I was going through some threads and started thinking (a new experience for me), a lot of you guys either have multiple dentsides or, over the years, have owned more than one.
Out of all the ones you've owned do you have a favorite? Do you still have it, or did it get away and you wished you had it back?
I'll start.
Over the years I've owned several dentsides. The one I currently own, the "Pumpkin" is a '73 F100 2WD Explorer, it's the one in my build thread. I've owned it for 31 years, bought it in '85, drove it for 275,000 miles then retired it with 435,000 miles on it in '96. Then it sat for 13 years, slowly deteriorating until I finally got of my lazy a$$ and started the build project. I'm now in year seven of a planned five year project, and it's not even close to driveable yet .
This one is obviously my favorite and I plan on never getting rid of it. It's officially part of the family.
The one that "got away", the first one I owned was the one I bought brand new. I'm probably one of the few people here that actually owned one of these new, it was a '77 F250 2WD Ranger XLT.
That one must've been a "Monday morning build" . The first problem I had was a broken power steering pressure line at 345 miles. It was installed wrong and the sharp edge of the splash pan cut it, then at 2400 miles a valve spring broke (400 2v) Then the front seal on the C6 started leaking at a little over 4000 miles, then a second valve spring broke at 5700 miles. The DS II module was replaced three times under warranty, along with the rear brakes and drums. And I actually forget what all did eventually go wrong with it.
Boy, was I glad to get rid of that thing. And yes, I wish I had it back . I do still have the original sales invoice for it though. The truck was loaded and cost $7,806.06.
Okay, what's your story?

 

Yeah, my first Dent about 3 years ago, '79 4x4. I sold it when gas prices were at $5/gallon, and bought a car.

The current owner texts me pics from Havasu, Glamis, Pismo Beach, Joshua tree, every now and then.

I hate me almost as much as I hate him.

 

my first dent that i actually owned was a 77 F150 2wd ranger xlt 400 2v C6 fully loaded... however when i got it the 400 was gone so was the C6 i was gonna use it as a parts truck but i scraped it... wish to heck i hadn't it was in better shape than my current 73( was dads at the time)

 

Well, I have owned alot over the years. But my favorite is my 77 F250 SC 2WD. I drive it weekly. Funny thing is, it is the one that got away also. I grew up next to a used car lot. A 77 F250 SC 2wd white with green top sat on the lot for years. The problem with this lot was, the old man who owned thought every car was a brand new one and priced them so. After I left my parents house and got married, I still looked at the truck on the back lot when I was home. Then it left. Was gone for a few years. Then came back. This guy passed away and a friend of mine bought all his cars for his lot. The truck sat there for several more years. Finally I asked about it and came to an agreement with the friend and bought it.

Hopefully this winter i will be able to give it the upgrades it needs. Then I will be really happy.

 

