One of the final accessory for The Enterprise up for grabs

[argve]

As some of you know we have moved here in the last month and I'm putting the finishing touches on getting the last of our stuff moved and stored from the house... I have found a couple of items and I'm going to let the first one go in this manner...

Ok I have in my possession an original 1991 sales brochure for the F-Series trucks and I would like to pass it along.

So just for being the first to reply is not going to get you the prize I want to give those that aren't on here like an addict a chance to get it if they want it.

Let's write a little story as to why you bought your truck and why you love your IDI.

To kick it off I'll start to give you an idea....


Back in 1998 Sherri was in a way with baby and we owned an 1996 ext cab short bed Chevy Z71 (5.7L vortec -first year for them) and she said that you can't put a baby seat effectively in the back seat of a 2 door pick up that we needed a 4 door truck. So I said if you get 4 doors then I get a diesel. I started looking and found that they weren't cheap so we started looking for a used on and found that really the only one that made a crew cab diesel was Ford and knowing that Ford made a pretty decent truck we started looking for what would become The Enterprise. I seen on in the Auto/RV at a dealership 100 miles away but just so happened to be in a town that a buddy of mine lived in (Scott - Snicklas here on the site). So I called Scott knowing that his family was a long time Ford family to ask him to take a look at it for me and tell me if it was worth the drive down to take a peek. He said yep I'll a gander - so Sherri and I are running around to local dealerships and individuals the evening that Scott was supposed to look at The Enterprise and though what the heck let's drive down and take a look at the truck if nothing else we'll just be going down to visit Scott and Miss... So we headed off with the intention of having supper with a good friend.

We stopped at the dealership and was nabbed by a salesman right off, I asked about the truck and he said I think we have one like that around here but we could not locate it so as we were standing there in the lot looking for it Scott rolls in behind the wheel with a big grin on his face. No wonder we could not find it - it was out on a test drive. Scott said yep I drove the hell out of it (full throttle take offs and hard braking - truck ended up never seeing the end of driving style like that hummmm....) he said that she ran pretty well. We both looked over the truck pretty good testing out things like the running boards... Now you have to realize that neither Scott nor I are small boys and he jumps up on the running board (and I mean JUMPS up on it) so I do the same right next to him. Salesman about drops a load right here as we start bouncing on it - that salesman just knew that the running board was going to come ripping off the truck.

But it held - the entire truck shook but the running boards held.

I took it for a test ride and when we came back we signed the papers - but did make them fill up one of the tanks before I took it home.

Went out to eat afterwards and enjoyed the ride home in a truck that sounded like it was so low on oil that I was positive that the lifters were shot - what do you expect it was my first diesel.....

So there you have it boys and girls... let's hear your IDI purchase story and let me know why you should get the prize.... I'll let this run for about a week and then will announce whom I think should get it.

 

[Exekiel69]

Am I considered an addict here?

 

[flatlander]

Since I don't want any parts off the Enterprise, I'll skip the story telling.

Besides, it always makes me cry.

So does the 2" thick file folder of receipts.

So do the black stains on my driveway.

 

[85hauler]

Well I'm not interested in anything from the "E" , but I like to tell a story.

Many moons ago I was doing all my hauling with a '84 Chevy std cab dually with the Mighty 6.2 . One day I pass this little used carlot that usaully had mostly junk. Sittin out front was a '85 F350 stretched with a sleeper and stacks. I had to get where I was going so I didn't stop. About a week later I saw it again and stopped for a closer look. Saw it was a diesel had a 55" sleeper, a custom bed with large dual tanks, hidden gooseneck etc.etc. Went in talked to the sales guy and he quoted me waaayyyyy more than I hoped. I tried to put the truck out of my mind but I kept seeing it everytime I was thru that area. Fast foward about 2 months I was in my realestate agents office and spotted a pic of the truck on his desk. So I ask about it and he tells me that his boss had made some sort of loan with the guy who owned( made his living with) the truck using it as collateral. The guy defaulted so they sent the repoman for the truck. Took the repoman 3 months to catch up to the truck. Found it at a Truck repair shop with a loaded gooseneck attached. Few minutes later there was a truckless gooseneck sittin there. Anyway the Realestate agent was friends with the carlot and did a cosignment with them. My agent said If I was wanting the truck he would pull it from the carlot and sell it to me. So I got the Truck for a little less than 2/3 of what the carlot was asking.

