New guy from Southeastern Wisconsin

[83fromwisco]

Hello!

My name is Ben and I have an '83 F150 that I have owned for 4 years now. My dad originally bought the truck off of my uncle when I was 16. The truck sat for a period of time before I got my hands on it, so it was quite dilapidated. After graduating high school, and purchasing the truck from my father, I spent over a full year using it as my daily driver while working in construction and working as a janitor. After a solid year of use I had to lay the truck up for a much needed trans rebuild. It was not long after the rebuild that I decided to rip the truck apart and bring this truck back to a respectable level. My restoration commenced and the entire body was overhauled. A new cab and box were sourced from southern trucks as the original body had succumbed to the cancer caused by tormenting winters of living in Wisconsin for most of its life. (For anyone who has never lived in the rust belt, consider yourself blessed hahah!) As time progressed so did the truck; new hood and fenders were finished and the entire body was sprayed with Medium Red Metallic. If you geek out on details and technical data like I do, that's the 2S paint code from 83. 

There has been a LOT more done to the truck as well, including tires, brakes, and the interior is on the way. I have also been doing research over the past year or so, and some big plans for fuel injection are in the works as well, so I'll keep you all posted on what is coming up in the next year or so. Anyway, all of the two years of work is what you see here in the pictures. All of the work you see here aside from the trans rebuild, is work that I did myself with the help of several great mentors along the way. Forever grateful to those guys.

Unfortunately, playtime had to come to a halt for a while at the end of the summer of 2016, and now at the age of 22, I find myself in my third year of college in hot pursuit of a physics/engineering degree.

She is back to being my daily driver (although she sits more than anything with all of my time now devoted to classes and work) and the original power train continues to soldier on with the odometer now approaching 150,000 miles.

I first found this forum while doing research on the EEC-III system on FTE, and I must confess that I too lurked through the forums here for a number of months before I decided to join. I really like how much data has been compiled on this site and how even some of the less common equipment on these trucks is actually present and talked about.  

So that's a little bit about me, thanks for reading through my intro. Looking forward to learning a lot from you guys and learning more about these trucks!

Ben

[Gary Lewis]

Ben - Welcome!  Glad you found us and decided to join.  

That's quite a story about the truck.  And, it makes it special.

But, is the degree physics or engineering?  Or both?  Mine is math & physics, but I had two years of EE before I changed schools and had to switch.

That's a really good looking truck.  You've really done a good job.  You should start a build thread, tell us what you've done, add some pics, and have something you'll be able to get back to.

Oh yes, where's home?  We have a member's map (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map) and I could add you if you'd like.

[grumpin]

Welcome! Nice truck!

[1986F150Six]

Yes, a very nice truck. I typically go for originality, but do rather like your body colored spoked wheels. They add to the overall cleanness of your truck!

Welcome!

[Ford F834]

Welcome! You have a beautiful truck and do nice work!  Glad to have you on board!

[83fromwisco]

The degree is in both actually!
Wow, I havent met too many other physics/math majors that are also car guys.

Thank you! it turns a few heads every now and then. Fun to drive, had a few offers from people as well, no one really wanted what I was asking though. I will start a build thread, thanks for the suggestion! I've got a number of pictures. Ill be doing the rear main seal and oil pan gasket on it in a few weeks.

I'm actually from the Racine area. It's in the lower portion of southeastern WI.
If I remember correctly, I think I'm the only one in WI., but I could be wrong

[83fromwisco]

Thank you! It still has a long way to go.

I understand your view on originality, the old white rims just blended in with the chrome and the paint too much. I wanted to take the body lines, and treat it as a blank canvas. I want to take it and bring it into what  a 21st century version might have looked like (minus the plastic and safety features hahah). the end goal was always a resto-mod restoration. The rims pop a lot more now with the new paint  

[Gary Lewis]

Well, the dual degrees came kind of as an accident.  I discovered that I would be just a few hours shy of a degree in math by the time I got the degree in physics.  So, why not take those hours?

Would you like me to put you on the member's map?  In Racine?

[Ferdinand]

Welcome Ben. Love the color of that truck!

[83fromwisco]

I totally agree with that, I feel the same way, which is why I chose to do the dual degree. Wont be much more for the second degree.
Sure, go ahead, I took a peak at it, looks pretty cool!

[Gary Lewis]

You are literally on the map.