Growing as a forum!

It is interesting to me to see the changing dynamics of this relatively new forum of Bullnose enthusiasts. All of us had a chance to tell a little about ourselves when being introduced. Some said more than others and most was mechanical or vehicle experience. Perhaps if we knew more about what makes us tick, we could better relate and be able to connect when helping each other.

I will take a chance and see how many others follow suit.

I am David. I own a 1986 F150 after having previously owned a 1984 F150 and a 1978 F100. All were powered by 300/4.9L six cylinder engines.

I am 64 years young, still working, and plan to for several more years. I am blessed with a wonderful and beautiful wife and 3 children, all grown.

I do laboratory work as my occupation.

I know more about vehicles in my head than in my fingers. I do love working on the truck and am gifted with a good memory and a desire to help others by finding parts they are searching for.

I love the Lord and very thankful for my family, friends and all else that I have.

I hope I did not bore you!

Good idea, David.

I'm almost 71 years "young", and have been retired from my career in Information Technology for about 12 years.  (I don't really know all that much about IT.  I just had people working for me who had people working for them that knew what they were doing.)

As for my trucks, I have the ones in my signature at present plus a '69 Super Bee and a '50 Chevy pickup.  But I've had a '72 F250, another '81 F150, two '82 F150's, and another '85 F150.  And then there was Huck, the half-truck, a 1990 F250.  However, I learned that some trucks aren't worth reviving, so I parted out one of the 82's, the other '85, and Huck.  I've been into Ford trucks for 7 or 8 years, but grew up a Chevy guy and then changed to Mopars in '69 when I bought a Bee new.

As for family, my wonderful wife (Janey) and I have two children - a daughter who lives in Nicaragua with her husband and twins, and a son who lives in Florida with his wife and daughter.  So we get to travel to see them.  And, we also travel to explore.

And, like David, I love the Lord and am very involved in our church.  In fact, come and visit this Sunday as I have the sermon.  

Well, I just hit 72 about 2 weeks ago, I am a retired "lab rat" from Huntington Ingalls Industries, Newport News Shipbuilding. I have been working on various types of machinery since about the age of 14 and have owned a number of different vehicles, Ford, Chevy, Pontiac, Buick, Lincoln, Packard, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth, Mercury, Shelby American. Oldsmobile and Subaru. All of my trucks have been Fords.

I have built or modified a number of cars and trucks over the years, from my first car, a 1964 Falcon with a 260 V8 and 3 speed all the way up to my current projects, Darth Vader, my 1986 F350 and my 1986 Chrysler Lebaron convertible.

I used to own a carburetor shop, and have probably worked on at least one example of every carburetor made from Autolite to Zenith including a rare Autolite inline four barrel. I started dabbling with turbochargers on my late father's 1966 Corsa 180 hp, followed by a 1963 Jetfire, now a 2.2L intercooled Chrysler.

My first foray into injected engines was a Rochester Ram Jet dribble system off a 283 Corvette engine that I had acquired and wanted to try to adapt to my 260, then a Bosch D-Jetronic on a 1971 M-B 250C.

I have converted my truck from a carbureted engine and C6 transmission to MAF/SEFI and E4OD. I have also added a few updates like a later cargo/brake light, all 4 doors power windows and locks, remote keyless entry with the number pad on the door, automatic day/night mirror with compass and automatic headlamps and the LCM controlled interior lights. In the works, electronic automatic climate control.

The "old man" of the forum!  (Said by someone who is 1.5% younger.)

Ask Bill what color the coolant leaks were on his Corsa.  And about the injection system on the Jetfire.  

Age wise I top Bill by almost 4 years as I will be 76 in June. I've been messing with cars since I was old enough to drive.

Can't say that I know a lot but I've had a few interesting cars (at least to me); '53 Studebaker Champion, '56 Studebaker Golden Hawk,'57 Studebaker Silver Hawk, (see a trend here?), '64 Austin Healey 300 Mk2, '78 Mercury Monarch (6 cylinder with 4 on the floor) & Chrysler LeBaron turbo.

