I am making this thread cause I am kind of curious as to the reason that you have the truck that you do... Be if you inherited it, always wanted one etc...

I will start it off by giving my story...

Ever since I was a little kid I loved the old Ford pickups... Of all configurations 4x4, 4x2, F100, F250... Didn't matter then through a work contact I managed to get a hold of what is now my '71 camper special... the guy who had it couldn't keep the truck running so I asked him what he wanted for it... And well drove it home that very day...

Granted since then it has sucked up most my paychecks and almost all of my free time getting it to the condition I wanted it in... But hey this is a labor of love...

 

I like to tinker. I sold my brand new shiny toyota for this "labour of love". Fuel pump, alternator, carb, fuel line, fuel filter, air filter, and a starter later it is a great truck. In the end I really like the body style and the symplicity of the truck. I would own several if I had the space. And the money is actually a pittance compared to a 35k new truck. Hey I like the insurance rates as well, oh did I mention it hauls like a champ??

 

Bought it cause I thought I was getting a deal. Paid $750 for it. Test drove it at night. It drove a little rough but I figured I could fix that. The next morning I was shocked that I could see the street through the floor boards. Ton$ of money and time later, it is almost not a piece of junk.

 

i had a 2 door (liked the look of them and like old cars and trucks) and started to look into them more found out they made crew cabs, started looking for one found this one near me saw it loved it bought it.

 

because dad teached me how to drive in old ford and my 68 feels right and it just keeps on running even though if it blew up would me a good reason to rebuild it and give her a decent paint job

 

Try this thread.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...al-to-you.html

 

my truck was left to my dad when my grandad passed away. I was 8 and now it is the only thing of my gradads that i have.

Then there is also the fact that it is a great truck i have been driving it for fifteen years and it has only made me walk twice and both times were my fault for not paying more attention to guages. the best part about the truck though is there is only one part of the truck that i wont try to tear apart and fix my self. It sits in the middle of the dash and tunes in the stations, when the one that is in it now dies im gonna put the original AM one back in it.

 

Had to trade my 95 crew cab dually in on an expedition because my wife is a nurse and we needed 4 wd for her to get to work in the winter. Bought my 69 off of ebay last year the price was right it, has an 8 foot bed, it has very little rust on it, I use it as truck when needed but I also prefer it to my 2000 chry concord daily driver. Best of all my 6 year old daughter loves it becaues she can sit in the front and we can have an actual conversation on the way to school in the morning. a little hard on gas but the chry does the 40 mile round trip to work everyday the truck does most other trips. Mike

 

I was 18 fresh out of the basic training I bought and paid for a 67 shorty with a 300 3 on the tree. The one I found 25 years later is a ranger, with at the time a 302, took it out, bought a 390 and gonna put a 3spd od in the floor out of a 85 f150. Right now son and I have it laying in pieces in the shop floor, waiting till after the holidays and send that sucker off to the sandblaster to get a freshenup job, then we will build it up close to the truck I remember.

 

I found my 71 while I was on my way to the hospital,and had back procedure done. I saw it and said---I'll be back and when I got out-13 days later ,had my wife look it over and then I went and bought it.
I am going next week to buy a 72 and have alot of trucks. LOOK at my Gallery.
I LOVE TRUCKS and always have.
I hope this 72 f250 has a better traction than my 71 f100. It seems to be light in the rear. The 72 will make a great truck camper. I love to travel and go with my wife and 3 dogs. Bill

 

i was in need of some basic transportation when i found my truck ten yrs ago. since i'm a wrench-head it didn't take long to turn it into a project truck. i was never crazy about trucks before but since my dad had a 70 f100 when i was a kid i couldn't help but fall in love w/ it. although i had it painted earlier this year, i still call it the graymule, it's like part of the family. check out my gallery

 

My father bought my '71 new leftover after the '72s came out. When he died in 1984, my brother got it and trashed it. I bought it from him. It's really about all I have of anything that was my parents. It was the most basic Explorer (painted front bumper, no door jamb switches for dome light, etc.). It did have a unique color, nicer seat and door panels, and bright trim around the drip rail. It was a 302 V-8, with manual transmission (would have been a six if my dad could have found one). I've added a 351W with Edelbrock intake, Edelbrock 4-bbl carb, C-4 auto, power steering, power disc brakes, and styled wheels from an '86 Bronco. I moved the gas tank to the back between frame rails. It needs paint, but it will go back the original color.

Last year, I bought a '72 just to have a spare to try things on when the '71 didn't work right.

 

Oh, I've got to get in on this thread....

I bought the truck back in 06, because I needed something that could move engine blocks and tow. I was looking for a 'throw away' 80's F150 that I could pick up for cheap and toss when it broke, but instead let my wife talk me into getting a 69 F100 with a FE, 4-spd, and LSD Dana for only $250. It drove the 100 miles home without any real issues too.

Of course, about two weeks later is seized a axle bearing. It had that odd Dana44/60 hybrid that nobody makes axles for anymore, and having only paid $250 for the truck I didn't want to get custom axles made (plus I got laid off about 2 weeks after buying it; that was a lousy week). Sooo, after about 5 months and finding out the 73+ had a wider mount points, I finally got the proper sized 9-inch in it. Of course, the starter had froze with it was sitting, so I got the joy of lying on my back in 40* rain runoff, putting in a new starter.

Drove it for about 3 weeks and the accelerator pump on the 2-brl went. I figured now is the right time to swap over to a 4-brl, so I chased down a mani, tore apart the top end (learned I had to pull pushrods), had to reseat the 85 lb cast iron monster twice, and went to crank the truck up and BAM!.... found out the last guy had just set #1 to a different wire then factory specs (which I used); I had it about 120* out of time, and I now got to rebuild a carb. Also, I'm 99% sure some wiring got jacked up when I was switching manifolds, since it was original and very brittle by now. So the truck then proceeds to set for over a year. I finally got around to playing around with it last December, and the driver's front drum is frozen, the coil was toast, the battery was dead, and I've got a bad ground somewhere so it won't always crank over (I'm guessing starter corrosion or a bad positive distribution block, since I just clean the engine ground). So now I've got a long bed 69 parking space holder that needs at least one drum rebuild, won't start, and always seems to be a 2nd place priority after my cars. Hell, I even recently towed it with one of them... if you've never seen a 76 BMW 2002 tow a full size Ford, it's a funny site. Oh, and it dropped a couple of feet of snow on the NW the week I had time off anyway and was going to play with it.

I suppose the better question would be why do I still have the truck.

 

Damn, I thought I had it bad.

 

Well, it's kind of self inflicted. I'm used to newer small displacement stuff and EFI, so I've been learning as I go. Also, the breaks between problems while I "find motivation" (aka work on something else for several months) sure don't help. And gas prices sure haven't helped my motivation to fix the 360 powered beast either. It's not a daily transportation, just for that time when you need a truck (like moving or getting car parts)... that and it was easier to justify then a Mustang to fill my muscle car fetish.

More than anything else I just needed to vent.