Hey everyone,

I want to welcome our newest member to the Northern California Chapter of FTE, Breech (Josh). Josh and I met at a friend's Christmas party this last weekend. We got to discussing important matters... Ford Trucks. It turns out that Josh has been a member of FTE since February, 2007. So I invited him to join us.

Josh lives near Modesto and is blessed to not only have one, but TWO Ford trucks. One with a diesel and the other with a 460! I will let him tell you more about them.

Josh knows a good bit about restoring autos (ask him about the Duster) and is a great addition to the chapter.

Again, welcome aboard.

Karl

 

Thank you again Karl for the warm welcome into the Northern California Chapter. It was a pleasure making your acquaintance and I hope to be able to meet some more of the good local folks as time goes on.

Anywhoo, just wanted to drop by and say howdy to everyone. As fastmover said, my name is Josh and I live in the little farm town of Denair on the outskirts of Turlock. I've been a gearhead for quite some time but just got around to purchasing my first Ford early this year and I loved it so much I had to go out and get a second. Guess I kinda got the bug

It's been a pleasure being part of FTE during the short time I've been a member and I owe a lot to the guys on here. Lots of good info and just plain friendly folks that have gone out of their way to help in whatever way they can.

Well, I'm not the greatest at introductions so I'll quit rambling on. I look forward to being a member here in the local chapter and talking with ya'll. I'll leave ya with a couple of pics of my new girls..........and of course, one of the ol Duster that had to go to make room for them

The Gasser

The Diesel

The Duster

 

Hi Josh, and Welcome! Coupla nice rigs ya got there...!

I presume Karl already told you about the project truck, which is most likely going to find its way down to your neck of the woods (Oakdale) before long where more people can have access to it and we can start making progress on it again...

 

Welcome Josh!

The good news is I have a sign paper somewhere that Dan promises to keep his shirt on and not scare away any more new members.

 

Thank you Dan. The project truck was one of the many subjects Karl and I touched on the other night. I'll have to read up on the details but it sounds like it's gonna be one heck of a rig when it's done. I'm only about 15-20 minutes away from Oakdale so if I can be of service just let me know.

 

Lol.......thank you Mike. I can't really criticise anybody. I won't be modeling underwear anytime soon.......unless corpse white skin tone and pot guts all of the sudden become the rage.

 

Welcome to the northern chapter Breech. We are just one big happy family here, and love to talk truck. If there is anything you want to know about Ford trucks this is the place to be. I was a Chrysler guy for 30 years before buying my first Ford truck. I have owned 38 vehicles in my lifetime, and the F-250 I had was one of the most reliable. It was a gas hog, but it was built like a truck and would not break no matter what. Loved it.

With that being said, I must say this...You sold a Duster to buy a Ford truck?!?!?! Say it ain't so Joe! 8 of my 38 vehicles were A body cars (5 Dusters, and 3 Darts) and I loved them too. Especially the 340 powered ones! However since this is a Ford site, and we do talk about Ford trucks, I guess I will shut up now, and say Nice trucks!

 

Thank you Nighteyez for the welcome. As far as the Duster goes........I had to sell it. Frankly, the Mopars are just too expensive for the average Joe anymore and parts are becoming increasingly difficult to find for them.......even the A-bodys that used to be so plentiful. I sold her to another Mopar guy who had the finances to complete it. I bought my blue F-250 about 6 months before I sold it and was just flat out impressed so I used some of the cash from the sell to purchase the diesel. I guess I'm getting old but I just no longer have the urge to go fast anymore. I have just as much fun, if not more, in my trucks and feel safer at the same time. A bunch of my friends thought that I'd gone crazy too but I figure that's because most of them drive Chebbies.........so they wouldn't understand anyways

 

Ya know, it must be our fine Northern California living...so far I've met about 8-10 NC FTE'ers...and I wouldn't want to see any of them modeling ANYTHING either

Including myself...

 

Welcome aboard Josh.

 

I understand, they did not sell well when new, and because there are so few of them left people think they are gold. Someone had a '76 slant six Duster here for sale recently, it was in sad shape, and he still got $2,600 for it! I wouldn't have paid $600 for it.

I miss mine, but doubt I could afford to replace them now. And like you, I think I have outgrown the "go fast" phase of my life. Except for the F-250 which burned, I have not even owned a V8 car in several years.

 

I had a '73 /6 Duster and I can tell you that it was a piece of crap! At the time, and in my opinion, it was the 2 door coupe for people that couldn't afford a Mustang or Chevelle. Mine started rusting out during it's first year on the road. This may also account for why there are so few on the road any more.

 

But that old slant six married to the torqueshift transmission was a runner, in the day. Lots of torque and fairly reliable. Easy to work on too, just in case.
But Dodge bodys back then were crap. I remember my old 66 pickup. What a rattle trap, and the doors were ALWAYS out of adjustment, shortly after finally getting them alligned, every time.

 

Fair enough. The body and frame died of cancer. The drivetrain never skipped a beat.

 

When I was in the Air Force, our crash recovery team had a 1977 Dodge power wagon. Crew cab (or whatever Dodge called there 4 door pickups then). It was 4 wheel drive, and had a 225 six cylinder mated to a 3 spd Torqueflite auto trans, and I thought it would be a dog with all that truck weight and six crew members in it. But it would get up and go with no problems at all. Until some idiot poured hydraulic fluid in the transmission to top it off. It was still running when I left in 1981 (with a rebuilt trans of course).