As a new Bumpside owner ('69 Long Bed, Custom Cab, 360) I have had a few odd/funny moments:


1)When I bought the truck having the prior owner remind me to "pump the gas" before starting...brought back childhood memories from the 70's and my Dad pumping the gas to start the car.


2)Moment of panic in the hardware store wondering how I was going to get full sheets of plywood home...then remembering that now I own a pick-up truck.


3)Planning on getting an early start one weekend morning so that I could "hook up the trailer"...then remembering (again) that I own a pick-up truck and no trailer would be necessary.


4)Moment of worry when the guy at the firewood store started throwing wood into the back of the truck and then realizing that it's not my wife's SUV and nothing is really going to get damaged.


5)Stopping at the gas station after a long drive and being the victim of Autolite 2100 gas boil-over. Had a soda, talked to a stranger, and then fired it up after it cooled down a bit....then hit the forum and promptly ordered a phenolic carb spacer.


6)Watching my kids fascinated faces when I showed them how to roll up a window with a hand crank.


7)Watching the neighbor who owns a new, 2017 F-250 drool over my '69 F-100....

 

I'm in a similar situation as you. New owner of a '71 Sport Custom longbed. Last vehicle I owned that had a carburetor was at least 25 years ago. First vehicle I've ever owned with a manual choke.

My funny moment is constantly having the keys in my right hand when I try to start it, and then going, "Duh! Ignition is on the left side of the dash, dummy!"

 

The fun of owning/driving an "antique" truck.

My DD is a '95 F150. To hop into my '69 and have manual steering, manual brakes, bias ply tires, stick shift, no power windows, no electronics/cruise control, no remote start, etc, etc.

 

# 6 !! gotta love it

 

Enjoy the days of past. Technology will be the death of us all.

 

I forgot about that one. That fact has led to other funny moments with some friends of mine. I have an old Porsche 911 (don't ask) which also has the key on the left on the dash. Some of my Porsche club friends like to talk about how a Porsche is the "only" car with the key on the left. It kind of rains on their parade when I tell them that my ol' domestic Ford truck has it in the same spot. It's fun to tell people that I only collect cars with the key on the left and watch their dumbfounded look...

 

#6, what’s really fun is teaching them how to work on and they go to school and brag to all their friends what they did over the weekend.

 

1957/60 F100/1100; 1961/66 F100/1100; 1963/69 N/NT500/1000; 1967/69 F800/1000 also have the ignition switch on the left.

 

Want to see dumbfounded? Tell someone born after 1990 to make a telephone call on a rotary phone. THAT is entertainment!

...And then ask them has anyone ever asked you to "dial" a telephone number.

As a habit, I set the choke on all my vehicles regardless of year except the Ferrari which requires the brake pedal to be depressed.

 

Party spoiler!

 

On several occasions I had the company of newbs riding along who've never experienced manual transmissions, don't know about clutch pop starts, etc. I've amused myself by stealthily turning the ignition switch to on, putting the shifter into high gear and depressing the clutch pedal and letting it start rolling. The passenger is looking utterly perplexed as I explain that voice-activated starting was pioneered by Ford way back in the '60's and that it even recognizes particular voices. I'll say, "try it for yourself, say, "start, please!" in a loud voice... they'll actually say it, with no effect because I keep the clutch pedal down. Then as the truck gets rolling a little faster I'll say, "now I'll do it: 'start, please!' ". Nothing, because I keep the clutch pedal down. I explain that the truck is a little hard of hearing in its old age. "okay... again and louder this time: 'START, PLEASE!!" and this time, popping the clutch... VROOM!

The look on their faces is priceless. Eventually they figure out that they've been had.

 

The night I bought my truck I noticed it was on 'E' as I was driving it home. I pulled into the gas station, filled up, and drove her home grinning ear to ear. Not until I got home did I realize that the gas cap was not on, but it was in fact still sitting in the exact same spot I had left it while filling up: on top of the tool box. I guess I was driving her so carefully that first time that I couldn't even get a fuel cap to slide off a flat tool box.

I then left the headlights on all night until my neighbor knocked on my door and reminded me. It had been a while since I had to actually turn off my own headlights.

 

These are great! My favorite one was having to get used to shifting on the column after years of a floor shift and reaching for something that isn't there!

 

A nice lady was dumbfounded to experience a truck actually stopping at the line, at a stop sign. Paying more attention to her phone at that point, she impaled her Dodge truck on my towing extension. Grandpa had welded it in, with reinforcement.

Tow ball went through her bumper, automatic transmission cooler, radiator, fan assembly, and presumably stopped in the water pump. $3,000-ish dollars in damage to the new Dodge.

Understandably angry, I made her pay me $50 bucks for the annoyance of having to replace the tow-ball. After all, it did strip the nut.

 

I’ve been driving my truck to work sense finishing the grill. My electrician is kind of young and said, “sure it looks good, but crank it up...”
I reached through the window, hit the key and BAM, fired right up. I looked at him and said “now what, need to go for a ride?” 3 minutes in of smoking tires, grabbing gears and getting slammed into the door a few times, he’d had enough...

The owner of my project saw it and talked of the old days (60 ish) and talked about some of his cars when he was younger. The push button door handle was for some reason a fond memory and said, “can I just open the door?” We talked about the things I have done to it and the years models the parts came from and he said, the Johnny cash truck. “If you can keep a 50 year old truck like this, I have great comfort in you building my project”
Kind of swelled my head up..

Happy Thanksgiving to my FTE friends and family.