The inspiration for today’s Rough Start find comes straight from the weather around BangShift Mid-West. Thanks to all of those April showers that will bring May’s flowers (read: dandelions by the acre), every last parcel of land that isn’t paved over or coated three times over with good gravel has a consistency somewhere between marshland and thick soup. Nothing against our project Chrysler, but this is a good time for it to rest in the driveway for a bit…mostly because if it so much as dips a tire off into the grass, I fear it will sink halfway to China.

So off to the Lists of Craig I went to hunt down what would qualify as a good truck for the five thousand dollar budget cap we use. It had to be a four-wheel-drive that looked respectable enough to be parked at church…no stacks, no camo-wrap things, and no truck nutz hanging off of the bumper. And no rust. We also wanted something simple to work on, a truck that has held up well in the test of time, and looks good. And we think that we scored with this 1985 Ford F-150.

What’s not to like? The big Ford sits on an eight-inch Skyjacker lift and 35″ BFGs, and the only issue we can see from the photos, the creased hood, isn’t an issue…a replacement hood is included in the deal. The bed cap is a nice touch as well, but the real joy is the running gear. The legendary 300ci Ford six cylinder is backed with a four-speed. It doesn’t have the noise of a good 351, but you’ll have plenty of power and the four-speed will make driving that much more enjoyable…we promise. The interior even looks good, and will look better once that camo seat cover hits the trashcan.

For the money, we’d buy the truck, get the new hood color-matched and leave well enough alone. Pick it apart if you must, but this Ford would be a great find for someone looking for a solid old truck that can be fixed with a hammer or duct tape.

Craigslist Link: 1985 Ford F-150