Trucks have all been Fords but one. 1986 F-150 300-6, 1984 F-150 4X4 and current Frankenstein 1989 f-250 4X4 with carbed 351 (from the '84). The only non-Ford truck was a Dodge Rampage if you can really call it a truck.

I love the Lord also and have preached a few sermons over the last 10 years, (my kids claim I have been preaching a lot longer than that), both at my church and at historical re-enactments. Historical re-enacting and shooting are my other hobbies.

Great idea!

I am 41 years old and work as a business development manager for a Space and Defense imaging company.

I have a degree in Astrophysics but always wanted to be a mechanic. I used to race go karts (3rd and 6th in UK sprint finals) and raced RC cars for years, i still have 8 of them..

I have been married to a lovely British lady for 10 years. Last year she screamed at me “stop building bikes, we have 12!” So i went on a hunt for an old Ford and found Eunice. I kept looking for a Bronco and found Espy recently. I love working on these trucks. Sprucing them up and keeping them going!

We have an Airstream that is our home from home.. it takes some upkeep!

We don’t have any children, but our Husky Luka is our boy.

We volunteer at various horse rescues local to us and I am on thr board of directors for one of them.

I realy enjoy hanging out on this forum and hopefully one day i can help someone with a problem.

I guess I'll chime in as another representative of the Gen-X crowd;).

I'm 46, and my lovely bride has been with me for 21 years (married for 19). No children, but we do have two Basset Hounds named Henry and Blackie. We've had hounds for 20 years, and the very first one was named Rembrant (with no "D"). He arrived in our life right around the same time internet forums and message boards were becoming a thing, so he became my defacto forum name.

I grew up around Fords. My mother bought a brand new bright red Pinto in 1980 (the last year they made them I believe?) and that was the car I learned to drive stick in, in or around 1987. Also in the driveway at the time was a 1978 F150 4x4 with a 400/4spd, which was later replaced in 1988 with a new F250 4x4 with a 302/5.0 and 5spd. After the 1980 Pinto, I moved into a 1985 2dr Ford Escort, and from there I went into a 1984 Ford Ranger with 4cyl and 4spd.

In the early 1990's, I bought the truck pictured below. A 1980 F100 Custom Flareside. It was originally a 300/6 truck, but the previous owner had swapped in a 351/2bbl and 4spd with the bull low first gear. The truck had a very nice newly installed wood floor in the bed. Truck was dark blue, with runs in the paint, a red bench seat, and no passenger side mirror.



That truck worked really well, but for some reason or another it ate starters every six months or so. I ran that thing for a couple years, and heavily abused it;).

Anyway, 25 years later that old Bullnose was the only vehicle in my past that I had a craving to own again. It was an itch that had to be scratched. I was in the mood for a V8, and I wanted something of a weekend mild hot rod, so an old Bullnose was the only choice.

So I found this old optionless stripper plain Jane '84 Flareside and here I am.

My name is David, I turned 58 back in April. My wife, Mary and I have been married for 19 years now.
I do have a grown son from another marriage.  
Wife and I also foster dogs  and we are a foster failure x2 as we have 2 dogs we did not give up.
We also have 3 cats, 2 we brought down with us when we moved from CT to NC and the other that found us as it turned up on our door step.

My dad was a body and fender man and taught my brother & I the trade before high school. I went to a state tech school to learn the mechanical side of working on cars & trucks.  
I did a little go kart racing before high school.

Had a shop with dad a few years out of school. During that time I built a Datsun 510 for road racing & auto cross, only took it auto crossing.
Also built a Toyota LC for racing off road, no not just running thru the woods RACING with other trucks on the track at same time.
A little later in life built an AMC Javelin for ¼ mile drag racing and restored a AMC Gremlin that I drag raced till the Javelin was done.
I am also restoring a 2nd Javelin for the street, my other project that is on hold till the truck is done.

I have also pulled a lot of different trailers from pop up campers to travel trailer to different size car trailers for racing. One of them a 35 foot 2 car trailer used to haul cars to auctions and 4x4's to off road races.

