New user here. I’m embarking on a journey to restore my old ‘88 F150 5.0 V8 302 4x4 XLT Lariat. Still trying to figure out what transmission I have. I see a tag that has E8TA-AA on it and my google search tells me it’s a BorgWarner transfer case. Tranny is fine so I’ll check that out later. Anyway..

Story time: It was my first truck I bought outta high school in ‘98. Ended up giving it to my dad in ‘01 and he’s had it ever since. He certainly used it and abused it as it was his daily driver and hunting/camping ride. It was supposed to be my son’s first ride last year but it was giving him idle/stalling issues. It sat parked for several months until I commandeered it. He’s since gotten a ‘14 F150 and the ‘88 is officially mine again. Although my daughter wants it but she has a few years to wait.

Here’s where the fun began. Figured out the idle issue and needed to get it smogged (CA) to register it. Failed miserably. Wanted a quick diagnosis and my local shop said cyl 6 was dead and cyl 8 only had 20 PSI. Great shop but they wouldn’t rebuild and wanted $8k to replace it. I took it back and currently have a Jasper motor on the way. Should be here beginning of July. Once she’s up and running (legally) I’ll replace some aged undercarriage components moving on to body work. Want to clean up the interior and add sound deadening and new carpet. Ultimately I’ll repaint it and replace molding, decals, and badges. My goal is to keep it as original as possible. I’m sure I’ll have many questions in the near future but here’s what I’m curious about now.

Whats y’all’s impression/experience with Jasper?
Where can one find original pinstripe decals? (I’ll attach pics to show you what I mean.)

Sorry for the long post. I should add I’m NO MECHANIC, but have found some enjoyment working on it. Especially with my daughter. YouTube, Chilton, and Google has been my friend. DIY!






Pinstripe remnants

“Ghost” pinstripe 😆

Pinstripe remnants

More “ghost” pinstripe to show original pattern

 

Looks like a very clean truck you have there! Sucks that you have to deal with CARB. Another reason I love Wisconsin...😁

I know a guy that specializes in Powerstrokes (and is ALWAYS tearing engines down) is a big fan of Jasper. No firsthand experience unfortunately.

Those pinstripes aren't the correct ones, and look dealer installed. The factory stripes would have been right at the top of the inward taper around the beltline....yours are below that taper. The top of the stripe should basically meet with the top of the taillights.

Yours would look like this, but colors depend on the color scheme of your truck. The border color on both sides usually matches the body color, or the upper section of the two tone pattern if you have one. The center could be red or blue or something bright, depending on body color.


EDIT: I stand corrected. Yours appears to be the factory stripe. Single body color schemes weirdly had the pinstripe the way yours is, below the taper and a totally different style from what the two-tone body schemes used. Check through 3M Scotchcal designs, I'm sure that style is still made by them.

 

Nice truck. Are you doing the engine install yourself? I have a Jasper 4.0 in a Jeep. I've put 135,000 miles on it in 9 years. Zero engine problems. It came with a 3 year / 36k mile warranty, but it also has heat indicators internally installed, so if you overheat it, the warranty is void.

I had mine installed by a local mechanic. I've always religiously changed the oil and kept fluids checked. I have had to do the alternator, water pump, vacuum lines and crank sensor but no actual engine issues.

Can you do me a favor and try to get pictures of the hard tubing that connects vertically between your catalytic converter and the air injection tubing on the back of your engine? I have the soft tubing that connects to the converter, and the hard tubing that runs vertically towards the divert valve but I'm missing the check valve that goes between them, dead center, at the back of the engine. If you can't get the picture, no problem. It's a hell of a tight spot.

Good luck with your truck.

 

Thanks, Christian. She looks clean after a fresh wax in a dimly lit fire station bay. The rustic hood and roof add a nice touch. 😆 It’s riddled with dents and dings that the pics don’t show that great. Thinking about replacing the passenger bed panel and cab corner if my PDR attempts fail. But I’ve scoured the interweb for something remotely close to the original pinstriping to no avail. The molding that runs the bottom is easy enough to find. I may just cut my own vinyl if it comes down to it.

 

Thanks, Soup! Looks like they have a 3 year/100k warranty now. I don’t think my shop would offer to put a Jasper in if they thought it was trash, but if you look at BBB there’re some reviews that are not in Jasper’s favor. Can’t make everyone happy. Also had to purchase their install kit. It runs ok now other than it being a V6.2 for the time being. A local mechanic will install as they won’t sell to Joe Blo home mechanics, only certified installers. I’ll try and assist or hold a flashlight or whatever. 😆 I’m at work and won’t be home until Thurs morning so I’ll try and snap photos then.

Also, how do you reply without quoting people? 🤔

 

If you’re on computer or tablet, scroll to the bottom and there will be a box to type in. If you’re on a phone there will be a reply button in place of the typing box.

 

Check 1,2,..

 

The stripes on the OP's truck are dealer installed. On the genuine Ford stripes, the upper stripe is much wider than the lower stripe.

Genuine Ford available stripe colors: Bright Blue (upper), Light Blue (lower) // Charcoal (upper), Red Orange (lower) // Chestnut (upper), Tan (lower).

 

Good looking truck, I like the story behind it. Nice southern truck too, great starting point.

Take a look at Phoenix Graphix. They have repo pin stripes. Not cheap, but very we’ll made.
https://www.phoenixgraphix.com

do you still have the lower factory trim? If so, save it. Hard to find a full matching set. Or LMC has aftermarket, which is a generic trim - it’s close, but not quite right either. LMC also has the fender badging etc.

Can’t help with Jasper, others might chime in on it.

Good luck with the project.

 

Jasper engines is not far from where I live in Wisconsin. They have been around as long as I can remember. They are a high quality rebuilder. Many many repair shops in the area use their stuff with confidence. If you go to any dirt track or roundy round racing events in Wisconsin you will see most cars in the fields running Jasper engines. They are quite prevalent in the tractor pulling motor sports as well. Thats a big thing in Wisconsin and the other corn belt states.

 

I’ve never really consider the pinstripes to be installed by the dealer or original owner for that matter. I’ll most likely cut my own vinyl in that case.

I have a few pieces of the OG molding pieces but they’re in rough shape. I did find a couple sites that sell it in pre-cut pieces or one continuous roll. LMC has A LOT of the items I want so my shopping list is growing. They don’t have the instrument cluster bezel which is disappointing, but I’m entertaining the idea of hydro dipping the wood grain portion.



The cluster plastic has been replaced since this was taken and LED lights installed. The bezels are rough tho.


I’m pretty excited about the Jasper motor. Once that’s up and running I’ll be more motivated to work on other stuff. Like my PDR skills with my Amazon tools 😆

Thanks for everyone’s input thus far.

UPDATE: Ordered an upper bezel off eBay in damn good condition for only $50. Lower left bezel I got off LMC although the label above the fuel selector had “rear window” on it. Those just popped off and I swapped it from the original bezel. Lower right bezel is original. I did some touching up on the wood grain with an airbrush.

 

Hey Soup, I haven’t had the chance to crawl under my truck yet but I found a thread that may help you if you haven’t seen it yet. Not sure how to share threads or tag you in it but here’s some screen shots…

 

Thanks for finding that. I'm looking for the next check valve downstream. Three different ones are shown on parts websites, but that'll help me narrow it down.

 

This was on that thread too if it helps

 

A little progress on the interior today

Original

Restored. Upper bezel: eBay. Lower left bezel: LMC. Leather steering wheel wrap: Amazon

Original

Restored