On Monday I purchased my dream vehicle (next to a flying spaceship) a 1997 Ford F-250 Heavy Duty Crew Cab XLT 7.3 liter Powerstroke.
My truck has 300 thousand miles on it as of yesterday. The truck is full of grandpa chrome as you can tell from the pictures. However, this truck is extremely special as the Ford F250 HD was only produced for one year. My build date is 04/97 which means it was produced in the first quarter of 97. The truck has minimal rust as in no rust on the body. The only rust on the truck is on the aftermarket rear bumper.
Tonight I will begin by taking apart the interior door panels on the driver and passenger side of the truck to do some basic maintenance (pics will follow) on the latching mechanisms. If you know anyone with good door panels please shoot me a DM. I have already removed the tool box and tank from the rear of the truck and given them back to the person I bought it from as I did not want them. The body work that is needed on the truck is mainly paint corrections as there is not a whole lot of damage on this 21 year old truck.
My eventual plan is to remove everything from the frame of the truck and have it powder coated. Remove all the trim and replace it with gun metal gray pieces. Have the truck painted and replace the floor of the bed along with the wheel wells. Hopefully do some minor power upgrades and efficiency upgrades to bring it closer to modern diesel standards.