Hey everyone, I figured i'd start a thread where everyone can basically 'tell their story'.

What made you want to buy a Bull Nose? Where did it all start for you personally? What has been your journey with your truck? Tell us some good stories and share some pictures.

I'll go first

I grew up on a farm in southwestern IL, (near St. Louis). We had a 1/2 mile long rock driveway that needed plowing from time-to-time. When we moved to IL from MN, my father had an old CJ Jeep with a baby plow on it. It got stuck all the time, and was about as useful as an ejection seat on a helicopter. So he sold it and bought an old Dodge flatbed plow truck. Something close to this:



Again, something about as useful as a chocolate teapot. It would have been a nice plow truck if it ran. So he got rid of that and bought the truck that started it all for me! A 1984 Ford F250 I6 with a 4 speed. Something that looked like this:



He bought it from one of his employees friends at his shop, luckily it already had a Western straight blade plow on it, and ready to go.

From a very young age, probably 6 years old, I remember plowing with him during some pretty gnarly snow storms down there. Mainly icy storms. I would ride with him in the F250, and I would run the plow while he drove. It had one of the old plow control boxes that was bolted to the floor, and had the stick sticking straight out of it.



Whoever mounted the box, mounted it almost on the passenger side floorboard, so trying to drive a stick, and adjust the plow at the same time, while driving was kind of difficult to say the least. So I had to come along with him to plow. Luckily, I loved doing it anyway and that always made for a fun few days off of school a year.

The only problems we ever had with the truck was that the exhaust rusted off (from my father not taking it to a car wash after plowing with it, ever, and letting salt eat it slowly) and the front side gas tank developed a pin hole leak under the front strap. I remember laying underneath the truck with him one VERY cold day in December, dropping the tank, spilling gas all over the house garage floor, and then whipping out the JB Weld and fixing it on the kitchen floor, because it needed to be a certain temperature for it to properly cure. Meanwhile, mother is angrier than a midget with a yo-yo, because we're spilling gas, dirt, grease, and grime all over her clean floor. We had to set it on a moving pad, and basically do 'surgery' on it on the kitchen floor. After a few hours, we had it back in the truck and it was up and running again like a champ.

So many good memories growing up with that truck. My mother bitching and complaining about having to drive a stick to go get gas in the gas cans. Then getting pissed off at me while I ride with her, because i'm telling her to start off in 2, 1 was a granny low gear.

I used to take it out the end of the road and get the mail before I was 16. Then I would dump the clutch in the rocks and think I was cool before heading back (don't ya just love immaturity?? ) In doing so one time, I backed into the telephone pole with the tailgate down and took a huge chunk out of the pole, and dented the tailgate pretty good while doing it (idiot).

My father always seemed to like Dodge trucks, and he bought himself a 1996 2500 V10 truck to use for plowing and day-to-day, so he didn't need the Ford anymore. So he sold it . When he did, I told myself that I would buy one again one day. The '84 is still running to this day, we sold it to a family friend and the odometer cable broke around 245k miles, and that was about 10 years ago. We sold it at about 190k miles a few years before that. The guy drives from IL to MO and back everyday hauling junk in the back of the truck. He told me that the floorboards are all but gone, the frame is rusting pretty badly in quite a few places, and it still starts and runs everyday he goes out to it. I wouldn't be surprised if it has over a million miles on it right now. He also mentioned the only thing that's probably holding it together is hopes and dreams right now .

The day came when I had saved up 2 grand, and took to eBay, looking for a nice F250 to start with, and restore from there. I found this:





My father helped me arrange transport for it, and I bought it. A 1986 F250 Lariat with a 460/4 speed from Wyoming. PO told my father "the AC works great, no rust". It shows up on the back of a semi, no AC hardware at all, and definitely no rust, because the PO/POS sawzalled all of it off the bed.!! I was smiling ear to ear when it rolled off the back of the semi though . It was filthy inside, headliner was sagging, 4 wheel drive didn't work, battery was dead.....just about anything that could go wrong, did. It would be classified a pile of S#!% by anyone else, but I was in love and I didn't care what was wrong with it. It was close to the old '84, I loved it, and above all else...it was MINE!! This was in the middle of February in Minnesota mind you, so it was cold. Once we got it jumped, I took it for it's maiden voyage down the road with no plates, no insurance, just whatever I thought was in the gas tank, and a smile ! Soon as I took off, it was like I was back in the '84 all over again. Same gauges, same smell, same seat, same dash, same everything. It was like I was 14/15 years old again. Turned around about a mile down the road, stepped on it, belts squealed in pain, and she took off! topped out 2nd gear, shifted to 3rd, wound it up to about 60....everything's working great! Pulled into the driveway, let it idle for a little while, and then popped the hood to take a look at everything a little better, then I see the gas leaking out of the front bowl of the carb!! Gahh!!! Ran to the cab and shut it off real quick before a fire started. After that, I started looking over everything, my father came out and was not pleased with the truck. He was flat-out pissed off actually, because of all of the stuff the PO had said was there and working great, when in reality, it wasn't. I started working on it slowly, got rid of the nasty carpet, took the broken dash pad off, and started getting it ready for me to restore it.

