1996 F-150 Hurst Edition...does it exsist?

[gaytrey1987]

Gentlemen (and ladies) a friend of mine that owns a car dealership has a list of cars and trucks to call me about if he gets one in on the lot, and I was called in Monday. He said he had a dandy of a truck he wanted me to see. Upon my arrival, I found him standing behind what appeared to be a mid-90's F-150 Shortbed, and an Eddie Bauer edition at that,,, white and gold. We sat and chatted about it for a sec, and I asked to get the keys to start it. He warned me that the truck needed o2 sensors as well as a couple of others, because some aftermarket mods had messed up the computer. I got the keys, and as I was unlocking the door, a logo on the side of the truck caught my eye: a raised "Hurst Equipped" emblem, not a decal but the actual chrome raised emblem, right under and offset a little from the F-150. I looked at it for a second, then dismissed it as a decoration that someone had added for effect. I opened up the truck, to reveal a fairly decent tan interior, with all the options, plus a Hurst shifter, with a new boot that is already fairly mangled.

I started the truck, and the sound told me that I was dealing with a 300cu.in (4.9 litre) inline 6, and the shudder told me it was running incredibly too lean, a symptom of bad o2 sensors. I opened the hood to find the engine in fairly clean condition, with a new PowerAid brand injector system, and a K&N FilterCharger system. I closed it up, slapped a dealer plate on, and off to the local AutoZone I went to have the sensors checked.

Upon arrival at the AutoZone, the usual person who deals with me came out with the computer wand and connected to the computer....yup, no o2 sensors, or crankshaft position sensors, therefore the engine was running VERY lean. I asked the gentleman, even though I knew exaclty where they should be, where I would find the o2 sensors. He speculated for a moment, and then crawled under the truck as I went inside. About five minutes later, he came back inside with a strange look on his face, and told us that he couldn't find an o2 sensor on it anywhere, at least, not where they should be, and he said that he also couldnt quite understand the functionality of dual exhaust on an I-6. I came out to the truck, and opened the hood, and we located the o2 sensors in the headers. Yes, not header, headers.... the engine has true dual exhaust, 3+3 headers (3cyl per), with an o2 sensor right at the top of the header.... not factory stock usually on a Ford pickup, but on this truck, the wiring made obvious that it was done exactly as was meant to be done. It was decided it would cost 100$ almost exactly to replace both o2 sensors, and 20$ for the CPS. I was elated, after thinking that one sensor would be as expensive as the o2 sensor in my Toyota (nearly 250$).

I then went to an insurance provider to get a quote, and when the truck was looked at I was immediatley denied, because of the Hurst logos. My normal insurance provider looked at the vehicle, and agreed to cover it, but only at full coverage. When I enquired as to why, they told me because the vehicle is an oddball model, as the inline six wasn't supposed to have exsisted in that model, that there where very few hurst models, and that Eddie Bauer edition models had higher resale than most trucks. Therefore, full coverage it was......

Then, I went to the gas station today to fill the truck up...and it has 2 tanks. 2 tanks on a 6-cyl....WHY? On a shortbed noless. Its a confusing vehicle. Anyway, i guess my question is: Does this truck really exsist? Is it a Hurst edition truck? If not, I can say that someone has had ALOT of professional work done to the vehicle by someone that knows ALOT about Hurst. Allow me to say this much for the shifter and tranny..... the 5th gear in that truck is worthless in town, but when you hit about 70 and shift to 5th, that truck grows some balls reallly quick! The computer shuts it down at 135, and at that point its not even really strained yet! Go figure. Anywho....just wanted to check out and see if it is what it says it is.... all I know is that it was worth the $2400 total i've put into it so far (to include price). Its a nice old truck!

Thanks,

William Stecker
1979 Ford Grenada
1986 Pontiac Fiero GT (FOR SALE)
1990 Dodge Grand Caravan
1996 Ford F-150 Eddie Bauer HURST

[waterboy333]

i have a friend with a truck very similar to yours, its just a plain old 6 cyl that someone took a little extra care on and added some goodies. i never understood the dual tank thing either it only holds about what 30 gallons total. go figure