. had a few stupid questions...

the dash, the gray on top right side is flaking? i would of thought the color of the plastic was all the way through but that is not the case. its most definitely black under the gray/tan color. i have no cracks in the dash, just paint wear. what is a good method to correct other then a complete replace? i would rather not replace since it isnt broken in any way. i have been googling to see if anyone has ever just line-x over the dash to see what it would look like. a few years ago i had an 07 suburban (im a chevy fan) and i really liked the texture feel of the dash which is what made me think of the linex. i don't want to get too wild where i'm chasing around the inside to make it all blend in.

the radio in the truck has issues. the station display is dying because its very hard to tell what station the radio is on, as if certain dashes in the display only are out. there must be a wiring issue or a blown speaker, only the right speaker seems to work. i have not had a chance to tear it apart yet, i'll wait under after brakes and stuff are done. i have been looking at ideas for this though because i would really, really like to have bluetooth since i do listen to music a lot. ill most likely upgrade the speakers. i'm not really a fan of after market looking radios, esp. the screens that pop and fold out. curious if anyone has modified the original to add bluetooth? i have seen aftermarket aux but in the past have never had luck with aux cables. i'm most def not a fan of transmitters, i hate the interference hiss. i dont think a modern radio really fits with the inside... i like to keep things as stock as possible but have the features i want. i realize this might be an option but figured i would ask.

the inside of the door jams have absolutely no rust (which is a big difference from the k30, which my wife named "rusty" because when i drive down the road rust flakes off... it was like this before i got it, its always been a plow truck). however, there is some orange coloring that wont scrub off, isnt rough to the touch, which i assume (but in reality, dont know what im talking about) is pre-pre-pre rust of where my issues will be. not a lot in fact, wouldn't bother anyone.... however, after dealing with rusty and the cab is currently splitting its so bad i don't want to be in this boat again should i keep the truck 10+ years. now too after dealing with rusty, my eyes catch the problem right away or at least look for them. what is a preventative way to keep this from happening on the door jams? and while on the topic of rust, my thought is to line-x the floor of the truck in the future to prevent that from happening as well. i will be parking it outside and i will be tracking snow inside the cab in the winter. right now the inside is a vinyl, which is clean but the paint has been worn off as well. it's fine for now but i am sure i will grow tired of looking at it. again, i understand this is all to be expected for a 17 year old truck and the price i bought it for! the outside really makes me smile because it is so clean, i want the inside to do the same!


i like it though, very fun to drive. so does wife. we have driven diesels but large box trucks when moving. the warming up/glow plugs has been different to get use to, retraining a habbit you have done for years. was told to let them warm up 1-3 times depending on how cold it is out (midwest) and it does a have a plug but i do not have an exterior outlet..... yet.

heres an outside picture (you can see rusty in the distance in the background lol)


thoughts? comments? everything is appreciated.

cheers
~mike

 

sometime in the summer months as well, i will do something about the rims. i thought about changing them but have been shopping rims for this truck and they are not cheap! i may just paint them black and be done with it!