Within a few months, my father had an ad on Craigslist looking for spare parts for my truck. I found another '86 F250 that I could use for parts. Truck had about 110k on it, with a 460/C6, factory AC dash, door hardware, just about anything else I could use for parts. I had it parted out in a weekend.



















We also came across a guy about an hour an a half south of the Twin Cities that had what he said was a '86 F250 mud truck. I went to go look at the truck and it looked pretty stout.







So we setup a payment plan where I would pay him off over the period of 4 months for the truck. Those 4 months turned into a year and 2 months. Luckily the guy didn't sue me for taking that long, but finally I got the truck in May of this year. Come to find out it's a 1982 F250, and the guy was a complete hockey puck. You can find out more about that truck and what I mean about 'hockey puck here:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...1986-f250.html

Now storage problems are forcing me to sell that one. I also sold the '86 Lariat to my father a few months back. Funny part is, after I paid the '82 off, not 2 weeks went by where my father and I were traveling to northern MN to pickup a '61 Biscayne for him, and I found my current truck:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...weekend-2.html















Once the '82 sells, i'll be fine and dandy with the '86 Supercab as a driver/restoration project.

That's all I have. That's been my journey so far with Bull Nose trucks. I love them, and wouldn't want anything else to call my own. I think they are one of, if not THE best vehicle that has ever been made. Trusty and reliable. Tough and strong. You couldn't ask for anything more from a truck that is already the best.

 

I guess I'll be the first to post my story here. I've been into Bullnose trucks since the day I was born. My grandpa got me into them. He had a '82-'84 F150 RC/LWB, I can't for the life of me remember the exact year or drivetrain, but I remember it being an XL with the Rosewood trim. It was two tone light blue/dark blue on top, with a ton of rust. I loved riding in that truck, and the story goes that when I was about 6 or 7, his brother borrowed it and scrapped it. All I know is, that's the only time I'd ever seen him furious.

Fast forward a couple years, then my dad bought one. It was the unicorn as I call it now, by that I mean, I've only seen one other in person, and two or three on the web. It was a 1983 F100 LWB with the Explorer package, that year being the only year the Explorer is impossible to find today. It was great, two tone as well, it was dark brown on top and light brown/tannish color on the bottom with the four big white Explorer stripes running down the side. 300 I6 and a C6 automatic, and very loud. As a little kid I loved it. Also an XL with Rosewood interior. I remember one time that my dad lost the keys to it, and it had one of those locking gas caps. To make matters worse, the gas gauge didn't work at all. He drove it for two weeks at about 50 miles per day before it ran out of gas, then he broke out the drill and hammer to get the cap off. It's days were numbered when it was loaded with so much gravel, the front end was off the ground. Ever since then it just felt squirly. Dad eventually lent it to my brother, who succeeded at destroying that "indestructible inline". Off to the scrapper it went.

It was also while he had that truck, that I met his uncle, who happened to have a 1986 F150 RC/LWB XLT Lariat. And this thing was clean. EFI 302, AOD, fully optioned. Unfortunately it didn't stay around long enough for me to really check it out.

Fast forward a couple months, and this is back in the year 2004. Dad wanted a new truck, and he loved his old one, so he was on the hunt for one similar. I was 9 years old at the time and I remember the day. Came home from school, sitting in the front yard was a beautiful solid black 1980 F100 Ranger Lariat LWB. Of course, in my young age, all I knew is he got a better version of the same truck he previously had. This thing was optioned to the hilt, and I still have it. 302, C4 automatic, 2.75 highway gears in the rear end. Had factory air (didn't work of course), cloth seats, carpet, headliner, Rosewood interior with the door panel inserts, map pockets, sliding rear window, just about everything you could get that year, which also included factory fog lamps, which I now know are a rare sight. Only things it didn't have were PW, PDL, power mirrors, and full instrument package. This truck I do have pictures of, before and after.







