Need input on a late 80's F350 DRW I'm thinking about

[96discoXD]

I was talking with my father a bit today and he mentioned that he had bought back one of his old trucks. It got the wheels spinning in my head and I'm trying to decide whether or not it might be worth digging into further.
The truck is a '87-'89 F350 drw 2 wheel drive chassis cab with a 12ft flat bed on it. The cab is rusty but my father is picking up a nice cab and front clip from a '96 (not sure if it is a straight bolt-on affair or not). The truck has a remanufactured 6.9 diesel that runs like a top, not sure what trans or rear end is in it. I'm thinking about buying it or going in on it with my father, removing the rear lift gate and bed sides on the flat bed, then putting a 8-10ft camper on the bed or a larger one with the rear overhang. I would then put tool/gear boxes on the sides of the camper where the gap would be on the flatbed. I would also possibly have room in between the front of the camper and flatbed to put more storage there to haul additional gear.
This wouldn't be as much of an expedition truck, i.e., no trails, just fire/gravel roads and two tracks. I was going to pick up a camper to pull behind my jeep for deer hunting etcetera, but I figured this might be a better way to go and with a larger truck camper I can get more creature comforts if I want to do some longer trips with it.
My other question is whether there are any options out there for a slight lift, particularly in the front of the truck to get a little larger tires on it if possible. I know I can probably run a 32+" tire as is though.
What do you guys think, is it worth looking at?

 

[Rot Box]

Imo the IDI diesel was one of the best engines put into a light duty pickup. They are underpowered by todays standards, but they are extremely reliable and very easy to work on. Replacement parts are cheap and easy to find compared to other diesel equipped trucks out there. If you change the glowplugs make sure they are Motorcraft Beru's and NOTHING else. A turbo kit will increase the power quite substantially but it adds complexity. If you want a turbo keep your eyes peeled for a used one (any of the aftermarket kits are good) and have it rebuilt it will save you a lot of money vs. buying a new one. The later front clip will interchange with a little work, but why? The brick nose trucks are cool! (I only say that because I have one lol)... You will want to join http://oilburners.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=34 without question. Is it an automatic? If so the E4OD is a fairly good trans but expensive to rebuild so make sure it is in good shape.

If the 2wd will do what you need it to I would jump on it. That said my crew cab will bury itself before I even get into a mud hole in 2wd though--its pretty bad. Anyway I am very familiar with this engine and also the trucks for the most part if you need any specifics or advise just hit me up I will try to help :bike_rider:

Andrew

 

[96discoXD]

Thanks for the input Andrew. I believe my father has a complete banks turbo kit for the 6.9 rattling around somewhere in his stash. It is an automatic truck, but I don't know if it's a C6 of E4OD. I might even look at converting the truck to 4wd if possible, but I don't know if I would bother. My plan would be to just put some good all terrain tires on it for better "off road" performance, maybe even some mud-type tires? I figure it may only be 2wd, but it has 4 tires back there to move it around. I wouldn't have a winch on it though, so I would have to be careful to stay away from the deeper mud.
Is the cab from a '96 interchangeable with the earlier front sheetmetal? I'm with you, I like the older style Ford front ends, my father still has his '89 F250 (unfortunately with a 302) with only 30-40K miles on it, it's like a time capsule!
He was talking about starting to drive it more, but he just picked up a killer deal on a '99 F350 with the 7.3 powerstroke, now he found a potential deal on a 7.3 F450 dually 4wd with a bad trans. I'd love to jump on the F450, but I don't have the funds with my jeep project in the works right now.