Moral of the story: Don't ever use what makes your living to bargain with, because it's mighty hard to pull a trailer with no truck.

 

[TLBREWER]

The Story of Three Diesels

Back in the middle 90's, we bought what was my second truck up to that point. It was a 2WD '73 GMC regular cab half ton with a 350 and SM465 4 speed. I maintained it, modified it, and beefed it up. My wife and I, along with our two small children, travelled the western United States for many years in that truck, carrying our $450 slide-in camper and pulling a horse trailer. Many miles in second and third gear crossing the mountain ranges.

Jump forward to 2001. Ten days before Christmas, I get the activation call and I have 24 hours to report and plan on being gone one year. We are being deployed overseas as a result of 911. Of course my wife is devastated and my children are very sad. The next morning I load all my gear into my now very tired '73 GMC and head off to Colorado Springs to report for active duty. On the way the old 350 breaks a valve, but I make it anyway. Many nights in the middle of winter spent in my FIL's barn tearing into an engine, make me start to think there's got to be a better way.

Several months earlier, my buddy in the military bought a '97 OBS Powerstroke. I loved that truck. He was a member of TDS and turned me onto it. So I started reading and learning. I found out that Ford trucks had a diesel engine prior to the Powerstroke called an "IDI". I looked at Ford diesels for sale around Colorado and New Mexico, but they were all Powerstrokes and out of my price range.

About 4 months later, I went home on leave and my wife and I stopped in the feed store for some hay for the horses one morning. Sitting out front was the owner's (a friend of mine) old '92 two tone silver crewcab F350 Ford for sale. It was in near mint condition so I asked what he wanted for it. He told me and also told me it was a diesel (no markings). Hmmm. We went back out and looked it over. Hey, that's one of those IDI's I've been reading about and, BONUS, it already has an ATS turbo installed. He gave us the keys to take for a drive. I was HOOKED! We drove to the bank, took out a signature loan, and returned with cash in hand. Over the next 4 years, I put 120,000 miles on that truck. The best part is my wife learned to love diesels as well... especially that "sound".

Carla had always wanted a big Ford truck and was very jealous that I had one before her. After deactivation in 2002, I started the search for a Ford truck for her. I knew what she wanted. It had to be a supercab, four wheel drive, black, a 5 speed tranny, and now it had to be diesel. I searched the internet every week for the next 6 months looking for the a truck that fit all my requirements. Then one day there it was. A 1991 F250 4 wheel drive supercab with a 7.3 diesel and a 5 speed. It was a black and grey XLT with a perfect grey interior. A used car dealer in Minneapolis, Minnesota was advertising it on autotrader. I called him, he said it was a one owner traded in by an old farmer. He seemed to be honest, if that's possible (sorry Darrin ), so we made a deal. Sight unseen, except for pictures. I sent him the money. He sent me the paperwork. And when he got it back, he put it on a transporter bound for New Mexico. About a week later, the transporter driver called me and said he had something for me and to meet him at the local truck stop. Carla was watching TV and I told her I had to go to the store for something. I got to the truck stop and it was already unloaded. I signed the paperwork and drove it home. Since I left in a diesel, Carla didn't think anything of it when I pulled back in in a diesel. I asked her to come outside for a minute. She saw the truck and said "what's that?" I told her happy birthday, it was hers. She immediately began to swell up with tears of joy. We had it repainted a couple months later and put new wheels and tires on it and the rest is history. It's everything she always wanted in a truck, with the exception of a turbo, which is still sitting in boxes in the barn waiting for me to install.

