Anyone here restore old Fords?

[Rich84]

Originally Posted by special-K

When I me the gal I married she was driving a '79 Ford Fairmont Futura 6cyl/3spd+od on the floor. A pretty cool car she bought from her dad when her X left her with no vehicle.

The car I took for my drivers license test was my Mom's '78 Ford Futura with 302 v8. It was a fun to drive, quick car. It replaced her 69 Galaxy 500 (390).
My Dad is still a Ford guy. Man he had some junks. The 75 Grenada was the worst car I ever drove.

[GOPAPA]

Beings this thread has spread out a bit ,,I will share my old ford truck that when I got a wee to much to drink and kept on anti-ing up the price and I got it...

it was a 47 I think Ford didnt have it long so do not remember it very much .. the guy did not want to sell it and I boldly told him all cars and trucks are for sale for the right price.. any way a 220 Thermedore Heater . A chain hoist and $300 dollars and it was mine .. I sold it to gas station kid I knew and the motor froze up with in a week,, at the time i didnt need the little pickup as I had a car to drive ...and other than that my wife didnt have a car when we got married,, what's up with that ? You all find these gals with cars and I missed out.. hah ha

[72c20customcamper]

Only have 2 fords in the family a 1960 square bird convertible and a 71 Mustang convertible. Not really restored just a repaint as they were both very clean to begin with. Not great pictures but I'll get them out for better ones .

[FleetsidePaul]

Originally Posted by GOPAPA

my wife didnt have a car when we got married,, what's up with that ? You all find these gals with cars and I missed out.. hah ha

My first wife didn't have a car either when I met her. Her parents wouldn't spring for a car. Which is kind of surprising since they were kind of on the wealthy side. She was just a student. She didn't have the money. So I ponied up 400 bucks and got her a 1967 Impala. That was a great car.

To tell you the truth. I was getting sick of giving her rides. So I bought her a car.

[1976gmc20]

* My wife had a yellow Bug when we met but then she rolled it while we were engaged so I bought her a red one which later became a mix of parts from the two. At that time we had a chance to buy a 60-something straight six Camaro from some friends for $800 but I thought that was too much. I later found out they sold it for $300 and I was just sick I traded off the red bug for some logs (after we got the 71 K/10 back) and we only owned GM until five years ago we got the Jeep.

* I bought one of my daughters an 89 F-150 300-6 because that was what she thought she wanted. I can't say it was a really bad pickup but we sure had a lot of problems with it that I never expected. Anyway it sure didn't make me want another Ford. This year (15 yrs later) she bought herself a 2002 F-350 V-10. She didn't ask me first so I hope she doesn't have trouble with that engine.

[CG]

I would love to have an old Ford pick-up still. I had a 38 ages ago but when we were saving for our first house we sold all the extra "junk" to help come up with the down payment.

I think if anything from 1928 to 1939 came to me for a reasonable amount Id sure think hard about owning it. Course Id take the same years in a Chevy too.

[special-K]

Originally Posted by FleetsidePaul

My first wife didn't have a car either when I met her. Her parents wouldn't spring for a car. Which is kind of surprising since they were kind of on the wealthy side. She was just a student. She didn't have the money. So I ponied up 400 bucks and got her a 1967 Impala. That was a great car.

To tell you the truth. I was getting sick of giving her rides. So I bought her a car.

I had a girlfriend a little while back that was a gal I went to elementary school with. Last saw her when I moved away after 8thg grade 41 years before we reunited. I could not believe it when she told me she didn't get a drivers license till she was 32! How is that possible???

Let me show a couple pictures of old Ford trucks right here in this thread about my wife leaving me

[1976gmc20]

Originally Posted by special-K

I had a girlfriend a little while back that was a gal I went to elementary school with. Last saw her when I moved away after 8thg grade 41 years before we reunited. I could not believe it when she told me she didn't get a drivers license till she was 32! How is that possible???

My wife's brother is in his late fifties and has never driven or had a license. He can't even ride a bicycle He got a masters degree in something but I don't think even he knows what. He works for some org managing handicapped workers.

[special-K]

Originally Posted by 1976gmc20

My wife's brother is in his late fifties and has never driven or had a license. He can't even ride a bicycle He got a masters degree in something but I don't think even he knows what. He works for some org managing handicapped workers.