When I got it at age 16, paint was a little rough on it, so I rattle-canned it red and black. About that time I was tired of the 1980 slider door locks, and my dad happened to have the DS door off the '83 that we had (needed a mirror, brought home the whole door). I figured it would add a little character to have a piece of the old truck on it, plus it had the newer style lock, so on went the door before paint:











Then I went for a few extra options, such as installing full gauges:





Two CB radios (because two is better than one), and a power inverter:





But I was hard on the old gal, racing, off roading, wrecks, etc. Trans finally let go, and not even 6,000 miles after rebuild, the 302 lost oil pressure and locked up tight. I had just bought a '92 F150 with a 302 that threw a rod for the same reason, so I parked the '80 and started accumulating parts to restore/mod it. Here is how she sits today:



Donated the bed to my buddy's '85:



And the front clip went to my '92, which is why I feel it deserves a place in this thread:











The '92 isn't truly a Bullnose... yet, so I'll just give the basics to it right now. It was a bad buy, and I knew it, but I wanted it. 302, 5 speed, 3.55 rear end, SuperCab SWB, loved it. It didn't idle well at all, and it had 287,000 miles, I knew it was on it's last leg. But, I bought it anyway. Bought it in Reo, IN, about 5 miles across the bridge from Owensboro, and the oil gauge pegged to low before I even hit the bridge. Drove it about a week like that and it threw a rod on #1. Paid to have a 60k mile 302 installed, didn't have the patience for it since my '80 needed a trans at that time. I really wanted a Bullnose version, and toyed around at the idea of doing the swap. I wanted a SC from '92-'96 because I like the full rear side windows better, plus the factory rear speakers. As luck would have it, my '92 needed a core support. Instead of paying $200 for a new one, I had a perfectly good one in the '80, now being used for parts, that only required swapping to the front end I loved anyway. It's now my DD with 300,000 miles on the body, and will eventually have most of the Bullnose interior swapped in, and hopefully the Bullnose era stepside bed (hated the newer Flare Side beds). Until then, that's where my story ends.

 

Great post! Quite the long journey you've had too. Looking forward to seeing more pics of the progress.

 

Well, my bullnose story isnt heart felt or have any family connection like the others. But I feel my interest in them will perk my kids interest and one day my hopes are my kids share stores such as these about my bullnose. Cause you never heard a kid tell a story of his past when his dad got great gas mileage, no you hear story's about all the great times and places/adventures you did in real rigs - not electric hybirds. haha

When I purchased my 86' F350 DRW 460-c6, hell I didn't know what a bullnose even was, nor anything about these trucks. In fact, my shopping criteria was simple, Ford (no other choice), fit the family, tow my racecar, and most important be carbureted! Why,.. well no big reason other than I like old school cars that you work on with tools, not computers. I like to be able to learn and turn my own wrenches - older cars are just more realistic to do those things. Sure I can afford a brand new one.... but to be honest, just like the saying goes "they dont make them like they used to".

Back to my story,.. Found my truck on craigslist, pics were decent and meet my needs and price was right. Not until after getting it home and beginning tinkering with it did I actually fall in love with it,.. when I bought it it was just a truck, but after seeing how amazing it is, what it can do, and what I can do to it. Hands down its a great truck! - And will more than likely be keeping it for some time.
here is a link to my build thread... been slow, but been stocking up parts for my next project, stay tuned on my thread for that.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...in-dually.html
and some pics when I got it-

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And how it's rolling currently-

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-BlueBruiser

 

EXACTLY!!!

Kind of becomes a member of the family doesn't it?

 

I've owned a few over the years, a used 1980 F250 SCAB, 351/4speed, traded that on a used 86 F250 standard cab, 300/C6.

Last couple of years, I had a 2000 Ranger that I drove as a daily driver. Ran good, but was very rusty underneath. I didn't trust it anymore.
So I sold it for $2100.00, and started looking online. Found my current daily driver, an 84 F150 302/AOD at a car lot in Michigan. Grampa's truck, had 94000 original on it, nice original interior, decent body, mechanically great condition. Bought it for $2200.00. No brainer!

 

Any good stories or memories you had from them?

 

Here's my 1986 F250 2WD single cab long bed. I didn't originally want a bullnose, but rather an FE powered truck ranging from the years 1965-1976.(hence my username) I had a truck wanted ad up on Craigslist, and after a year and a half of looking. The guy contacted me saying he had a truck for sale. It had/has a rebuilt 351W that was the healthiest sounding V8 I have ever heard coming from a Craigslist rig. Guy just twitched the key and it fired right up and sounded and ran extremely smooth. I was told, and have found out that the rear end was rebuilt at about 200,000 miles. Appears that the engine was rebuilt at close to the same time. Transmission appears original. My intent was to buy a truck to drive daily and slowly restore, and I've been doing exactly that. I bought this truck for $900 with almost no rust. The tailgate didn't match, and that is my current project. I'm in the middle of doing the body work to paint it right now.


I paid $900 for it, had it's original running boards. I removed those a month after owning it since I bashed my head open too many times in such a short little time.