Since we had helped our son with his first car (1974 VW), we asked our daughter what she wanted when it came time for her to drive. She learned how to drive in another VW we had, but her answer was "a truck just like Mom's." So the quest began again. This time it only took me about two months to find what I was looking for. It was another "bricknose" located in Lubbock, Texas and was exactly the same as Carla's except that it was blue with a tan interior. As luck would have it, it too was a '91. In the pictures it was so faded it looked purple, but my daughter fell in love with it. The seller listed about $4-5000 worth of mechanical work that had been done to it in the last year so I called him up and struck a deal. The following Saturday, Stormi and I got up early and were out of the house by 0500 on our way to Lubbock to pick up her truck. It was a bitter February day and we drove through everything from sunshine to snow on the way. We got there, looked it over (it was so faded it was purple), started it, her and I talked about it, and made the deal. I drove it home while she followed in my '92 to make sure it was OK. That thing reeked like it had livestock hauled in the cab and it had an old Chrysler minivan bench seat to sit on, but man it ran like a top and drove very nice. We made it home about 7:00 that night and she was pleased as punch. Last summer we re-painted it back to stock and completely restored the interior. She is so proud of her truck that she had her senior pictures taken with it. Now she's off to college and comes home on the weekends when she can. I know she'll be OK because she's in her old reliable IDI that will get her there safely and without fail.

So that's the tale of three IDI's, two of which are 1991's. I have about $10K invested in each of them and both the women in my life are proud of and drive exactly what they want.

Tom

 

[Agnem]

I don't have to write a story about the Moose Truck. It's listed in the book of Genesis somewhere. I'll try to look up the verse and chapter later.

 

[pafixitman]

About a year after getting married, it became obvious that owning a house required a truck. Having sold cars, I knew I would buy a used vehicle. Well, in my area small, 4 cyl, 5 spd trucks went for a premium. For a grand more than a previously wrecked Toyota, I got a brand spankin' new S10 regular cab, 2WD, 5spd. Drove it for 135,000 miles when I found myself on site training at a Cadillac store in Alexandria, VA. My second morning in Alexandria, Steph phoned the hotel and said "Hi, Daddy." Hmm, life is changing. That night the finance manager was bragging about "Stealing a mint S10 in trade." A deal was negotiated and I now owned a S10 Extended Cab, V6, A/t, A/C. Put 120,000 more miles on that truck using it as my daily driver and work truck. My home improvement business was starting to take hold and towing a loaded 6 X 12 enclosed trailer w/ the S10 was dicey at best. I had started interviewing for a new position at my day job. Things looked positive so I started looking at bigger trucks. I found a nice K3500 ext cab diesel. Teal w/ baby **** brown interior . Steph was very hesitant and two days later I discovered I was passed over for the sales position. I was feeling pretty down about it and Steph informs me she had a dream that I bought a blue truck with a white stripe. . A couple weeks later I locate a OBS Ford extended cab, 4WD, 351, 5spd. I drive out to the car lot (45 minutes away) and do not see the truck. I am informed by the salesman that it was their lot plow truck and was wrecked 3 days earlier. Being the good salesman that he was, he invites me in to get some info - prefer crew cab, Ford, gas engine and he says hold on a minute. Comes running back with a buyers order "See that Super Duty out front? This guy is trading a big Ford on it." Hmmm....Call me with details. He calls mid week with the VIN. I go talk to MightyDodge (John) and he runs the VIN. "Oh, that is a diesel. One of the good ones." ***, Ford only has one diesel. "Nope, same as mine. (the truck that became the Moosestang, btw.) Go to this site and start reading." That weekend I arrive for a test drive. As they pull the truck up, I am handed a folder with all service records. Then appears a 1993, blue and white Ford crew cab dually. Steph said "We will need something for the rims, they are just painted silver." The rest is history. My first post was hard starting and that is how I met Pete and Mel. Then came the 5'r, then came a MB diesel...

 

[pafixitman]

I don't have to write a story about the Moose Truck. It's listed in the book of Genesis somewhere. I'll try to look up the verse and chapter later.

Chapter two, verse 12. 'And I deem you to be the "Godfather" of all that is diesel in south central PA. I now command you to assist the lost and fallen with all of their disel engine issues'

 

[ttman4]

Moral of the story: Don't ever use what makes your living to bargain with, because it's mighty hard to pull a trailer with no truck.

