Behind the Wheel of Vintage Steel

[Crabenho]

WOW! Two months since my last update. My lack of posts is not an indication of inactivity. I've fabricated multiple carb spacers to try and mitigate heat soak, flushed my coolant system, replaced all my heater hoses, ditched the oil bath air filter with a restored junk yard find and re-did some of my exhaust work. The holidays stole the time I normally had to put my work in words. Looks like I'll have some time to write this weekend. Happy New Year!

[19agin]

Happy New Year! I have enjoyed reading your posts. Sometimes the best way to learn is to roll up your sleeves and get in there. That's what I've had to do!

[Bumpside Collector]

Man what a blast! I can't wait till the next installment of this adventure.

[Crabenho]

It was like driving in the eye of a tornado. Commuter cars were swirling around me in a chaotic noisy mess, but inside my bump it was eerily calm and I was as relaxed as you can get without a prescription. I quickly recognized that I was having the rarest of days that only happen when all the stars in your life align just right.

A day earlier I was on my way to pick up my daughter at school. I’ve come to really enjoy my pick up days and the reactions my bump brings out of the hoard of Starbucks toting soccer moms congregating in the parking lot. Judging by the mixture of smiles, smirks and frowns I believe I am perceived within a complete spectrum ranging from rugged individualist to potential serial killer. I could fit in; I love Starbucks. I want to roll down my window and scream “I don’t have a freakin’ cup holder!” but decided against it.

It was shortly after I parked that I realized I had forgotten my daughters’ carseat. “Crap!” This isn’t the crowd you want to catch you violating child safety laws. As you know, bump bench seats weren’t designed for carseats anyway. In my dads old ford pickup I rode on a one gallon ice cream pail. My daughter had recently turned four and was too big for the car seat anyway; she had graduated to her booster seat.

I went in to get her and brought her out to the truck. She’s usually smarter than me but I tried to pull the wool over her eyes anyway. I said (in my best super excited voice), “Ava, today is a special day! You get to ride on the bench seat next to daddy with the big girl lap belt on!” As I was buckling her in, I glanced around nervously and noticed a couple soccer moms eyeballing me. With an annoyed voice that she must have learned from her mother, Ava looks at me and says “Dad, what if the cops catch us?”

The ride home was uneventful (no cops). As a result, I decided that it was time to install my shoulder belts I had ordered from seatbeltpros.com so I could ditch the car seat and use the much simpler booster seat. The next day would be perfect for the install. I was off of work. Ava was going to be in school all day and my wife was working and picking Ava up after school. The stars were beginning to align.

In order for the very rare “perfect day” to materialize a lot of things have to fall into place. First, the bump needs to be running really well and the project you are taking on must be completely benign. Meaning, if you don’t get it done it’s not a big deal. Second, your family needs to be GONE! Nobody is around pestering you to hang the new curtain rod or play Barbie (I’m usually the Ken doll with the sweater dress on). And finally, it doesn’t hurt for it to be a weekday when you can be putting along to the hardware store at a fabulously annoying slow pace while the rest of the commuters swirl around you at high speed.

I needed two shoulder bolts for my seatbelt project. As my bump purred down the street amidst the early morning mayhem I smiled at the realization that I had the whole day off and if all I did was spend it casually sifting through hardware store bolt bins…..that was ok.

[Crabenho]

Happy New Year! I have enjoyed reading your posts. Sometimes the best way to learn is to roll up your sleeves and get in there. That's what I've had to do!

19agin, I love your Avatar!

[Bumpside Collector]

Yep I love those lazy days when I don't really have to accomplish anything on a timeline.

[Forsche]

You, sir, are a very good writer. Love reading these posts. And the real test is when my wife shows interest in reading posts that I show her. She loved them too. Have you read the book "Truck, a Love story" by Michael Perry? If not please do. Its a great book....even for guys like me who don't read a lot! Your posts remind me a bit of his book.

