Well now fellers since soondg is encouraging me to post...I shall do so! Now to forewarn ya'll I have an odd sense of humor. Masochistic perhaps..self-depricating according to some. In any case I like to share the odd thoughts and circumstances of everyday disasters in my life..and here's one of 'em! Not long after I purchased my "new" 86 F-150 I headed to work one night. It's only a 7 mile drive but it was bitter cold!! I like to give the heater time to warm up a'fore I turn it on so about 2 miles down the road I reached down to flip the fan control on and went about another mile and that truck just croaked! No warning..no sputtering..nothing..nada. It just croaked! I had enough speed to git it off the side of the road and I sat there a spell cursing my luck and then climbed out and headed back to the house a'foot. Muttering and grumbling the whole way and trying to figger out what happened. Something I might mention is I'm new to this truck..and wear bifocals. That means I cain't actually see what I'm looking at most of the time...I just go by feel. (scarey..eh??) And my hearing is about gone..too much time spent shooting guns without ear protection. Yeah..you young pups go ahead and laugh..yer time's coming. Anyways I'd backtracked about a mile 'er so when all'a sudden a thought came to me...I never heard the heater fan turn on...hmmmm? I turned around and plodded back to the truck..turned on all the cab lights and peered down at that control cluster where the fan switch is..on one side..and the fuel tank selector switch is on t'other side. Do ya'll know that Ford has provided a position in between the front/rear tank where no gas flows?? Yes indeedy! Note to Ford Truck Division: this cab is bigger than my bathroom..whyinell couldn't ya'll mount the fuel tank selector switch anywhere but there?? Mebbe stick it in the glovebox..nothing else will fit in there!! 'Er stick it up anywhere near the top of the dash behind the steeringwheel..hidden..like the turn signal indicators!! Arrrghhh! Well, a flip of the switch and I was on my way..cold, late for work and grittin' my tooth. Audie..the oldfart!

 

Yo Audie, Can I relate to any of this story. I learned about the shooting without ear protection so I keep a headset in my "man bag". Used to keep two (never know when you may have a shooting partner) but I went to a smaller bag, the old gym bag started to get overcrowded, I guess after I put a set of screwdrivers, ratchets, voice recorder, deodorant, toothbrush and all sorts of oddities it was time to scale back.

About that tank control, I had duals on my 89 Diesel and the switch was a separate unit right in front of me, no problem locating. When I picked up the 83 the guy told me the switch was right on the dash. I looked and looked and looked. No switch. Boy was I getting pissed. Then one day I'm roving through a junk yard and was looking for nothing in particular when I came upon an 85, being the scavenger and natural junk punk that I am I start rooting around (actually I was looking for a faceplate for the radio) when I noticed the heater control panel had two switches, lo and behold there was the tank switch. Did I feel stupid? Yeah! Now I can stop adding fuel stabilizer to that tank and actually burn the gas I paid for.