Yup! Mighty hard to haul that stuff/freight on the truck with no trailer too!!
Not a story of buying & loving IDI's, but I did use my IDI that night.....& I DO LOVE IT!

Took me 6 mo. to track down that guy (now ex-friend) that I carried paper (title/lien) on the new 34' gooseneck I built & sold him. All I could get from him was an occasional phone call from him in Cal. or Idaho or MO. or Montana or.......but never when he was home in Or.
His occasional calls always were filled with taunts that escalated to the point of "you got more money than I do, you can afford to wait! Catch me if 'ya can, SUCKER!"

Soooo, being the devilish character I am, I took this as a challenge! I laid & waited!
Late one afternoon a friend called & said they thought "Bubba" had dropped that trailer with a load of irrigation parts at an Irrigation Business about 40 mi. from me. I had already been up since 2AM that morning, but decided to take a drive up there. Got there & finally find the place & here's the trailer, loaded, but with the hitch pulled out for "theft prevention," but no fence!

So I drive back to my shop, gather up hitch, chains, straps, etc....getting really tired & frustrated by now. Starting to think about maybe Just Shoot'n Bubba!
Drive back up there, get situated, get hitch put in gooseneck, maneuver round there in dark dodging other stuff, trying to hurry up & get out'a there before those folks showed up for work. Got hitch hooked up, but now the 2 speed landing legs don't want to work, even in lo gear. Trailer loaded so heavy! By now I'm totally exhausted & PO'ed, & thinking about having to chain & tie-down all the stuff on the trailer! & it's starting to get daylight in the East.
And now I'm starting to get that "feel good feeling about maybe just wait round there till Bubba showed up after sun-up & just go ahead & shoot him!"

About now the folks started showing up for work.....asked what I was doing. I explained, showed them all my paperwork, which satisfied them. Then they did an about face & wasn't gonna let me drive off....said Sheriff was on the way. I told them to call the Sheriff back & tell him "to hurry up, fast, because I was gonn'a be leaving in just a minute! Just as soon as I finish rolling up the landing legs I'm gonn'a take off really fast in little-bitty tight circles slinging off all I could off the trailer! If he wants to talk to me he needs to hurry, because otherwise I'll be between here & Redmond, Or, or in Redmond!" Suddenly they decided to unload the stuff with forklifts, really fast!

All way back to Redmond I struggled to stay awake, had chilly goose-bumps from watching in rearview mirrors for red & blue lites, as well as thinking about "shoot'n Bubba!"

Short of the story, Bubba showed up at my office that afternoon really PO'ed. (I was still mulling over the idea of maybe just shoot'n Bubba). After many hot words on his part, & me kindly pointing out the fact I also carried the title (lien) on his truck too in the original trailer sales deal, & me kindly telling him that if he didn't shut up I was gonna call nine-hundred-eleven, Bubba finally paid me off....in cash!
Probably wasn't good idea to shoot Bubba anyway....might not got any money!!

siggghhhh....I love my IDI.....

 

[160k87F250]

I'll be brief since I'm at work. In the 1990's I always borrowed my dad's Ranger. i knew I needed a truck and I kept looking in the wholesale row at the dealership I worked at. Then in Jan 1999, 2 came in within a day of each other. One was a 1986 F250, extended cab, 351 V8, manual trans, a stripper. No options at all, well maybe AC and a radio. It was in near perfect condition with low miles on it (90,000 or so). The other one was a 87 F250 extended cab, 120,000 miles, diesel, loaded, worked hard and showed it. PW, PL, AC, buckets and console, cloth interior, was a landscaping truck. It was hard to start, smoked like crazy, big dent down the side, rusty quarters etc. Both were 2wd. So I had to make a choice..... the stripper that was clean or the diesel that was loaded but needed work. Both were around the same price (about $2000) I chose the diesel, since all my other vehicles at the time were top of the line loaded models (87 Cougar XR7, 88 Taurus LX). My buddy told me about TDS, but I couldn't get internet at my house at that time. Finally was able to log on after moving but didn't meet anyone until 2005 (thanks Mel). The rest is history. The 87 is now gone and was replaced by the 93 F350 crew cab. Still have more things planned for it, but problems keep comming up that need to get fix first.
John

 

[ttman4]

I don't have to write a story about the Moose Truck. It's listed in the book of Genesis somewhere. I'll try to look up the verse and chapter later.

