1998 NASCAR edition F-150 restoration complete (Page 1/1) RayOtton APR 02, 03:27 PM After a year of steady improvement I've just about completed the restoration of this collectible vehicle. There were only 3000 units made in one year, 1998 as a 50th anniversary tribute to NASCAR. I have the original window sticker which is necessary for proof since there in nothing in the VIN to distinguish this truck from a regular cab F-150 XL. I bought it, drove it for 7 years, sold it to my S-I-L for use as a work truck ( YIKES! ) and then got it back last year completely worn out and ready for the scrap heap. Had the engine rebuilt, new paint and all new suspension bits installed but the rest I did myself. Total makeover on the interior including a new headliner, new front and rear lights, roll pan rear bumper, 3" exhaust with the original ROUSH tips exiting in front of the read wheels. Interesting bit of trivia is that the prototype had the exhaust in front of the wheel which replicated the setup on the NASCAR race trucks but the feds made them move it to behind the wheel for the production run. Heh, it's now back where it was intended. The truck is NOT a Lightning as it has the 220 HP 4.6 V8 and an automatic. It does have a special rear axle ratio of 3.73 so it pulls pretty well. I have an underdrive pulley setup to add this summer as well as an electric fan. Both were on the truck and removed at the request of my S-I-L who is NOT a car guy. I also have a Superchip which requires premium fuel and he asked my to take that out too. I don't know about other applications but that chip really woke the truck up. I recalled that when I added the chip i went from leaving a 10 foot strip of rubber on hard launch to a strip about 40 or more feet long. When I first got the truck back from the engine rebuild wanted to see if my 15 year old recollection was right. Sure enough with the standard ECU I left about a 10 foot strip and after installing the chip I lit the tires up for a good 50 feet. ( We live in the country and I have a very safe place to do this type of nonsense.) I'm out of expendable dough at this point, thank you ACA, so I can't afford to get the seats redone. I found an acceptable set of covers on E-bay so it's good for now. At some point I'll want to do them because they have the NASCAR logo embroidered on the head rest cloth panel. It's in very good condition so that panel could be sewn into the new seat fabric. I didn't have a camera at the start of the project so no "before" pics but imagine any completely used up F-150 work truck form that era and you have a pretty good idea where I started. All in all it was a lot of fun and the bonus is that my wife loves pickup trucks so she didn't roll her eyes like she did for certain sports car that is sitting in the garage.