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Anyone else on here from ol' Ioway?
Oh yeah, and the truck is a beautiful 1989 Ford F350, with 327,000 miles. Original bodywork, original engine and transmission. No bodywork has ever been done, not even a touchup (other than normal stuff like waxing and washing and polishing paint), and the engine and transmission have never been rebuilt (tranny did have a shift kit installed early in its life).
Engine is a mite tired, the transmission occasionally makes a funny shift, but hey, it still runs, runs great, and it can HAUL big time. And eat fuel big time... (13 highway, 4-8 when towing). And the axle just failed... :O
The original owner used it to tow a 45-foot, 10 horse trailer with full living quarters and a tack room every other week on a round trip of 700 miles. He took good care of it, otherwise it would never have been as nice as it is now.
Anyways, some pics.
When we first got it:
![Image](http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad116/aofarrell2/1989%20Ford%20F350%20XLT%20Lariat/2013-01-0995145551_zps2f93491f.jpg)
![Image](http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad116/aofarrell2/1989%20Ford%20F350%20XLT%20Lariat/2013-01-0995145534_zpsf1fd57ff.jpg)
Paint was faded, tires were treadbare, the interior was VERY dirty, and the front seat was worthless.
After a hard afternoon's work polishing and waxing:
![Image](http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad116/aofarrell2/1989%20Ford%20F350%20XLT%20Lariat/OldTimershiny_zps806ac881.jpg)
![Image](http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad116/aofarrell2/1989%20Ford%20F350%20XLT%20Lariat/0718131038_zpsa4ffd69a.jpg)
New shoes playing in the field:
![Image](http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad116/aofarrell2/1989%20Ford%20F350%20XLT%20Lariat/Muddytiresinpasture_zps1a511f9c.jpg)
Doing what it does best (trailer grossed approx. 18,000lbs):
![Image](http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad116/aofarrell2/1989%20Ford%20F350%20XLT%20Lariat/BigRigTowing_zps2be5306e.png)
The only two flaws (basically) in the whole body:
![Image](http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad116/aofarrell2/1989%20Ford%20F350%20XLT%20Lariat/IMAG0802_zpsmw1ntiwn.jpg)
![Image](http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad116/aofarrell2/1989%20Ford%20F350%20XLT%20Lariat/IMAG0803_zpsd43roses.jpg)
Since the front seat was soooo bad, I had to get a new seat. The seat that was in there was a 40/20/40 bucket seat. After searching long and hard I couldn't find a bucket or a bench seat of my interior colour unless I shipped it in from New Zealand :O Yes I checked on salvage yard interchange.
So I got a bench seat out of a 1994 regular cab F150 with a gray interior. After an afternoon of washing it was close to new:
![Image](http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad116/aofarrell2/1989%20Ford%20F350%20XLT%20Lariat/IMAG0969_zpshrperevr.jpg)
The back seat was totally opposite. Strange but literally true: The back seat had NEVER EVER been used until we got the truck just over a year ago! And yes it was original. It was brand new.
![Image](http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad116/aofarrell2/1989%20Ford%20F350%20XLT%20Lariat/IMAG0985_zpsr0bsabys.jpg)
A quick vacuum and it shone:
![Image](http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad116/aofarrell2/1989%20Ford%20F350%20XLT%20Lariat/IMAG0983_zpsigdjp5oz.jpg)
After some soap and water:
![Image](http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad116/aofarrell2/1989%20Ford%20F350%20XLT%20Lariat/IMAG0971_zpskgloauur.jpg)
![Image](http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad116/aofarrell2/1989%20Ford%20F350%20XLT%20Lariat/IMAG0972_zpsvabe1ocl.jpg)
![Image](http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad116/aofarrell2/1989%20Ford%20F350%20XLT%20Lariat/IMAG0944_zpsnbgkkmra.jpg)
The only flaw in the whole carpet (a bit of grease stain, I keep working on it and it keeps coming out very slowly):
![Image](http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad116/aofarrell2/1989%20Ford%20F350%20XLT%20Lariat/IMAG0958_zps65kdzvui.jpg)
The rear carpet is like new without a flaw or stain:
![Image](http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad116/aofarrell2/1989%20Ford%20F350%20XLT%20Lariat/IMAG0966_zps3xzyclkg.jpg)
And finally, a bed without a SINGLE rust through. Almost no dents either. And a Ford dealer installed fold-down gooseneck hitch. (yes the running boards and bedrails are factory from Ford):
![Image](http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad116/aofarrell2/1989%20Ford%20F350%20XLT%20Lariat/IMAG0804_zpsbmnjjhrs.jpg)
So there ya go...