If there ever was a sleeper tuned to the readers of BangShift, this would be the second one I’ve seen…the first one, the 1980 Chevrolet “Farmer John” special, was snapped up by a reader who we assume has been having the time of his life with it since. Trucks make great sleepers, simply because everyone knows that they came with V8s and that there is always a contingent of people who want to have a nice old truck. As long as you keep things quiet and keep the good stuff hidden out of sight, nobody would ever be the wiser and you can smile all the way to the bank after you’ve trounced every boy racer who tries you out at the stoplights, dragstrip, whatever floats your boat.
In the case of this 1986 Ford F-150, you start with the right look: factory two-tone paint, set of older aftermarket wheels that aren’t big enough to raise suspicion, factory trailer mirrors, and if you put a license plate on up front you can hide the hole cut in the bumper for the intercooler that takes care of the two turbos that breathe on the 302 under the hood.
From the ad: “302 non h.o. built up c4 with 3000 stall. drive shaft lengthened. stall ford racing limited slip in the 8.8 rear. Lowered on djm dream beams. Cx racing twin turbo kit managed by a megasquirt pnp ecu. 60lb fuel injectors with a 465 lph in tank pump Manual steering gear box. Aem wideband failsafe gauge. Oil filter relocated to fire wall B&m pro stick shifter. Battery relocated to bed. Slap bars. A/c still works Engine is starting to show its age under boost. Down pipes could be ran better, was in a hurry to get it going by that point. Would probably switch to a demon 650 carburetor for easier use. The megasquirt can be a pain to tune if you arent familiar with laptop tuning and data logging. runs and drives fine just wouldnt consider it to be a daily driver.”
If you had the $5,800 laying around to take this beauty home, what would you do? Mild refresh and hit Drag Week? Fastest hay hauler in the state? Let us know below!
Craigslist Link: 1986 Ford F-150
(Courtesy: Bring A Trailer)
i’d swap in a 5 speed manual trans and drive it every day to work.
I’d swap the the front suspension with a late model Crown Vic one. Those twin i-beams are horrible!
Panther front end, steel wheels front and back…figure out the tune issue and clean up any of the hack work that may have been done to it…then drive the snot out of it.
i would take it and rebuild the motor, put new suspension so it can take some autocross, 6-speed and a if i was doing drag week i would make a trailer out of an old ford truck bed to carry all my crap and more importantly beer. i would rather the chevy sleeper truck but i take what i can get. i think that someone should build a dodge sleeper truck and have it featured here so there will be the big three!
Burnouts!
I’d fix the tune on the MSPNP, of course. I have a reputation to uphold. 🙂
First switch out the 302 for a 427 then go out and kick some Chevy ass with it. Just might be able to take out a couple Dodges while I’m at it.
If it was me I agree with ANGRYJOE. But the only mod I would make is getting rid of the pro stick and putting the column shifter back in it’s rightful place connected to the transmission. Having that shifter kind of blows the whole sleeper aspect imho and maybe get an electric steering box as well.
Also add an Holley EFI in place of the carb.