Behind the Wheel of Vintage Steel

[Crabenho]

Have you ever watched A Christmas Story. You sound just like Ralph trying to figure out how to get that Red Ryder BB gun with the compass in the stock. I loved the story and I can't wait to see some photos of the truck!

Hey Bumpside, The Christmas Story is my favorite Christmas movie! "Who's mommies little Piggie?"

[nadams]

Crabenho,
This is the most well written and hilarious story of Bump life that I have read on this forum! While reading this and chuckling quite a bit I seemed to have woken my girlfriend who did not find the situation very funny, that is until I read her your posts.

I have also left my bump to consider the error of it's ways but like my daughters cat it has no regards for my feelings. Hope to hear more of the story.

P.S. The Christmas Story is a favorite at our house as well, we watch it a few times leading up to Christmas and then when the 24 hour marathon is on the channel never changes off of it.

[Crabenho]

Winter is here!

[ccryder2011]

Winter is here!

[ Image ]

nice pic...here is mine last year.......

[evan_flatt69]

Crabenho, you have some of the best posts! I can tell you have a strong love for your truck just as we all do. I'm glad to see you found the vintage ride you were looking for.

[cdeal28078]

Is that snow THIS YEAR???? Man, glad I am in NC. . My 71 Sport Custom has the black tail gate insert or what ever you call it and I've always like it but seeing yours I like the silver. Mine is called Swiss Aqua but the paint I used did not come out just like the original looked. Nice truck and story
clint

[sargentrs]

Great truck! Great story! Thank you for sharing it with us. Hope to see more of "The Chronicles of Crabenho".

[nadams]

Thanks for the pictures guys, I cannot wait to take the high boy out in the snow!

[SomersMerc]

Great story. I am also about to purchase a 1967 Mercury from a widow. Good friend of my brother passed away and his truck has been sitting for 3 or more years. She wanted it removed from her driveway before another winter hits. I had it towed to my brother's garage and started working on it to help her sell it but now she wants me to buy it and I do as well. It's exciting! I also have a 2004 F150 but the excitment is not there.

[Crabenho]

MAN! I gotta say, I love this truck! What I really love is that after weeks of tuning, rebuilding and learning, you can feel and visualize all the mechanical processes in your head as you are driving it. You can actually feel the difference all your efforts made in how smooth the truck starts, idles, accelerates and stops. I’m still at the point where I don’t turn on the radio. I want to hear and feel everything going on.

First, as promised, here is the link to my exhaust adventures in the "Engine" forum. Good stuff.

http://www.fordification.com/forum/view ... =3&t=62616

Recently, as cold weather approached, I needed to focus on the auto choke system. I had rebuilt the carb pretty early in this process but kind of dismissed all the funny linkage and tubes on the left side as things I could learn later. Well, “later” came quick. The temps were forecast to go from 80deg to 15deg in a matter of days; classic Colorado weather.

I pulled the truck in the garage, pulled out my trusty Ford manuals and crawled under the hood to sort this thing out. If I haven’t mentioned it yet, get the original Ford tech manual set if at all possible. For a serious beginner at this stuff, those manuals are priceless.

It seems I have made a lot of “hindsight” comments in this thread. You can expect those to continue. In hindsight, I should have studied and adjusted the auto choke components while I had the carb out on the comfy, well lit bench. Under the hood, unless Gumby is a close cousin, the linkage is tough to get to. Don’t get me started on the stuck choke diaphragm adjustment screw or the red radiator tattoo on my belly. Out came the carb…again.



Ok, flash forward a couple hours. With the help of my tech manuals, the auto choke is adjusted and the carb is back in place. The thermostatic spring, choke plate gap and “V” kickdown notch are now my friends…..in theory.

There’s nothing like waiting until the last minute. The snow pic I posted above was from the following morning. The temps had dropped to 15deg and there were 11 inches of snow. I crunched out to the truck, scraped the snow from the door and hopped in the cab. While whispering a couple words of encouragement to the truck I slipped the key in the ignition (I know I’m a freak, my wife reminds me often). I firmly pressed the gas pedal once to the floor and swore I heard the choke cam snap into place. I gave it one more pump and turned the key. Three revolutions later the motor roared to life and settled into a surprisingly smooth high idle. HELL YEAH! Judging from the commotion in the cab, the neighbors must have thought it was date night.

[Crabenho]

Winter is here!

[ Image ]

nice pic...here is mine last year.......

Good GOD! Do you have tank tracks on that thing?

[Crabenho]

Great story. I am also about to purchase a 1967 Mercury from a widow. Good friend of my brother passed away and his truck has been sitting for 3 or more years. She wanted it removed from her driveway before another winter hits. I had it towed to my brother's garage and started working on it to help her sell it but now she wants me to buy it and I do as well. It's exciting! I also have a 2004 F150 but the excitment is not there.

Do it!I highly recommend the experience. It's the most fun I've had in a long time.

[Swegner99]

Your posts are hilarious, Im glad your having so much fun with your truck, learning all these new things, and conquering it every step of the way. I cant wait to get to the engine point in my project.

[AK F100]

First of all .

I think your truck is great and especially since you are enjoying it to the fullest as often as possible.

I too sold off my newer truck, although not as new(er) as yours. Mine was a '97 F350 Crew Cab Diesel that I sold to pay off some bills and I am building my dream truck. The build is on this site's sister site (fordification.net http://www.fordification.net/forums/vie ... ?f=14&t=84) since it's of the 73-79 vintage. While building the my daily driver, my wife bought me a '76 2wd F250 (the best wife in the world) to drive around while I was building the '74 4x4. My son, 2-1/2 years old at the time, now 3, loves driving around in the '76 with me.

Great story, keep it coming.

Happy Motoring

[1972hiboy]

Thats awesome! clean truck great stories! keep them coming and from central coast of cali!