Denise’s Ford F-250

My mom and dad were the original owners of this truck. It was purchased to pull a camp trailer. Dad installed a camper shell so that he could carry his fishing boat on top and his motor bike inside along with all the additional equipment that he wanted to carry. The truck was used for this purpose from the original purchase until they could no longer go on extended camping excursions. They then used the truck as a ranch truck for dump runs and picking up lumber etc. until dad passed in March of 2000.
My wife and I inherited the truck then but were not sure of what we were going to do with it. My wife Denise had always wanted some type of custom truck of her own so we set out on upgrading the truck for her.
As I was not satisfied with just a stock truck but also wanted to keep it somewhat looking like the truck my parents owned we elected keep the exterior basically as original looking with a few exceptions and of course keep it the original color.
I started by removing all the stock running gear and replacing it with a fuel injected, computer controlled Ford 460 engine and transmission from a 97 Ford F-350. This included a custom cooling system from Fontana Radiator and a Flex-A-Lite fan shroud. An upgraded Air Conditioning system was added from Classic Auto Air. As the fuel tank behind the seat needed to be removed to make room for computer and radio equipment and the side tank needed to be removed because the engine and transmission was too large to fit so a custom 42 gallon tank was built by John Rose for some extended travel. The original rear end was all that was left. The suspension was lowered 4 inched in back the 3 inched in front with the help of a dropped twin “I” beam axle. Original front disc brakes were kept in place. The wheels are still 8 lug wheels that have been custom built by John Rose so the smaller old style Ford hubcaps would fit and give it a nostalgia look. To make room for the engine in the engine compartment a different style 69 Ford steering box was used which also included a new tilt steering column. All gauges are Dakota Digital.
The truck then headed North to National Auto Body and Paint in Goleta California which was a body shop owned by a friend of mine. The process here was to remove all the chrome, glass, truck bed and anything else that could be removed. All paint was removed and bodywork was performed as needed.
As the painting started it was apparent that truck was going to be much nicer than originally planned so I contacted LMC truck to purchase all the items that would set this truck off as it deserved. From LMC we added all new glass, chrome, door handles, interior seats, dash cover, carpet, headliner, window controls, door panels, grille, bumper front and rear, inside tail gate latch so that I could be locked up. A custom built third brake light built by John Rose covers the vacated latch spot. The bed cover is from Lear.