After the shop with dad I did 15 years at a hospital doing HVAC work, the last 10 as the foreman. Then I did 15 years in I.T. as help desk and desk side / break fix support person.
This time in my life I drive trailer trucks, LP gas in the winter to bulk plants and bulk cement to mixing plants in the summer.
Plan is to do this till something better comes by or I retire.

Just call me jack of all trades, master of none LOL

I try and help when and where I can, that is how I am.
Dave G.

GenX!

This thread is great, I hope others take a moment to give a little more info on their offline lives!

Gents, happy to contribute and share some of my real life. I just turned 54, married and we have two sons age 25 and 21, the younger one still leaving with us over here in Germany, close to the Dutch border.
Business wise I am a mechanical engineer and a graduated in Operations. I work in the European Supply Chain of Johnson & Johnson for the last 10 years and before that I spent 16 years at MARS Inc. in Supply Chain and HR.
Back at the age of 15 I started my engine mobility with 50 cubic centimeters engine driven kind of small motorcycles and realizing my passion for bolts and nuts. That is when I started a professional career in that field and it served me as great bedrock for everything I did over the last 35 yrs. This was mainly around leading people and change in the area of manufacturing, logistics, planning and customer service. Even spend 6 years in Human Relations, as an engineer that was quite a challenging transition.
Cars: I had a lot f them and almost all European brands represented, starting with a small Autobianchi, Opel (GM), Mercedes, Audi, Citroen, etc. Motorbikes: starting of with a Yamaha (affordability), then stopped it for the family and came back five years ago with a Moto Guzzi and since 3 yrs the BMW R nine T. Likely she will get old with me, she simply fits my needs.
Getting to the truck: My cousin married an American cowboy, who actually was one of the first Western horse trainers here in Europe back in the 80´s. I spent every weekend and holiday for three years with him and he influenced me heavily. He had a Silverado pick up, sgl cab and short bed that time.
When I wasn´t driving a company car I also drove pick ups though European sizes, ie. the FORD Ranger.
No I am back in a period where I don´t drive a lot any more and I always wanted to drive a decent sized pick up, hence the 8 cylinder, 5 ltr bullnose I have since 4 weeks. Next to putting a smile on my face when driving it also provides  many opportunities to re-vitalize my engineering skills.
My wife calls it another mid life crisis, not sure since this will  very likely last longer then the others before :-).
Next to family, job, motorbike and truck I enjoy outdoors, either by hiking, on horse back or on the bicycle, I do my own fire logs and I enjoy having friends around me for good food, good wine and good talks. Especially with a nice BBQ or some campfire cooking and story telling at the fire as a close out.
That a short summary of why I actually ended up in this forum and what I enjoy when not chatting around here.

Well, I am completing my 60th spin around the sun this week. In terms of demographics, that would put me in the boomer generation, but I am quite enamored with the term "generation Jones". Basically late boomers, but I find the description to be quite accurate.

This puts me in an interesting position historically with respect to the bullnose trucks. I was 21 years old when the new 80 Ford truck was introduced and I recall quite a bit of excitement about the design. Much of my work in those years involved installing aftermarket electronics into these vehicles, so I became quite familiar with their construction.

1980 was also the year I married my lovely wife. 38 years this fall. We have two grown sons and I am semi retired from my electronics career as well as a stint on the railroad as an S&C supervisor. I currently work seasonally as a crop hail adjuster, (yes, born a farm boy). I also work as a relief supervisor within the recycling operation of our local social services which employs the disadvantaged. Remarkably satisfying work.

My name is Jim, 66 years old next month and retired from the Missouri Department of Transportation where I drove a road striper for 24 years painting the roads in 13 counties. Before that ran a Phillips 66 service station and did some duty in Viet Nam.

In the early 50s my uncle bought a Ford dealership and every year for birthday and Christmas I got a Ford promo car. I have been hooked on Fords ever since. I will never forget the sounds and smells of a 60s and 70s car dealership.

My most notable Ford vehicles have been several Model A hot rods, a 428 CJ Mustang I bought while in the service and lots of Ford trucks.

