1989 Ford F150 ... still running and in use

1989 Ford F-150 base Description

This 273,394 mile vehicle got that far because it's got the best engine ever made in it ... the 300 CID straight six, coupled with the T-18 manual 5-speed (RWD). This was built just down the road in the old Norfolk VA plant, and I am the third owner of this 30 year old classic. The first owner was a Ford mechanic who maintained it well (just used it to move his race cars around), and the second was my friend who was also a trained mechanic and maintained it well. I've maintained it too as an amateur mechanic ... but occasionally taking it to a pro when something is "above my pay grade”. But as my wife can't drive a manual, it's time to replace it with an automatic (she's a saint as she's tolerated it for the 10 years I've owned it).
About 2 years ago, the shifter started acting up so I took it to the local transmission shop who rebuilt the "top hat" ... he said the plastic plugs were still in place so the transmission was in perfect shape. He replaced those plugs with aluminum plugs so "I'd get years more out of it”.
I use this truck mainly for the "weekend runs to the transfer station" and little else (if you don't know what that is, then you don't live in St. Marys County). I'm starting the bidding at $100 with no reserve and LOCAL PICKUP ONLY (it's in Mechanicsville Maryland near Captain Leonard's Seafood Restaurant ... if you're not too far, I'll drive it to you for $1 per mile ... up to me what "too far" means ... you pay "up front”). Note that you'll need to bring plates to put on it to drive it home as I'll take the plates off once sold. This would make the perfect farm truck as the 4.9L straight six is known for tons of low end torque (for a great article on it, Google the term "Here's Why The Ford 300 Inline-Six Is One Of The Greatest Engines Ever" ... it will take you to Jalopnic.com ... great quote in the article is "it will tow a Sequoia up a mountain - both the tree and the truck”).
So, what's wrong and what's right with the truck ... let's see:•It has a bed liner, which I've never had out so the bed is probably rusty.•There is a "rust bubble" on the right outside near the rear wheel well, but I'm too lazy to sand it.•Some minor body damage that was sanded out and re-painted.•All lights work (although one rear license light is hanging)•You can see in the pictures the interior is just fine ... no rips (but how after 30 years there's no rips is beyond me).•Starts just fine (just took 1,000 lbs of pressure treated lumber to the landfill).•The tires look fine, but since I don't drive it much, these tires have been on for 6 years so age is what will kill the tires, not miles. Last tire issue I had was when a stem ripped and the tire went flat ... that was about 6 months ago and I cannot ever remember getting a flat. I bought the tires from tirerack.com ... they are Firestone Destination LE 2s. They get great traction (that's why I bought them).•It's got disc on the front and drums on the rear ... pretty advanced 30 years ago.•When I put the tires on 6 years ago, the people at Precision Tune said the front end needed to be re-built ... so I took it home, jacked it up, and over 3 weeks replaced every part under there ... then had the front end aligned.•These is a miss when you drive it so needs a tune up (I've bought the parts ... plugs, cap, rotor, wires ... forgot the air filter ... but they are included).•The passenger inside door handle pull is missing ... since I'm the only one who drives in it, I never bought a replacement.•AC doesn't work ... no idea how difficult it would be to fix it (but the windows roll down ;-)•The cruise control doesn't work ... did when I bought it, but stopped years ago.•The "mains" bang a bit when starting but quiet down in a minute ... running 10W-40.•Glass is solid•Rear sliding window does NOT have a latch on it.•It comes with "side boards" that I made for the bed out of pressure treated wood ... use them occasionally when I have a load of trash to take to the dump (think about when a major storm hits and you have tons of tree-trash to get to the dump ... that's when I put them on ... all hardware on those is stainless. They are not "installed" right now, but they slide in place easily.•Spare tire is missing ... like most tires hidden under the bed, when you need it they are flat. When I last tried to use it, the bracket was rusted out and the tire flat, so I threw both away.•I put an oil sensor in it from Autozone, but it's the wrong type ... the Autozone type is just a switch showing "oil pressure is present" ... it needs a real Ford oil pressure sensor so you see how MUCH pressure is present ... but it's been like that for years and works just fine.•Wiper motor probably needs to be replaced ... stops sometimes.•It has dual gas tanks ... sort of. They started leaking years ago so I had the front one replaced ... and drained the rear one, so now it has a single tank (the old rear one rusted out is still in place). The valve and switch are still installed, so you can easily replace the rear tank and again have dual tanks.
If you'd like to put a little work into it, you'd have a nice "bang about" truck ... perfect if you want to haul stuff that might "soil" your new truck.
So, is it worth the $100 starting price ... hell yes ... is it worth me keeping the truck and putting up with the complaints about the manual ... oh hell no. Naturally, the sale is "as is" condition ... while I have tried to be as complete as possible, it comes with no warranty, expressed or implied.