Mel, you find it sitting round with all that other stuff that Moses & those other folks left when they split? Or was that in another book.....??

 

[460429_freak]

mine started out as my father in law drug in a 84 4x4 didn't think much of it at first... just a diesel....
well I used it to pull my race car to a few races..followed my buddy in his 350 chevy... take off he would leave me when I got it to 70mph and started hitting the hills then thats when I started to like diesels... year later he bough a 88 diesel sweet truck..... so I start the search for mine bought a 85 ext cab 4wd needed motor (still does) worked on it got it running but wore out replaced ip pump injecters and gp still wont start easy... so while looking for a motor a buddy tell me about a 87 2wd ext cab .... figured buy it pull the motor junk the 2wd.... until I looked at it...

it was a 87 2wd xlt lariat with a hypermax turbo and dough nash overdrive? never heard of this stuff heard it run
need front bearing and brakes and starter turned slow...
guy said I was wanting $1200 for it but wife wants it gone
(he just bought a 95 psd 4x4) so give me a $1000 and it yours... so me and my dad split it and bought it then found out how much the turbo and od was worth!!!!

present day its my daily driver after 1 raditaor 1 starter 1 ip pump 1 set of injectors 1 air pump and 1 alt she still running but when you have all these spares parts laying around whose counting...

 

[hesutton]

My IDI storty started in 2000. I was driving a '83 F250 which started life as a F150. I bought some 3/4 ton axles from a junk donor and did the swap (including changing the front suspension from coil springs to leaf springs) with Dad's help. The truck is the truck in my sig below. I was in med school and was looking for a project truck to eventually replace the old gasser.

Dad and I agree'ed that a diesel would be a much better engine choice and we started looking for a truck. He found a '86 F250 with a 6.9 and T-19 with a flat bed. A guy he worked with was using it as a farm truck for a few years. It was used most of it's life as a powder-truck, hauling Anfo for a blasting company. He only wanted $500 for it because "the motor needs a rebuild." So I bought the truck.

Dad and I pondered for a while about what to do about the 6.9. Should we just rebuild it, should we find a 7.3 IDI and use that, or should we find a 5.9 Cummins and use it instead??? We found a 7.3 IDI in a '89 E350 ambulance at a local junkyard a bought it and a C6 for $200.

I started working on the project on all my time off from school. Soon, the 7.3 IDI was rebuilt (man that was fun!) and I was deep into taking the truck down to the frame. I started sandblasting all the rust off the frame (that Anfo is really corrosive) and we painted it. Then the motor went on the frame, then the tranny and T-case. I put the Banks Sidewinder on next. It went on real easy without the cab and front clip on the truck! Next, I found a '95 PSD front clip at a local yard and bought that as well. Dad found a new '97 bed that had been sitting at the coal mine for a while. They had taken it off to put on a service bed and had just left it setting there. We bought it for a song ($125) and it was cherry.... not a scratch or ding.

We got the cab and bed on the truck. The front clip went on there without a problem. Then I had the top of the cab replaced (they parked the truck too close to some of the holes they were shooting and rocks rained down on the truck more than once) and had the truck painted BLACK.

I got a Dana 60 off a truck (91 F350) Dad had bought. We just traded the front axles. I added the lift and some other goodies. Some of my favorites are the York On-board air compressor and the filler-neck mods. I can fill a tank with diesel from a big rig nozzle in less than a minute and never spill a drop! NO BS!

It took close to 6 years and most of my spare time and cash..... But it was a hoot to do and I LOVE MY IDI!!!!!

Heath

 

[Freight_Train]

well,if no one else wants it......Can't the captian of the Lawn Ornament Enterprise get it?

 

[Agnem]

Mel, you find it sitting round with all that other stuff that Moses & those other folks left when they split? Or was that in another book.....??

Moses Glick. Cool Amishman. Lives up in Lampeter. Bought a bunch of model railroad stuff from him if you can believe that. Now, where did I leave that garden hoe?