The interior after I cleaned it up a bit, I also herculined the entire floor and back wall.




How the engine looked when I bought it. Looks like crap, but ran excellent.




The interior the day I bought it.




The bed before I had it lined.




The floor from when I was herculining it, I sprayed it in. The only serious rust was on the passenger side, and the floor had some pin holes from 28 years of wet insulation. Metal was strong between the holes so I just ground it all down and used fiberglass filler to fill the pin holes.

 

A continuation of my first post, it wouldn't let me add any more photos.






Engine now has a Summit 600 CFM 4bbl. Weiand stealth intake that the guy gave me with the truck - basically brand new too! appears to have had a Comp high energy 252H, but was GUTLESS off idle. A Comp XE250H and magnum rockers fixed that right up! It also has headers now, along with a custom 2.5" dual in to one magnaflow style muffler, with a 3" single tailpipe that exits in front of the rear passenger tire.



Should be rust proofed for life now, there's a gallon on that floor and back wall. I did everything in one day, from removing the interior, to prepping to spraying. 9 hours non stop.

 

Good lord man, just armor plate it why don't ya! But seriously though, that's one clean rig, and I love that color combo.

 

Not going to link in any pics, but I'll play along anyways.

For me the Bullnose affinity started in 2000. My dad sent enough money to buy my first vehicle, and we found a very nice, condition wise, 81 F150 Custom. It had a 302, four wheel drive, a C6 and a custom built stake bed. It was an ugly neon green that looked like it came straight out of the game Frogger, so we named the truck that. I drove it around a couple of years. The front tank leaked, so you could only fill it about 3/4 full. Never had any real issues with it.

Then, in early 03, Mom says we are moving to CO. She says I need a 4x4 to beat around in. The old Ford was going to be her show truck, and told me to find a replacement. My first bullnose that I paid for was a 1980 Bronco that was cobbled together from lots of different parts. The engine looked to be a 73, the C6 looked factory (maybe), and the t-case had to be off a later brick nose. One of the four brakes worked. Body was trashed, but it was mine. Lots of time and learning with that truck. My main email still shares it's name: Dammit.

After I got a job at a dealership for a bit, I took a break from trucks for a while. I had a couple of Mercury Cougars, a Mazda, a nice old Toyota Supra, and then I bought Blue. Well, I decided to do some major customizing to Blue, and realized I needed a pickup again. I had about 1200 saved, and started looking. I found the Beast out in Chaparral, NM. $900 and he was mine. With the 351M and 81 body, I felt confident I could fix damn near anything on it. I wasn't far off either.

Fords are in my blood. Plain and simple. I've been driving Fords pretty much my entire life. My wife is a Dodge girl, so we compromise occasionally. But once Blue gets its 427W, all my collection will be Ford powered.

EDIT: I never wound up moving to CO. Mom kicked me out over my ex-fiancé and I went through a rough patch that I still wound up having a good time with good people.

 

My journey started probably when i was 16-17 when I started looking for my first truck. There's just something about those trucks that always catches my eye.....unfortunately didn't get one until recently. Bought an 82 F-150 from a buddy of mine. He's done a few modifications to it, lifting it, converted it from 2WD to 4WD and a few other things here and there. However the last few years he had the truck it became more of a problem child for him than anything. It sat for about a year before i had it in my driveway so now begins my ever long journey of restoring the beast back to life. Have a lot of work a head of me. Wish I could do a complete restoration on the truck but I know right now I can't so I plan on tackling all the major issues, getting it back to running properly and fixing all the miscellaneous little things that just irk me...

 

Got any pictures? We'd love to see 'em!

 

Don't have any pictures with me right now, but i'll take a few this weekend and toss them up here. I'm about to rip out all the wiring on the truck....I hate electrical problems...lol

 

My truck is an '86 F250 with the 6.9 IDI. It's a C6 auto and basically stock besides a Banks Turbo that was added in the late 80's. I got the truck in 2010. I don't really have any good pictures at the moment, so I just included the one shown below.

I've always had a fondness for the Bullnose style trucks, moreso than the later F-Series styles. At the time I got it I wasn't looking for a Bullnose truck or even a truck for that matter. The original owner was a relative who had passed away, and the truck needed a new home so I decided to give it a shot.

In it's previous life the truck was used mostly to go on trips pulling a 5th wheel and it only had 64k original miles on it when I got it. It is still in good condition besides the paint starting to peel, and overall it hasn't needed too much work.

I currently don't drive it that often, mainly just when I need a truck. Eventually, I might try to find a 5th wheel to do some trips, but for now I just keep it running and enjoy having a truck without having the payments like I would with a new truck. I do get a lot of complements about the truck. It seems like a good amount of people out there share a fondness for Bullnose trucks.



'86 F250