Drive It or Sell It!

[Manny]

I understand what your saying howdy what wound up trashing my petronix was just what you said. Key on engine off. I found a couple of times I turned the key to accessory and wound up overheating the thing. Then wound up setting there for an hour for it to cool off. How is it going got some miles on the thing yet?

[HOWDY69]

January 1 is a good day to begin a new diet. And I figured if I want to drive the F250 on a daily basis I need to become one with the truck (cue Cady Shack reference nah nah nah nah nah nah nah). So I sat quietly for a spell and pondered what the truck would eat for breakfast if it were human. Eventually it came to me. The defining characteristic of the truck most people comment on. If I wanted to become one with the truck I needed to develop a prominent spare tire. So this is what I ate for breakfast. Later I drove to the filling station so the truck could start the year with a full tank. Oh, I also installed the headlamp that has been sitting in the cab for over a year. Thought it might be a good idea to have two to illuminate the drive to work tomorrow.


I bet you thought we all ate granola out here on the left coast.

[Manny]

My kinda diet plan mmmmm tasty! Did the truck get a diet of regular or 89 or heck maybe 91-93. What is yalls octane out there on the west coast. As for what you guys eat prius drivers granola all the way. 69 f250 you have to have some meat in your diet......

[HOWDY69]

The F250 gets what passes for premium out here which is 91 octane and I paid 3.84 a gallon. If we are still paying that a year from now I will be amazed. Had a little dew on the windshield this morning so I turned on the six year old wipers which just sort of smeared the dew around. Stopped by Carquest on the way home and picked up a pair of replacements for a whopping $8 including tax. I had forgotten how much fun it was to try and get the spring clips to release the blades. I took the blade holders off and took them in the store and they lent me a pair of needle nose pliers. Nice folks and they are only about 1/4 mile from the house. Problem is they have bankers hours so I often go to AutoZone if I think the project will go into the evening or especially if I might need something on a Sunday.

Tomorrow is bring your cheese-head to work day...at least for a few of us transplants. Hopefully Monday we can have a whine and cheese party with the 49er fans doing the whining. Otherwise, I guess it will be blue cheese.

[Gcwstang]

Howdy69 where in sacramento are you located I'm greenback and i80 in sacramento

[HOWDY69]

Howdy69 where in sacramento are you located I'm greenback and i80 in sacramento

I sent you a PM and another Sacramento bump just joined and posted on the introduction page.

[HOWDY69]

I should make a list and I will likely maybe make a list but for now I am just fixing stuff as it comes to mind. I drive by several parts stores to and from work and there are several near work and near my home so in most cases I can get to a store before I forget what it was I needed. I had the C6 rebuilt about five years ago and over the past two or three years it would leak if left parked facing uphill for several months at a time. So I got to thinking on the way to work yesterday that it would be a good idea to check the fluid level in the C6 when I got to work and the truck was nice and warmed up. When I arrived I parked with the tires against a good sized curb, put the truck in neutral, and set the brake. When I checked the oil it was below the add line.

On the way home I stopped at the first parts store just a block away. When I asked for Type F transmission fluid I got sort of a blank look from the clerk. After canvasing the store the clerk eventually concluded they didn't carry it anymore. As I drove away I began to wonder what fluid the transmission builder had put in my transmission. He specialized in building 1000 hp Buick transmissions but also built C6s. I am not quite sure what he did to the C6 but when it shifts, you know it. I have never actually let it shift with the pedal to the floor because I am afraid my head might hit the rear window. As I continued to drive I wondered how I was going to find the right fluid. I remembered reading on FORDification that it was better to put non-detergent fluid in our C6s. When I arrived at my neighborhood store I was all ready to explain the life story of my C6 in an attempt to get the right fluid. As it turned out I barely got the words 1969, F250, and C6 out before an efficient looking woman about my age pointed at the wall and said Type FA for older Fords right there. So now the C6 is full and happy...and still snappy.

When I walked away from the truck after checking the fluid level this morning I looked back and snapped this photo.

[mcheath]

I've been daily driving my F250 CS for the past five months and I agree that it takes some commitment. Every month I've fixed something, luckily nothing super expensive had broke yet, but something goes south every few weeks.

You are doing 20 miles a day, I'm only going 8. So far I've not been left stranded.

I have been slowly losing that dread of the truck breaking down as it proves reliable, but who knows?

Love the spare tire carrier on your pickup.

[HOWDY69]

I've been daily driving my F250 CS for the past five months and I agree that it takes some commitment. Every month I've fixed something, luckily nothing super expensive had broke yet, but something goes south every few weeks.

You are doing 20 miles a day, I'm only going 8. So far I've not been left stranded.

