Skink

I was reading another thread at DJHives posted something that got me thinking

What is it about our old machines that draw us to them?


My most favorite car I ever had ever in the whole world was my 1964 1/2 mustang.

Straight 6. Automatic.

that's it. No other options.

Loved that car.

Also had a good time with my 1969 Mustang "Sports Roof" (fastback)

This is the only picture I could find of either of them - sorry it's not color. Of course th e 64.5 was red. 69 was white.

The 64 didn't have a hood and was in dire need of help... redid all the upholstery, headliner, carpet, rebuilt the motor, new dashboard, radio ... you name it. It was one sweet fine *** ride when I was done.

Did pretty much the same thing to the 69. A lot of body rust on it so I had to replace floor pans, battery aprons, quarter panels ... lot of work but it, too, was a fine *** ride when I was done.

I miss those cars.

Those machines were perfect in their simplicity. Spark, fuel and air made them go. Spending so much time working on them made them mine. I knew every detail, how each part made the whole work.

Rebuilding an engine was painful, time consuming work. Hours and hours spent with the correct torque, gap, allignment, bore, rod length ... then putting it slowly all back together. Painting the engine compartment, rewire, touchup, oil up, fuel pumps, water pump... prime the carb, prime the fuel pump, pour a little oil over the top of the heads to make sure the pistons don't grind from the first fire up...

sit down - take a deep breath and hope it all works. Foot on the brake, turn over the ignition...

Vroom ... fires up. Let it idle ... almost tear up it sounds so good. The motor vibrates the car, I can feel it in my arms and legs. Slowly, I put the car in reverse. Let it idle out of the garage it's spent the last few months parked in. Listening to any noises that don't sound "right." Double check my brakes... I redid all the brake lines, master cylinder, calipers, pads and drums. Just like I thought - perfect.

Back out of the driveway. Stop in the middle of the road. Place the car in drive. Foot on the brake, foot on the gas, rev the engine just a little bit. The torque from the engine twists the car ever so slightly, the car wants to launch forward, but being held by the brakes I've put in place.

And everything works.

Just like it should.

And I made it happen. I've painted the car, made it mine, made it what I thought it should be. Art in motion. Zen and Science. One part not functioning like it should makes the whole not work.

That's it for me. And I will do it again - part of the reason I'm building that big *** garage.

For art, science, and Zen.

What about you? What draws you to these old vehicles?

djhives

Erock67

The Ford Poets

Definitely good write-ups about the love of cars!

My truck was sitting in a neighbors yard. Filthy and dejected, looking for a new home. It's owner bought a shiny new truck and just wanted to rid his yard of this big old dirty truck that he'd had for years.

I drove by it a few times and thought it looked pretty rough. The third time, I stopped. As I walked around the truck, I saw it did have some rust on the cab corners, but not a lot of bubbling around the rear wheel wells. 93 body style, one of my favorites. Extended cab, a definate plus. The paint looked horribly dull. I called the number on the sign and set a date to test drive it. I was excited. The day came to check it out more in depth. I climbed in, and notice the interior was in very good shape. One arm rest of the captains chair hung down. I was handed the key, so I placed it in the ignition. The engine roared to life, the oil pressure shot up nicely as did the amp gauge. I noticed right away that there was only 84,000 on the odometer. I put it in gear and took off down the road. The suspension was soft and bouncy, but the engine ran well and the auto transmission shifted easily through the gears. I bought it.

As soon as I put my tags on, I took it to the car wash. I scrubbed away the years of grime. The paint started to shine. I got home and worked on the wheels. I thought they were the painted gray steelies, but found out after some polishing that they were the chrome ones. I vacuumed the interior, cleaned the windows and shined the tires. On the sun visor I found papers belonging to the previous owner, so I fired her up and drove a quarter mile to its old home. When the guy came out, he couldn't believe that was his old truck. He said it hadn't looked that good in years.

I have put shocks on it, changed the oil and fixed the arm rest. I still have some things to do, like replace the front fuel tank, tune up the motor and put a frame mounted tow hitch on. A transmission cooler will be installed too. The air conditioning needs work too, but thats ok. That is part of the enjoyment of owning these beasts. Bringing them back up to shape after others thought they were on their last legs. This truck still has a lot of life left in it, so I don't mind spending the blood, sweat and money to get it just the way I want.

I like cars old and new. Lots of time spent surfing the net checking out what is available. I also have a California made '66 Mustang V8 coupe that was born on Friday, May 13th, 1966... just a few weeks shy of a year before I was born. That is another story within itself, and it isn't done yet.

dirtcrew51m

9th generation beat looking interior and exterior, besides I love the sound of the door closing on the 80-96 trucks.

djhives

..a short poem, but good nonetheless!

djhives

Beautiful poem! Simply BRILLIANT! I love to hear thy passion of the ford!!

djhives

I also like old vehicles because they are paid for. Simple but very improtant for my lifestyle.

dirtcrew51m

I like older Fords cause its easier to put in a Big Block. "If you cant put a big block Ford in it its not worth having".

Bibo1985

I've always wanted an older truck, one, because all that useless cmputer BS is outta the way, two, because there's very few things on it I can't repair with time and patience and finally, every time some punk hears my truck lope at a red light they wanna rev up their rice burners and whatnot while all I can think is "ten years from now, I'll still be driving this ol' truck, and that thing beside me will probably become part of the beer can resting on my work bench as I tinker with her." You can't go wrong with a classic, everybody has that one truck (or car) that just does it for ya. I'm only 25, and most of my early memories are shot from a brain injury in 98, but everytime I crawl under the hood of this ol truck (literally) I remember how much of my child hood was spent under the hood with my dad and his 67 Chevy, my step dad and his firebird, my uncle with his never ending infatuation with broncos. For whatever the reason, those memories come rushing back every time I pop the hood.

lordmatt

couldn't help but laugh at this. my ol man has an f250 v10 4x4 superduty, you'd think with that mouthful it'd sound a little meaner when you slam the doors. sounds more like rattling tin.

i've had a lot of older and newer stuff, and i keep coming back to the old. went from an 01 ss camaro to a 76 L82 stingray (that i did a personal frame off restoration on, it was a good ol car) and an 04 hemi quadcab 4x4 to a 93 f150 ex cab 2wd I6. you can't beat the reliability of these old trucks... plus a 93 on 35's is one of the best looking trucks you'll ever see.

and what beats having two fuel doors? NOTHING!