My wife and I have been married since 1979 and we never had any children. I try to make my shop available to my friends that don't have one and the younger guys to work on their rigs. Since retiring I spend most of my time in the shop or out back in my mini Ford salvage yard.

I believe in God and Jesus as our savior but I will admit I don't make it to church as much as I should. I'm working on that.  

Seems that I'm in the following generation - Y. However, never considered myself part of it - likely due to spending a good chunk of my childhood overseas in Africa where it was pretty much the 70's living in the 80's.

I too work for a Space imaging company - smaller, commercial facing outfit. My background is in Geographic Science and political science - now I'm working on mission operations and trade studies. Crazy times (heck I used to brew beer professionally too!)

I've always loved working with my hands - getting hands on figuring out a mechanical issue or building furniture/rooms/etc....

I've got 2 small girls who try to help me in the garage although their interest in Old Red is limited to going "That's daddy's truck!".  (Was my grandfather's before me).

This forum has been a great repository for me and I love checking in every day to see what's going on.

Cheers everyone!

This is a great thread!

I am 44 years old which places me in generation X, but I’m not sure that I want to own the stereotype...

I was born in Taos New Mexico and home schooled through grade 5. We then moved to California where I attended private school.

After graduating I attended Northern Arizona University to study botany. I met my first wife there and we had a son together. I lived in Tucson for three years and ran the propagation department of a desert landscape nursery.

My marriage failed because my now ex developed a substance problem. I took full custody of my son and found my way back to the university for a masters credential in plant physiology.

I met my current wife at the university family housing unit. We have now been happily married 17 years and counting. I also gained two beautiful step daughters that I consider as my own. My son is now 23, middle daughter is 24, and older daughter is 28. We now have three grandchildren age 5,3 & 3.

I have had a variety of jobs, including manufacturing air bags for TRW, building materials tester, US department of agriculture germ plasm research tech, US geologic survey vegetation mapping, university lab teacher, and Bureau of land management contractor. But what has paid the bills for the last 11 years has been manufacturing (tissue paper factory) where I am now a shift supervisor.

My interests (besides classic cars/trucks) are cactus, succulents, and rare native flora, mountaineering, kayaking, photography > microphotography > microscopy > electron micrography... also jewelry, painting, sculpture... I like working with my hands! I like nature, I like science, I like making things.

As far as Fords, my dad had a 1966 F100 flareside that he drove until the cab rotted and collapsed onto the frame. We transplanted the 240 straight six and T18 into a 1968 F250 that I inherited and recently sold.

When my son was born I bought a 1972 Mercury Comet as my dd. I then bought a 1966 F100 that I converted to 3/4 ton axles and a 300 six. The engine donor was a 1980 F150 mine truck from Globe AZ. The truck was roached, but I remember it fondly and thinking that I liked the body style almost as much as my classic ‘66.

Eventually I realized I needed 4wd and more space for my growing family. Enter the 1986 F350 diesel crew cab. It has been rather problematic, but at the same time solidified my love of the bullnose era trucks. I owned a beat down 1981 F250 4x4 for wood and water hauling (sold) a 1982 F150 4x4 (parts truck) and now a 1981 F150 4x4 straight six.

I have turned to a lot of different online sources for truck info., but this group right here is by far the most helpful and good quality group of people that you will find anywhere. I for one am eternally grateful that it is here, and to be able to be a part of it 🙂

I'll throw in.

33 years old. Mechanical Designer. Robotics, Valves, Flame Arrestor, Firearms, Piping, Conveyor systems. I've done a lot of various things. Never been happy with any of it. Never been happier than when I am wrenching. Beauty of a wife named Holly, and two young sons 5 and 7.

I've owned various vehicles. VW's and Chevy's have been my go to, but the Bullnose Fords I think are way better looking in comparison to a Chevy of the same vintage. They are cheap and easy to work on, and this community is wonderful. That is why I am here. Seems like everywhere I go now, neighbors don't know their neighbors. Community is lacking. Respect for one another is lacking. When I read through here I see love and respect, and love for a hobby, and a brotherhood. That is something I have not found on any Chevy forum.