I have been slowly losing that dread of the truck breaking down as it proves reliable, but who knows?

Love the spare tire carrier on your pickup.

It's reassuring to know others are out there going through the same thing. There are two intersections on my way home where I dread sitting at the light. The worst one is a double left hand turn lane that seems like it is 1/8th of a mile long and is uphill. If my truck died there I would be on the radio traffic report for sure.

[HOWDY69]

I posted this in the Car Guy/Gal thread. I am just parking it here so I can find it again.

Driving home from work on Thursday I saw two young women (early 20s) in a bump so I waved at them and they waved back. It seemed perfectly natural but later that evening it occurred to me, if we had been in Toyota Corollas it would have seemed a little creepy (and they wouldn't have waved back).

I am at the tail end of the baby boomers and I notice a lot of clubs and interest groups fading. It isn't just hobbies either, a lot of small businesses are closing as folks retire. Eventually some youngsters will discover American muscle and there will be a revival. The FORDification Facebook page has 2300 members. A lot of the younger folks ask a quick question and get on with there task. They may be laying on their back under their truck when they post their question from their phone. So maybe there are more of them than we think.

I took up penny whistle about a year ago and my wife just took up octave mandolin. Now I just need to get my truck wired up to play tunes from my new fangled phone. My stock AM radio doen't seem to have an auxiliary jack.

[HOWDY69]

I had to drive the Subaru today so I could drop it off at the shop.

I think the truck looks a little angry about being left behind.

[lint]

They may be laying on their back under their truck when they post their question from their phone. So maybe there are more of them than we think.

Hah, yes. My CS is 15 years older than I am, put it that way.

[pincheweddo]

I know what I would do! Well I will when mine is not in a gillion pieces. Drive it no doubt there is no other truck out there built like a bumpside. Sure mpg stinks especially with a 410 however a new truck starts about 30000 if you get bare bones. 30000/3.62 average of gas prices right now comes out to 8287.29282 gallons of fuel that could be purchased.. okay so times 8287.29282 times 10 mpg gallon comes out to lets see 8 over 7 by the 3 carry the 4 to the 8 decimal point over pie that 3.14 (stops and removes shoes...) DAHA its 82,872.9 miles that could be put on your truck you will enjoy more is easier to understand and work on has no payments and according to your signature that's 82,872.9 smiles lets see a new trucks get that! As for your charging issue sounds like you have a sulfated cell. That is where they are falling apart inside the battery shorting out dragging all the amps outta the charging system why she smoothed up a bit with the battery undone. Sounds like a great resolution and I remember back when I first came to Fordification I just saw your pic and just liked your trucks vibe. As a matter of fact you are the one that made me decide die hard on the 410 engine so you gotta drive it. What other issues are you having with the old girl that is making you shy away from her?

You sound like a Financial Advisor.

[motzingg]

Glad you chose DRIVE IT!

As a 27 year old guy daily driving his bump (20 miles each way to work), it doesn't look like the popularity of these trucks is waning at all. I bought mine from an older guy (late 50's maybe) who had broken his foot during a misguided restoration attempt. It was probably the best thing that could have happened to the truck, well, to me it is. She's getting a functional resto that preserves the classic look and feel, and i'm driving the heck out of the screamin' ford, which i think is really what the old girl wants. As motorcycle writer Paul D'orleans says "Ride them as the maker intended"

Every generation starts to think its all going to crap on the backside of middle age. It even says in the bible to beware of false prophets predictin' the end times... and that was 2000 years ago. Maybe as you get to that age, it just gets harder to connect to the masses and it seems like something is changing faster than usual.

We've got smartphones, y'all had TV and rock'n'roll, and you're parents' parents thought that sex in the back of cars was going to destroy the social fabric. The same way folks were rodding out pre-war jalopies in the 50's, guys in my age group are 'rediscovering' something that really never went away. People, who perhaps owned these trucks when new, are passing away or getting out of it, and they are still cheap enough that guys like me with a lot of passion and not much cash, can buy them and fix them up.

Thanks to help from you guys on the forum, who were around when this was first hand knowledge, guys like me will be able to pass this onto our kids. There is a pretty good chance that my son will learn to drive in a truck just like the one his great grandpa taught his grandpa to drive in. My son won't ever meet his great grandpa (he died 10 years ago) but I hope getting to experience that gives him a connection to who he is and the people who got him there.


maybe the next time your truck stalls and burns out a starter blocking an 8 lane intersection, that will give ya some peace

[HOWDY69]

snip...
maybe the next time your truck stalls and burns out a starter blocking an 8 lane intersection, that will give ya some peace

Thanks for that imagery. I called the Mustang place to check on my emergency flasher switch. If I do end up on the traffic report I would at least like to be able to turn on my flashers.