1988 ford F250 diesel custom for sale by owner - Portland, OR - craigslist (2024)

I sanded off the crap clear coat and did my best at patching dents on the body. It needs more work here. I completely cleaned the under carriage with sand paper, soda blasting, power washing etc., then painted and undercoated it. Oregon doesn't salt roads. So, there aren't any major rust problems. Surface rust, sure, but the steel is solid.

I degreased and cleaned the engine bay and painted as much of the engine and bay as I could reach to protect it. Looks pretty good too! But my focus was getting paint coverage on the old engine. I spent many hours taping off stuff and did a pretty good job I think. I used rustoleum ceramic primer and paint, engine temp compliant. I also painted the underside of the oil pan in the same color. I couldn't reach the sides, so its only a partial restoration on the engine paint, unfortunately, but look this isn't a show car.

It has the 5 speed zf5 in it. It runs strong but grinds like many of these do in 4th gear. I skip it and go straight to 5. It has good running gears in the dana axle. I think its a 4:10. It flies on the freeway once you get up to speed. It has a brake controller, by the prior owner. I've never used it. A new rear bumper, ebay job. its nice, but not flawless, it was a couple hundred bucks and will work fine. Better than original but you can have both if you want them.

I pulled the front grill, its in fine shape. Chrome plated plastic like all the rest. I pulled the seat and vinyl flooring. Floor pans are in very good condition for its age. As are all the door wells, etc. I’ve got the seat out and I soda blasted it and painted it. Its old but fine. The cover, cloth is fine but you might want to upgrade. I found a place that will do leather for $375, that's what I would do. I pulled the door windows and back window. I cleaned an painted the mechanical parts in the doors (window mechanisms). Pulled the battery supports, cleaned and painted them, painted a lot of the engine compartment. Scraped and cleaned the truck bed. My thought was to put a bedliner back there. I have complete weatherstripping. Odometer says 75 k, who knows but I believe that. I mentioned that I just replaced the clutch. The dual mass was in it, so it could have been the original clutch replacement. That would mean that it was probably lower miles than higher miles. I really don't know. Many people say these are 1,000,000 engines. Again, who knows. But these do run well when driven regularly.

Overall I have a ton of work and about $13k into it. So, I'm going to sell it. I’d like to make a little money. But I think it’s worth $20k. I'm firm. I've seen these go for mid 30's as old stock. A custom IDI could be worth a fair amount, I think.

It needs a paint job and final touches, I could do it and charge more or buyer could paint it their favorite color and get custom leather bench seat and then paint the vinyl on the doors and dash (which are all in good shape, no cracks in the dash). People love these and it will roll coal. Some have put a turbo on these. I think its a great truck for a collection, for a college tailgater or high school kid, or a nice working puller. It has many years of life left. Who knows, it could continue to go up in value. It’s in Oregon but belongs in Texas. Oregon wants these off the road, lol. Oregon doesn't like diesels, lol.

If you’re interested, let’s talk. I'm only selling because I have a real estate development I'm putting cash into and $20K gets me a foundation. I do like this though and would keep it otherwise. But I think I'll buy my son his truck when in a couple years instead of holding on to this one for him, which was my plan before the interest rate chaos. Thanks for looking!