I'm missing a 1978 f250 Camper Special Lariat 2x4.
I found her in the local Truck Trader magazine, it was advertised week after week because it wasn't selling....It was about a 30 minute drive from my house to go look at it. Me and friend went to see it, it was nosed in to a barn and had a color matching canopy on the back. Remember now? Truck/Auto traders only gave you one picture, and they were in black and white AND small. So you never new what you were really in for when you went to look at vehicle...Newspaper = no pics. Anyway, the first thing I noticed was the matching canopy and the beautiful two tone paint job. The main color was a mellow yellow with copper/brown two tone. It's a pretty rare color combo, I see it on this web site from time to time. The interior was browns and tans, it had a 460 with a C6, and no AC (I lived in WA state, no AC was ok). The lady that owned it, only bought it to haul hay for her horses, but every time she took the truck out, it ended up at her mechanics. She had stacks of receipts, I mean stacks!! I was over joyed at the new and serviced parts on this truck. It didn't really run, because someone installed an electric fuel pump on it and it would flood and foul the spark plugs. We tried to start it, and it would bark some, and I could tell it was solid, and I would be stupid to walk away from this one. So I made her an offer, and said I would be back with some new plugs and whatever else it needed (cant remember) and drive her home. Came back to her house a couple days later, changed the plugs, fired right up. Drove her home absolutely giddy, I remember having that "I stole this truck" feeling, it was so nice. This was probably back in 96' or 97'..First thing I did was remove the electric fuel pump, and hook the mechanical back up and it ran great. The mechanic she used said the carb was running out of fuel under power, so they drilled out the main jets!! They had it all screwed up. It was the big Autolite 4-barrel, I never had one apart, so I took it to a fairly famous carburetor guy that happened to be local, and he went through that carb with a fine tooth comb, and really made the truck run. I have a huge list of mechanical stuff I did to that truck, it ate a lot of my money, but it was such a head turner and a pleasure to drive, that I didn't mind spending money on it at the time. Me and my buddy were driving in it one day, and I happen to look a little closer at the vent wing windows, and they were etched/sand blasted with a little picture of a rose and it's long stem with thorns! It was crazy, so we thought, "Lets call this truck The Desert Rose!!""hahaha!! The truck had that "desert" feel to it because of the colors. But like this thread is supposed to slowly go......I decided to move a state away, and I needed/wanted a larger diesel truck to tow my 5th wheel and to just carry the work load. I decided to use the Desert Rose for trade in, they gave me two grand for it, that was in 2005. At that time that was ok money for the truck, I remember thinking I should at least get 2,500, but I was in love with a new truck....So the 78' Ford got traded in. The head mechanic at the dealer ship bought my 78' that same day I was told. I never have seen it since, but I have family in the area, and it was seen once running around. And I guess it still looked good. All my pictures are in the photo album on this one, otherwise I would post a picture....

 

at 16 my 1st dent was a 1973 2wd 240 6cyl 3 on the tree. Yes that is a mud pit...drove it till I blew up that motor on a late night deer hunting/beer run trip.

Put a JY 300/6 in it and keep on trucking, blew that one up a while later. It sat for a while, I joined the Army, I seen it one time in 1986 when I was on leave over at the guys place that was suppose to put a V8 in it for me.

Some time later I told my dad to just sale it to the guy, since he was never going to put that motor in it.

These are scanned 110 film camera pics (remember them?) that is why the other trucks are in it. At 14 I owned the 67 with a 71 Thunderbird 429 in it.

Blue truck 1st 4wd dentside. Miss that one too for sure, here it is after a night of drinking.

 

Hey Rich, I was actually looking at some pictures of your "stable" when I got the idea for this thread.
It hurts to look at that blue one .

 

I did not really remember any of it, and did not get a DUIy either. We wrecker rolled it back over on all 4's, put 3 qts of oil in it, started it up and drove it on home. After we got out of the subdivision...yes I rolled it in a residential area. Not a proud moment by no means.

I no longer drink, but it took many more bad (not as much dent side damage) decisions to finally quit. Most bad decision were woman related, leave with a 10, wake up with a 2 kinda deal.

Sound like I am on the Dr Phil show. lol

 

I've had the good sense to never let this one get away. Bought it off the original owner almost 30 years ago.

 

Very nice ride, for sure. I would not let that one get away either.

 

LOL! that's twisted. Gotta love it.

 

Great thread idea. I always hear about guys letting their dream cars go, so hopefully this thread motivates a few to avoid doing it.

My truck was bought new by my dad and thanks to my interest growing up, it's still in the family!

 

Yeah, I dont drink either. But I go to sleep at 10 with a 2, wake up at 5 with a 2. At least when I was a drunk, at some point I was with a 10...

 

Cool thread. If we expand this to all Ford pickups or Fords in general, I have a couple of cars. Look forward to reading more stories.

 

My high school buddy traded his '75 HB for my uncles '85 Bronco. I said to my uncle that if the truck goes anywhere, I want to give first offer. Well, he gave it to my grandfather after he blew the engine. Grandpa rebuilt, what seemed like, the whole truck. It ran much stronger and looked beautiful. My uncle then some how got it back. Again I told him that I want that truck if he ever wants to sale it. After I joined the Navy, he continued to abuse that beautiful truck to the point of dents, scratches and a rod knock. Then he sold it for a very, very low price. It's hard to stay mad at family, but some people make it a little easy.