I used to live a few miles from Gary Lewis, which is part of how I got involved with all this. I was broke as a joke when I lived in Collinsville OK, all I could afford to drive was a 86 f150. So, when it came time to start the upkeep, I did what every other gear head does these days and found a forum. That's when I realized Gary Lewis was just a couple miles down the road.

I used to be a believer. I even traveled to Africa to win souls as a young 17 year old preacher. Not so much anymore. I really struggle with things of faith these days. I admire you old timers and your faith.

I am looking at getting another bullnose...I am just waiting for the perfect one. I have time on my side.

Okay... I'll tell you a bit about myself.

I'm a Gen X. My name is Darin and I'll be 52 at the end of the year. I live in Sydney, Australia and have been married to be lovely wife Anita for 30 years this November. Together we have 1 son (aged 21) and he still lives at home.

My background is in the automotive/repair industry as a spray painter but I've been out of the game for over 20+ years now. I'm now working in the plumbing industry from manufacturing to warehousing logistics as a supervisor.

I have had too many cars to remember but the passion has come out of the repair industry working on Australian muscle cars (we never got the American muscle cars over here - only a few parts came out of your vehicles (engines, trans and rear ends) which came to Australia and we put in the GM and Ford products). My first car was a Mazda RX3 sedan, afterwards I owned a Holden Torana A9X hatch and from there I changed to GT Ford Falcons (of which I still own a couple) and have never looked back.

I've currently got a 1980 Bullnose flare side, 1976 and 1977 Econolines, 1984 GT Mustang convertible and 1968 Mustang coupe all of which have been acquired one travels to the States over the last 10 years.

Aside from working and playing around on the old cars/trucks we also like to travel to the US for vacation.

Hello all!
I realize this thread is quite old and I'm a new member, but I really appreciate knowing others that I'm talking to even through forums. I hope it's ok that I am reviving this thread.
I'll be 56 in June and will have been married for 30 years. We have 3 adult kids who have given us 4 awesome grandkids, so far.
I grew up in central Illinois on a small farm, one of 9 kids. Yep, we almost had our own baseball team. 😆
The first vehicle I ever drove was my dad's '79 F150 SuperCab. My mom always drove Jeeps, usually a Grand Wagoneer to haul all of us kids. Boy would I like to have one of those back!
My first vehicular purchase was a 1966 F100, straight 6 with "3 on the tree".
I've owned pretty much every manufacturer since then, at least American stuff. And a VW once. My daily is a 2015 Ram 1500.
My wife and I moved our two oldest kids to Raleigh in 1994. I work for a software company that develops kitchen cabinet design and shop floor execution technology. If you've went to Lowe's and designed a kitchen, that is my company's software in the background. I've been with them since 1994.

I'm not the most mechanically minded guy in the world, but I'm definitely not afraid to tear into something to try to fix it. And I have access to a lift whenever I need it, so that helps.

I'm excited to get to know this group better and this thread is perfect for that! Well done David for starting it.

-Wayne

Good to get to know you, Wayne!  

As far as members, we are currently at 1731 and growing handily - usually four or five a week.  Lots of good people and kind discussions.

Considering age, I have you by 20 years since I'll be 76 in June.  And Janey and I've been married for 54 years with two kids and three grands.  So much fun!

Thanks Gary, I'm really happy to have found this forum.
The grandkids are awesome, that's for sure. Our oldest is the only girl, she's 5. The rest are 3, 3 and 1.
I can't wait for them to get older to truly spoil them!

Yes, grandkids are fun. Mine are 11, 11, and 8, with the 11 & 11 ones being twins. I've taught those two a little bit about driving as I've put Big Blue in 4 Low and 2nd gear and let them putt putt around in a pasture and parking lot.

It is so much fun watching them grow and mature, and teaching them things that parents might not. For instance, last summer the twins and I were talking about things that burn and I told them that steel burns. They didn't believe me so we went to the shop: