I've been really lucky -- my neighbors have been real patient with my truck and I. Although every once in a while one will ask "Does it still run?" (I've been driving it at least once a week).

Here's an idea: Next time a neighbor complains, respond with "As a matter of fact, I've been having trouble with (current restoration project) -- think you can give me a hand with it?" With any luck you'd either find a competent helper or just shut them up...

 

I came out for a smoke the other morning, to find a cop checkin out my truck. The people who live a little down from me complained that it had been there for three weeks. I told the cop, that's funny, until yesterday it was in the backyard without tags on it. These people have also been known to remove tags from vehicle parked in front of their house, in an effort to get them towed. So, for now I am dealing with it by making sure they know every time I come home- usually between 12 and 12:15 in the am. Yup, dual pipes, lame mufflers, and slipping the clutch uphill in reverse to park. I think half the town knows I am home.

 

I am in the middle of the same problem with my neighbors right now. I do have a parts truck that needs to disappear sometime soon and it will when I get the chance to pull the trany and rear axle. What they also complain about it how loud my truck is (84 F150 4x2 351 with dual exhaust and headers) and it needs to be warmed up for a good 3 or 4 minutes so it will run better.

The other day about 6 pm I was warming it up and they called the house and told me to shut it off because it was too loud, well I did and to be an even better neighbour I decided to cut the grass and weed eat the lawn, but I didn't do that until about 9pm!

 

Unfortunately, even up here in the toolies, well it used to be toolies, we used to be able to get away with just about anything we wanted. Now there are so many big city types moving in, we will soon be big city. and buried completely in zoning/covenants.
If you receive anger or criticism and respond in the same way, you only get into it deeper and end up in a not so good position. I have recently found that out, again.... a reminder was good for me.
If you don't live in an area with covenants, finish your work, but be as polite, neat and orderly as possible. If they rant... just do your best to ignore them. Now if you are covenanted to death. you may have no grounds to stand on since you should have been aware of what you were getting into.
As for the guy who wants to move to an area non zoned or without covenants.. I say this....good luck. There are places like that, but you are way out in the toolies and have to mail order or drive for miles to get parts etc. thereby increasing your parts costs.
I guess being polite, clean and neat... get the work done as quickly as possible is the best route and iggy the neighbor & dont egg them on or give them reason to think you belong in the corner with the proverbial dunce hat on.
Just my $.75 worth.

 

I guess you have to consider the source.

Suppose a person with one of those Honda hybrid gas/electric cars were to pull up in a small mid western town where everybody owns and drives a truck of some sort. He'd be the focus of attention as he exited his vehicle. The towns folk would probably look at him sideways, "Must be from California".

You live on the left coast. Long Beach is very liberal in my view, along with the rest of the Los Angles basin. My sister lives there in L.B. I would say environmentalists don't much like old trucks and the left coast has a lot of tree huggers. Now, defending the environment is a good thing but I think there has to be a balance. Some people are just snooty.

I live aprox. 125 miles to the north of you. In my home town trucks are everywhere. We are mostly consertive. We have a lot of agriculture, oil. This is a working mans town and a working man needs a truck. In the L.A. basin with traffic gridlock, economy cars with low smog emissions is whats required and if you don't have one, you might be considered to be out of the loop, IMO. I guess having a gas guzzeling S.U.V. is ok as long as it's new and attractive. But still, even those owners get some flak from the P.C. police. So I would just ignore them. Be polite. Say thank you when they comment on your truck. When they comment how old it is, say "yeah it's classic isn't it"?

Good luck on your project and have a nice day.

 

I feel sorry for you. Neighbors can be a pain sometimes. I had a similiar experience a few years ago involving my Tractor Trailer. I live in a small town outside Atlanta. When I built my house 25 years ago on 10 acres the only neighbors I had were ocassional deer and posumn. I have been driving a tractor Trailer since I've been lived here. Well a developer bought the land next to us and put in a 150 house subdivision. I had a deputy sheriff come to the house one day saying one of my neighbors complained about me starting my truck at 4:30 in the morning . When this neighbor took me to court he told the judge he just moved to Georgia from Long Island and in Long Island trucks weren't allowed in Residential Neighborhoods. I was totally surprised when the judge asked me how long I've been bringing my truck home. When I told him he said I fell under what he called a grandfather clause and it would be Ok to bring my truck home since I was there before the other houses were. Then he really surprised me by stateing the problem was that we were getting to civilized for our own good and told my neighbor if things were so great in Long Island he could move back cause Delta was ready when he was.

 

I've gotten the same response...
I had two 1966 F-100 Custom Cabs
One ran, the other needed the starter and fuel pump put back on it.
They were both "rusty white" just surface rust in places...
Well, I sold one so they would leave me alone (sold it to a buddy)
Well I primered it all one color so they couldnt say anything, and I even put a set of 96 F-150 XL wheels on it so they all matched and looked decent. THey still griped.
Ive lived in this house for over 14 years, we have been here longer than ANY body anywhere near our house. And they still gripe.
Well, before I rebuild the 390 in my truck, it was pure stock..
I put a tach in it and just got bored one day and fired it up w/ the tore up mufflers (or lack there of, I "keyed it off" as we called it, and exploded the mufflers).... Well, it wasnt all that loud at an idle, but I got to floor boarding it in park just to see what it'd turn, and I got 6100 outta it :P... it was a bit loud.
The lady next door came out and started yellin at me.
She has griped about my shop radio being on during daylight hourse, and you can barely hear it outside the garage.
Well, me and the lady got into it.
She lets her kids run around like crazy in my yard so I told her if she wanted to not hear the truck run, she could take her little kids and go in the house, and to NOT let them to ever come back into my yard, or I would call the cops on her. Just as she threatened me with my truck.
It shut her up for a bit...
Well I just got my 390 done... Cam, headers, manifold, etc...
and I went to fire it up w/ open headers just to see if it'd start...
She didnt like that much either (I dont blame her) but I only let it run for MAYBE 15 seconds...
I came home a few days ago... and they were loading stuff up and moving.. I dont know if it was concidence or what, but I find it amusing..
Thats enough of my ramblings for now...

 

Yeah, I agree with this solution. They'll probably forget about it once it's not visible, and then other folks won't be able to tell what it is under there.

The '84 has been in our yard since March, and no one has said a word, of course one neighbor is near-bout blind, and he offered to buy it, and the other neighbor can't really say anything since there's about 4 or 5 four-wheelers under his shed that don't run. And also I have 3 riding mowers, 7 pushmowers, and a tiller, but after tomorrow, hopefully I'll only have 4 push mowers, and no tiller, because they're all going in to the shop and I'm gonna fix'em all and sell 'em all. I've already got an offer of $20 for one that runs good, and it was sitting in the dump last week, all it needed was a spark plug and rope/cover. The other 2 pushmowers run real rough, so I think that a carb kit is in order for one and a set of points is waiting for the other. The tiller ran fine till the last time I ran it, and it got rained on while I was taking it home, so I think the points rusted in it, or they got burnt when it was running. So, I'm doing my part and cleaning out, but once all those mowers get sold, I'm going to the John Deere dealer and buying a John Deere 108 for $50, I was quoted that last week, and I'm gonna get it. It don't look like much right now, but once I'm done, it'll be better than new!

 

you oughta scrap the points, get you one of the little green electronic ignition modules from the local farm center or CarQuest, they work so much better than the points and last forever. I have one here that was 15+ years old when a wire broke off on it, but it works just no wire.

 

i thought everyone in California drove japanese cars?

 

Last neighbor that complained about my yard, I threw all the junk out front for a week, told him "I'm going to take it to the dump this weekend"
Then put it all back away in the back yard.
Never said a word again..

The other one that griped, I threw a fender at him..
Luckily, he's got a sense of humor.

 

I just moved into a new housing area in north sacramento and my 87 bronco II sits in my drive way. Its been through hell and back(and hell was pretty fun). Its rusted beater but is my project truck. Its soon to have the top chopped and I'm sure the neighnors will love that sight. It doesn't bother if people give a look or say something...I see plenty of new crappy import cars that I hate in my neighborhood and I don't say anything to them. To each their own I guess.

 

Heck if you don't have a broken down/rusty/multicolored/lound/etc truck in your yard or drive one you just wouldn't fit in where i live. My neighbor has a 2000 superduty, his son has an 88' f-150 4x4 deisel (talk about loud), tons of misc. farm equiptment, and a 90 f-150 that was wrecked last year (no cab left) sitting next to their house. He also sells hourses, so there is always big loud trucks pulling trailers in and out of there all day. The neighbors on the outher side have a old dodge with VERY loud exhaust, 2 four wheelers, and a 79' 3/4 ton dodge 4x4 that hasn't moved since I've lived there. Come move out by me and you'll fit right in!

 

People like that I just turn up the stereo in my garage, grab a bottle of Jim Beam, then procede to clean one of my 23 guns in my driveway! Shuts them right up for a long, long time!

 

I'd just point out that the envionmental cost to produce your truck has already been spent. So by maintaining your truck and preserving it you are conserving the environment by not letting it rot away and also reducing the demand for a new plastic car by 1.

And mention that steel is 100% recycleable and plastic is not. You might ask them how much energy was spent and the environmental impact of producing their new car.