The FORD Lounge

[Nothing Special]

Pluto's been in the street most of this week.  He was just there to jump start Oswald to get Oswald off the trailer.

And I said "just a LITTLE bit south..."!

[Gary Lewis]

Nothing Special wrote

And I said "just a LITTLE bit south..."!

[mat in tn]

i hate to tell you but someone parked a dodge on the ford lot. you know we can get towed around by foreigners.

[Nothing Special]

Is this better?  I think so!  It only took driving Oswald on and off the trailer to remind me how much I miss him!  I'm looking forward to when the Dodge is out of the picture!

As to how a Dodge made it into my Ford stable, I'm really not against any brands, but I like what I like, and what I like is old Ford trucks.  I've had an '02 and an '08 Ford truck and I won't have another Ford truck newer than my '97.  I'm not saying they're bad trucks, just that I don't like them.

So when I was looking for a truck to drive while I fix up Oswald I wanted another old Ford truck.  Lesley really didn't like the idea of getting another old truck, so I started looking at options.  I ended up rejecting everything else and got the Dodge as the better of the evils.

[mat in tn]

we have all kinds around here. my brother has a ram also and got an 86 f150 a while back to join the gang. my yard has all fords with one exception. my wife's Camry. at least we have one 30 mpg in fleet.

[Nothing Special]

The little yellow car in the garage is Lesley's Jeep Renegade.  So we're not likely to be an exclusively Ford household for the foreseeable future.  Which is fine by me as that's never been my goal.

[Gary Lewis]

I am not a one-brand guy.  I drive what I like, and for Janey's car we chose the Merc GLK and love it.

As for why I have Ford trucks, and more specifically Bullnose trucks, lets just say they are more functional than brick.  (According to the International Brick Collector's Association, "brick" is both singular and plural.)  My mother was a founding member of IBCA and had a very large collection of brick when she passed.  My brother has the interesting ones out of that collection as a wall in his cabin, but the majority of the collection was passed to another IBCA member.

Anyway, I wanted something a bit more useful or functional than brick.  

[Nothing Special]

So that's why you don't have '87 - '91 Ford trucks!

[Gary Lewis]

Nothing Special wrote

So that's why you don't have '87 - '91 Ford trucks!

  Brick!  Well spotted, as the Brits would say.  

Interestingly, when I got into Bullnose trucks there wasn't a moniker for them or the later trucks.  Just Bumps and Dents.  As explained on our page at Documentation/Bullnose FAQ's the tag Bullnose was adopted, at least on FTE, in 2011.  And it was about that time that the later trucks got their moniker.

But even had I known the later ones were to be called Bricks, that wouldn't have swayed me.  I prefer the squared-up look of the Bullnose - before the rounding and blending and smoothing for the wind tunnel took over.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I think the MK VII was the first US vehicle without sealed beams (mid '80's)

Edit: Daniel Stern would probably know for sure...

I remember when the Taurus first came out.
We literally called them jellybeans.  

[Gary Lewis]

ArdWrknTrk wrote

I remember when the Taurus first came out.
We literally called them jellybeans.  

Yes, we did as well.  And then the whole market followed suite and you couldn't tell one vehicle from another.

Love the days when the vehicles were so easily ID'd, like the Chevys of 1957, 58, 59, and 60.

[Nothing Special]

I've said this before, but I keep the nicknames of the '80 - '96/'97 Ford trucks straight because they're all wrong.

'80 - '86 are all squared off, like a brick.  So those are the Bullnoses.

'87 - '91 are still pretty blocky, but not sharp edges, so they look more like a big, strong animal than they do a piece of building material.  So they are the Bricknoses.

And '92 - '96/'97 are the newest body style in the group.  So they are called Old Body Style.


(When the '97 F-150/F-250 came out it looked like the jellybean Taurus.  So we called that the Taurus truck)

[Gary Lewis]

Well said, Bob.  And I think if you were to go back and check, my vote for the 1980-86 trucks was for Bricknose - exactly for your reasoning.  But I was outvoted.  

[viven44]

If I could, I would just call them (80-86) Squarebody trucks!!

I bought my first "Bullnose" before I knew it was called that.
I was simply looking for a "Squarebody Ford truck!!".

[Nothing Special]

"Squarebody" is just so associated with GM.  I feel like calling a Ford that is like calling a 460 a rat motor.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Just like someone saying "small block or big block" when speaking of products from The Motor Company....

You know they aren't from Dearborn!

[Nothing Special]

I don't feel as strong about that.  "Small block Ford" has come to mean the 351W, 302 and 289 (and maybe some older engines?) while "big block Ford" has come to mean the 385 Series.  And in the GM world it seems I hear "small block Chevy" as often as I hear it shortened to just "small block".  So those still feel more generic.

[viven44]

I don't call it that myself simply because thats a GM terminology...

Well Chevy earned the "rights" as they came up with that style first. I am of the opinion that Ford waited about 8 years before coming up with a "squarebody" style via the bullnoses... Chevy squarebody style was 73 and on... I would not go as far as saying that the Chevy squarebody inspired the bullnose design... but I wonder....

80-86 are truly special because trucks up until 79 were bulbous, and then 87 and on became rounder, just slightly and then in 97 came the Jellybean... and the more recent ones, I have been happy to see the return of "square" styling!!

[Danny G]

I don't know what's in the truck gear wise yet. I am going to go make an offer tomorrow. TBH I know it's not everyones cup of tea but I really want a 4 door bullnose, so it's coming home now mater what. He did mention the rear tank pump is not functioning and the tank needs to be dropped and cleaned. Kind of expected. And that the AC is not functioning. Also kind of expected. So long as it's running, with no major issues or major rust it's a no brainer for me.

Anything to pay attention too specifically on these 4 door duallies and 460's?

[ArdWrknTrk]

What year is the crew cab?
The Hot Fuel Handling system changed a couple of times...

Just get a new rear tank.
It is never worth the $$$ and effort to try and resurrect one.
I like the Lilland powder coated tanks myself. They fit everything right and are quite strong (as my driveshaft tried to beat my midship to death.... and lost.

The 460 is pretty resilient, but the trucks do have known points of failure, like the cowl drains, rear spring hangers and door seal pinch welds, among others.