[Atlas]

Welcome to the site,( I know I'm a little late). I've been away for a while , well my membership has. Everything was lost for some strange reason ,but I'm back and starting over. Congrats on your purchase it appears to be a good one. There are many interesting stories and situations on how many of us connected with our trucks , and your story is another good example of that. I can relate to owners crying as the car or truck drives away, I've had that happen twice through the years , it somehow makes the whole experience, all just a little more special.

[Crabenho]

Thanks Guys! I really appreciate the kind words and addition of your own personal experiences. As I've said before, I'm having a lot of fun with this adventure. I'm also learning a lot. Besides learning a ton about keeping an old truck reliably running down the road every day, I have also discovered that stepping out of your comfort zone and challenging yourself is a sure fire way to add happiness to your life.
Stay tuned, I sold my Nissan in early December and have been running on pure bump power since. I have had some real and humorous challenges the last couple months that I'll add to the story soon.

Chris

[Crabenho]

Thanks Forsche! I love hearing when I get a laugh out of someones better half. Looks like I'm going book shopping today.

[19agin]

19agin, I love your Avatar![/quote]

Thanks Chris. They are eerily similar, huh?!? I'm glad you're having a great time with your truck. My 3 year old gets really irritated when we don't take "green twuk" to daycare. I love that.

[couchcuts]

HI Crabenho, I laughed at your experience and enjoyed your writing. I had a recent similar tale. After my 2005 Subaru Outback XT turbo went out for the second time I decided it was time to move on. So I took the the classifieds, craigslist etc. I quickly began to see that my choices of cars were pretty limited with a small budget. I also realized I was leaning toward the exact opposite of my old car. I did not want to deal with anymore plastic, computers, or turbos.

I really enjoyed my first car a (1965 Mustang I bought from the original owner) so I began searching for any truck older that 1980.
It did not take long for me to realize how much I liked the look of a Ford compared to any other American made truck.
And then I saw it, a 1970 F100 custom shortbed. It was the perfect work / daily driver / project truck.
I had found it, but it would take just the right planning, timing and skill to pull it all off.

I knew I could not waste my .......“I am not going to get a perfectly safe pre-owner newish car, I am going to buy a old classic truck"...pitch to my wife

well let’s just say instead of laying out the perfect plan, I brought it up at the worst time possible.I could not help it, it came out. I rushed it, torpedoed the thing before it even set to sea.

After that night I did not bring it up the whole week, I found out where it was parked and drove by it at night on the way home from work.

I thought that it probably would not last the weekend, so I brought it up one last time and got a “It’s really nice” reply back!

I ran with it....got her dad to go look at the truck at bought it that Saturday morning.

Since I got the truck I have not looked back, I plan on keeping this one for a long time too. Except this time, I can fix it instead of needing a computer to run diagnostics.

cheers

Jon

[Crabenho]

Couchcuts, thanks for the story. Your experience is almost identical to mine. I love seeing other guys that are headed down the same path. I see that you are, like me, relatively new to the site. Discovering this site and the fantastic group of like minded truck nuts has been a real blessing.
I love your truck. I'm always envious of you west coast guys and your access to clean rigs.

Chris

[67 ford f100s rule]

Crabenho That is one of the nicest survivors I have seen. Its a heck of a score.(I wish I could get that lucky) Its always nice to see someone decide on something old instead of driving a common tin can. Welcome to fordification and I look forward to reading your posts about the truck.

[Crabenho]

I was cruising along in the bump the other day; it was 105 deg. I realized I hadn't opened my wing window yet. As i thumbed the latch and felt the rush of air, I was struck with inspiration. I'm sure it was a lot like when John Keats, while sitting in a beautiful garden, wrote Ode to a Nightingale.


Ode To Wing Window (a work in progress)

Thine air is still, thy brow is sweaty

In window doth not comfort reside

Wing window waits with lever ready

A rush of air soon to provide