Steves Lariat

Another question has come up in my ongoing restoration of my '85 Lariat XLT. Hoping you guys can provide an answer... The Marti report says the truck came ordered with the Explorer D package. Does that mean the truck could have -- or would have -- had an Explorer badge/emblem on the side body panel near the tailgate? I have seen other 85s with a metal Explorer emblem, and I've seen 84s with what looks like a painted on Explorer graphic. My truck has the 'Lariat' and 'XLT' emblems but not an Explorer emblem. But it was also repainted at some point so not sure if the emblem was removed or lost, or if it never had one.

Thanks, guys. Then I will assume the truck was repainted in silver (argent) at some point in its life but left the factory in Wimbledon White. Like I said, I've only seen one other Bullnose in my color scheme, so wasn't sure if it was even a factory option.

Yes, 3L is on the order.

One more image.

Sorry about the image. Having trouble right-sizing it. But you can see the colors there. My door tag says 3L and 9A.

Hey Everyone, I'm hoping you can help me solve a mystery as I go about restoring my bullnose. My '85 F150 Lariat is equipped with Deluxe TuTone Paint. Right now the scheme is Midnight Blue Metallic and Silver (not sure the exact name). When I bought it, I was told the truck had been resprayed at some point in its original colors. But the Marti report and the door tag list Midnight Blue Metallic and Wimbledon White. My guess is the Marti report and the door tag are right, and that the original accent color is Wimbledon White. I've only seen one other bullnose with my truck's blue and silver scheme as well. But is it possible the accent color could have been silver? Perhaps a dealer special order or change?

No, it's not blue. That would have been easy! The choices were black or white. I got a black one and am dyeing it blue. We'll see how it turns out.

Just wanted to update you guys. I ended up buying a new dash pad from Dennis Carpenter rather than trying to source an old, OEM, brittle one. Hope that works out -- at least the material will be fresh. Thanks as always for your wisdom and advice.

...or one finger poke away from broken.

You guys know you're stuff. You're describing exactly what happened to me. I spent months looking and finally sourced a mint dash pad to replace the cracked one on my truck. But in moving it around to do the install, damnit if a chunk of the speaker mesh didn't break off. It's not as damaged as the original one on the truck now, but still. It's more than a little crack in the webbing. I hear what you are saying about throwing good money after bad. I appreciate the warning and advice. But at the same time, my goal is to restore the truck to original condition or close to it. It's going to bother me to have a cracked dash or an aftermarket cover. Why are they so darn brittle? Just age? And assuming I do source one and install it without incident, will it be as fragile once installed? I've seen plenty of Bullnose trucks and Broncos for sale that still have nice dashes. They must have been carefully cared for.

The dash pad on my '85 F150 has the typical problem of cracked plastic speaker mesh. Willing to pay top $$$ for a mint blue factory dash pad. Contact: stevenkurutz@gmail.com

Hey, thank you. If I keep the Edelbrock, I'll take you up on that offer.

Jim, still figuring out which model Edelbrock I have. The truck is at a local garage at present. I probably should have said I'm turning to dealing with the carb after taking care of several other things, including: New ball joints, new tie rods, tightened steering box, new alternator, new battery (one with the proper CCA), new voltage regulator, new air filter, new fuel filter, new plugs and plug wires, oil change and new distributor cap.

I was told by a garage that, similar to how Jim described the Westchester/NYC area, the truck wouldn't get a deep dive into the emissions during inspection. But it def won't pass with the hosing disconnected. You have to make a show of it at least. Part of why I considered replacing the Edelbrock is I figured the issues with the poor performance right now are related to the aftermarket carb or the way it was set up. But as some have pointed out, it may be that with a kick-down linkage adapter and other fixes, the Eddy will run a lot smoother and I won't have to spend the money.