skylark
I'm Awesome
This is NOT my truck. This is a 1949 Ford F1 truck that I absolutely love. As much as I hate to say it, if it was this or any of my trucks, I'd be selling trucks. Here is why I love this truck so much. I grew up in the small town of Rogue River, OR. We had a stop light but it was only so that the middle school kids could cross the street to go to the elementary school for lunch. My dad had a small shop behind our house and we met some customers that became good friends. One of those friends owned this truck, Billy and Barbara. This truck is Barbara's baby, she bought it for $900 at a yard sale. When I first saw it, it was in primer with white wagon spoke wheels and a white canvas tarp covering a wooden frame over the bed. The 239ci 8BA 100hp flathead V8 was tired and would hardly start. I came up with a way to get it started by cranking the engine in gear and then hammering the clutch pedal to "unload" the starter. In spring term of 1994 at the local community college I took an engine overhaul class where I did all of the machine work and I built the engine (with dad supervising) during spare time over the summer. We put her back in and hit the switch. She sprang to life without a single problem! That was my first engine overhaul and I had completed it on my 16th birthday. The sound of that flattie made a huge impression on me. I had tried to convince them to swap in a late model V8 but Barbara said absolutely not! I was so glad that I didn't convince them! Another sound that the old truck had was the horn-pure sex! Every time that they would drive past our house they would honk that horn. It is what inspired the horns on the dually.
Flash forward to about 2000-2002. Billy really wanted to get it painted for Barbara. The truck was in pretty darn good condition for the most part. The truck got parked under a carport and collected dust and duck poo (they have a pond). I would always go see them around Christmas to give them a card and check in. Billy and Barbara have a small farm/ranch and when we bought a pig from them (Mmmm bacon) I said buy truck parts! Finally around 2010 they had some money set aside and finally they had the truck painted. It sat uncompleted for the last 3 years while they saved money and bought truck parts. I kept asking when they were going to finish it and Barbara always said "hopefully soon". This Christmas I had an AWESOME gift, Billy said that this spring they wanted to work on getting the truck back on the road. Happy fat man dance! (It ain't pretty)
The end of April I got a call from Billy and I came out to their house to start work. Billy had always said that they were going to pay me to work on the truck and I always refused. When I got to their house he took me to the barn and said "pick a pig, your not going to take my money then your damn sure going to take my pig". Once again, Mmmmm bacon! There has been quite a but of work involved in reassembling the truck and of course there are more parts that have been needed but we are to the point of a handful of parts that are stuck on back order and a day and she will be ready for a shake down. "Barb 49" will be proudly displayed on a license plate. Getting this truck ready to go has truly been a labor of love. Casey has spent countless hours in the cab, steering the wheel, getting in trouble for hitting the starter button, losing screws and making the absolute best VROOOOM noises. Jeanna has been there as well not afraid to do anything. Barbara has crawled under the truck many times lending a hand. Billy has been blessing his wife with his own two hands. Barbara has made us lunch every time that we have been there (I'm going to miss her cooking). I will get some more pictures once we roll her out of the garage under her own power but for now, this one will have to do.
Flash forward to about 2000-2002. Billy really wanted to get it painted for Barbara. The truck was in pretty darn good condition for the most part. The truck got parked under a carport and collected dust and duck poo (they have a pond). I would always go see them around Christmas to give them a card and check in. Billy and Barbara have a small farm/ranch and when we bought a pig from them (Mmmm bacon) I said buy truck parts! Finally around 2010 they had some money set aside and finally they had the truck painted. It sat uncompleted for the last 3 years while they saved money and bought truck parts. I kept asking when they were going to finish it and Barbara always said "hopefully soon". This Christmas I had an AWESOME gift, Billy said that this spring they wanted to work on getting the truck back on the road. Happy fat man dance! (It ain't pretty)
The end of April I got a call from Billy and I came out to their house to start work. Billy had always said that they were going to pay me to work on the truck and I always refused. When I got to their house he took me to the barn and said "pick a pig, your not going to take my money then your damn sure going to take my pig". Once again, Mmmmm bacon! There has been quite a but of work involved in reassembling the truck and of course there are more parts that have been needed but we are to the point of a handful of parts that are stuck on back order and a day and she will be ready for a shake down. "Barb 49" will be proudly displayed on a license plate. Getting this truck ready to go has truly been a labor of love. Casey has spent countless hours in the cab, steering the wheel, getting in trouble for hitting the starter button, losing screws and making the absolute best VROOOOM noises. Jeanna has been there as well not afraid to do anything. Barbara has crawled under the truck many times lending a hand. Billy has been blessing his wife with his own two hands. Barbara has made us lunch every time that we have been there (I'm going to miss her cooking). I will get some more pictures once we roll her out of the garage under her own power but for now, this one will have to do.
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