Good career for someone who chose to handicap himself with a compromised transportation situation. My mom is 90 and has never had a drivers license. My aunt Minnie, who was a good bit older, had her drive her Model A rumble seat in town after a few lessons, but that would have been in the '40s

[67 twins]

[QUOTE=GOPAPA;8784349]If you buy an old Ford Truck and decide to replace the engine with a newer one ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Beware of the 5.4 Triton as it is tagged as the worst motor ever built.

I know this engine has a bad reputation but I have one in an 08 that has 200,000
Miles on it with no engine trouble. Also believe me when I tell you I have not been easy on it either, I have run the hell out of this truck. I did toast the transmission at 155,000

[special-K]

I got 335k out of the boat anchor 6.5TD in my '92 I ordered new that was a work truck it's whole life weighing no less than 4t at any given time. That was without a load or a trailer, just the steel Reading tool cap, rack with a couple ladders, and tool bins with tools. But when it went it went major with the same problem that ended most 6.2/6.5 lives, broken crank/broken main web. That happened if a bad head gasket didn't cause hydro-lock and crack a piston, ceasing the engine. That happened on the '91 6.2NA Suburban I had and the '95 6.5TD K3500 I had, on the first engine. The custom-built 300hp marine 6.5TD I replaced it with lasted not much more than 30-40k when it self-destructed. I sold two 6.2NA vehicles in good running condition. The '84 K30 w/Banks Sidewinder kit had 175k on it when I sold it and it lasted the next owner many years. But I had done head gaskets once and was lucky enough to get a chance to do that w/o experiencing hydro-lock. The 335k engine had blown a head gasket during it's life also. The first time I saw white smoke when I arrived where I was going I let it sit.

A poor engine design might give a good high mile experience to some owners, but when the word on the street is so many failed at an early age make driving them feel like a ticking time bomb. Some do some don't doesn't cut it. The engineers failed or the bean counters cut a corner somewhere that trashed a good design. It took all those experiences I had to convince me to sell my last one, an '85 Jimmy Diesel that I loved while it was still a nice running truck. Used it five years and sold for more than I spent on it with purchase and what I put into it.

The '50s F100s, Effies, were the iconic classic truck to restore or modify before Chevys gained same status. Not saying there wasn't always special interest in the Chevys all along as well. But SoCal Pickup parts was pretty much the first specialty truck supply business Before Seth Doulton got Golden State Pickup Parts going along the same type of business model. I was seeing both makes customized/hotted up in CA before either business was founded. These trucks have been seen customized since they were new

[TwoFiftyShifter]

[quote=67 twins;8785211]

Originally Posted by GOPAPA

If you buy an old Ford Truck and decide to replace the engine with a newer one ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Beware of the 5.4 Triton as it is tagged as the worst motor ever built.

I know this engine has a bad reputation but I have one in an 08 that has 200,000
Miles on it with no engine trouble. Also believe me when I tell you I have not been easy on it either, I have run the hell out of this truck. I did toast the transmission at 155,000

The 5.4L and 4.6L in 2 valve config (97-04) were a bit low on HP but pretty problem free. The 04-08 3 valve had a couple bad issues. The last 2 years 09-10 they finally fixed them. My 97 F150 has the 4.6l and 170K miles. Runs like a top, 20mpg. I had to put an alternator on it and change intake gaskets. Small jobs really.

[TwoFiftyShifter]

Long live the 56 Ford. Classy as they come. I am the oddball who prefers 53-55. Give me one converted to 4x4 with a crossover exhaust V8.

My dad is a 100% GM only guy - but will make an exception for a 51-52 F1. But, it was his first wheels as a teen.

[special-K]

Yeah those are really nice and I also do like those F1s and F100s. The '56 is truly an icon. The thing is, the 55-57 Chevy is also miles of style. So being a GM man I'd have to have one of those first, before considering the Ford. I've had them both separately, but my dream since a teen has been to have the pair of '55 Chevy car and '55 Chevy truck., my all-time dream pair. The over the top ultimate don't get no better all time greatest pair in the universe would be a '55 Nomad and '55 Cameo. Holy camoly! Two dream concept vehicles Chevy created into real life vehicles available off the lot that no other maker even came close to making a comparable to.