"Gas FM" Radio Bezel

[Danny G]

I have never seen this radio bezel before. Is this something they did with the F2/350 series to distinguish between gas and diesel models?

[ArdWrknTrk]

Never seen anything like that before.  

Seems to be a reminder not to fill the truck with diesel.

[Ford F834]

I’m going with owner modification. Ford already printed “Diesel Fuel Only” on the cluster mask directly below the tach for 6.9 trucks. Catalyst engines were marked “Unleaded Fuel Only”, and non-Catalyst engines had no marking there…

[mat in tn]

its the "f" and "m" that I am not getting. am I about to "face palm" ? help me out here.

[salans7]

I've been playing with these trucks since around 2008 and I have never come across any photos of another truck with handwriting in marker on the radio bezel from the factory. It's definitely a former or current owner's handywork.

[mat in tn]

Fred and Margaret!

[Danny G]

I think it's FM for FM radio maybe I'll go play with it in a minute to see if it's added on.

[Danny G]

It would appear at some point in this trucks life someone used an oil based polyurethane or some yelling adhesive to coat this bezel resulting in the burl laminate to crumble. It also appears it was used to glue those letters in place  came off pretty easy.  They look darn well as old as the truck it's self.

[ArdWrknTrk]

That's methed up!  

[mat in tn]

oh now i get it . its a twin tank truck. front and middle.

[dirtymac]

I had cousins that would mark around the gas cap and door to remind their kids and wives not to put gas in the diesel truck.  Never seen this done on a dash before.  To me it screams desperation after someone made some mistakes.

[Danny G]

Sadly this is a rare case of the bezel not having damaged mounting tabs for the screws. I found some burl laminate I may try on this.

[ArdWrknTrk]

There was a guy on here a few years back who was pattern matching burlwood and rosewood steering wheel horn bar and radio bezel appliques.
I think he started out doing it to Crown Vic's and David caught him from his eBay store.
The finished product looked fantastic!  🤩

As I recall his name was Perry.
A lot of members were after the brushed aluminum XLS trim but he couldn't find a perfect match, then he had to move location and kinda dropped off the radar.

I don't know if it was overwhelming or too far outside his wheelhouse, but I can try to find the thread...

Edit :  https://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/Woodgrain-repair-kit-for-ideas-only-td30473.html

[ArdWrknTrk]

Diesel spout is bigger than unleaded so you can't fail the other way around, but a friend had one of his drivers put 30 gallons of gasoline in a diesel van and completely destroy the engine....

Notice, no ROTFL smiley here.
I think perhaps they should make diesel gas caps green.
They say you can't fix stupid.  

[dirtymac]

If you're at a gas station, yes, but if you're getting fuel from the farm, you never know what kind of pump handle you might have :)