Can a slick be your only vehicle?

[1966 Ford]

I use my slick for a daily driver. Have had a few minnors problems but nothing that would kill the truck. My wife has a 2003 dodge and I have had to send the slick to get it more than once.

[MadMaxetc]

If you work out the numbers...

You are better going with an older car that has depritated all that it is going to. (like a 20+ year old car/truck)

Assumtions:
I drive about 5000 miles a year with my truck.
Gas will average $2.75/gal

I have a 2002 mountaineer. I get 16/21mpg with the V8 and have a $370/month payment. It is the wifes car and she likes it. It gets the same milage and has the same payment of what a 2000 ish truck would have. so we will use it as option 1. Oh and insurance is about $700/ 6months.
(Recap)
16/21mpg
$370 / month payment (6 years left on the loan)
$700 / 6months Insurance.

Option 2 is my 73 F-100. (soon to be 67) It has a very peppy 300 and gets 14/19mpg and has a $0/month payment. Insurance is $150 / 6 months. When I get the 67 running, in about 3 months, I will have $3000 into it. I can spread that out over the next year so we will say about a $250 / month payment for 1 year.
(Recap)
14/19mpg
$250 / month payment (1 year)
$150 / 6months Insurance.

So option 1 over the next 5 years will cost me:
$4300.00 in gas
$22,200.00 in payments
$7000.00 in insurance
for a total of $33,500.00

Then Option 2 over the next 5 years will cost me:
$4910.00 in gas
$3000.00 in payments
$1500.00 in insurance
for a total of $9,410.00

So even if I had to rebuild a new motor and had to rent a car for a week...I would still come out WAY AHEAD with option 2!

As for maintanance and other stuff...The $1.5k I am putting into the 67 is for new brakes, shocks, sway bar, power brakes and power stearing. So it is not like I am going to be driving a peice of junk. It should have no more cost to maintain than a newer car/truck.

This is why I will probably always drive an old car. (there is always the loto, then this argument goes out the window! )

[ICEMAN6166]

both me and the wife have "only" slicks.
insurance is cheap,
i can fix them myself.
we have to discourage prospective buyers all the time (not for sale)
neither of us like either the price or design of anything new
if i really had to i suppose i could do a dentside (73-79)
prefer nothing after 69 for a ford truck, dont like plastic grilles.
cars go the same.
wont ride in anything small, not going to drive one either.
we like our 60s vehicles.

[Max]

This is a great question that will probably get everyone to ponder if they haven't already!

[ICEMAN6166]

Doc, since you are experimenting , here is a helpful hint from page 54 of the 1965 owners manual:
Cooling System:
"185-195 degree thermostats usually provide better fuel economy than the 160 thermostats used with alcohol based or methanol type anti-freeze."
Carburetor Accelerating pump:
"Adjust pump linkage to the leanest setting that will give the desired acceleration characteristics under prevailing climatic conditions.A slight sacrifice in acceleration can pay substantial dividemds in economy"

[Unibodyguy1]

Doc,
let us know any progress on your milage experiment. I find it very interesting to see how it compares to a lot newer cars/trucks. I feel with what you've already gathered the expectations that you want are able to be possible with the right gearing, etc.

Unibodyguy1

[Hoofbeat Racer]

Good examples Dan

In all practicallity, we need a new vehicle for our main wheels. My wife, even being the good farm girl that she is, is not very mechanically inclined. I work far away in the bush and she needs a reliable ride. For us, we love the Expedition (sorry Ice)

Personally, I have owned 2 fuel injected vehicles, a 1990 Bronco and an 1989 F150. Everything else has been old and never left me stranded. Once drove my 69 F250 200 miles to college when it was -25 and I had no brakes cause I couldn't afford a master cylinder.

Back to the original question, I love my 66. I would thin the herd but the slick is the sire that I would never part with

[Johnny Canuck]

There are circumstances under which I would drive only a slick.
I drove only a '78 for 12 winters. Loved that truck. If my slick was set up with an engine that would pull close to 30 mpg, (Fuel injected six would get close, probably) and the truck was somehow, and this is a big somehow, protected from rotting away in just a few short southern Alberta freeze-thaw winters. that would be a start.

I would be tempted to make alterations in the routing of the heater vents, to thaw the side windows better, and major alterations in how a slick cab is insulated (it ISN'T), but with those conditions met, I would drive one year round. The gas mileage being a major factor. The car I drive right now gets very close to 40 MPG and I wish for one more efficient for my DD, as it is.

[Trukcrazy]

Until I came to work overseas, my daily driver was my bumpside. I would drive them(first a 67, then a 68 ) out of town to the job and then daily to the jobsite. I drove my 67 LWB(352,3 speed on the column, no PS or PB, 2500 miles one way to Northern California for a job and loved it. If you like them at all, then driving them daily would be like a treat everyday. I would bet that you would enjoy it more than you think. I have been driving the bumpsides since 1979 and never get tired of them. Good luck.

[FORDBOYpete]

JC,
I have an EFI 4.9L I-6 (300 cid) with the "Mazda Built" 5 Gear, Manual OD in an 88-F150 SWB XLT Lariat and on it's best day it might get 17mpg hiway 14-15 town. That's what I get with a mildly built 460 running a naked C-5 A/T. The F-150 is kinda of all right, but it's not a pleasure to drive or economical either.

Doc,
My "other ride" is a Aerostar XLTN, AWD, 9pass Van with a 4.0 & AOD and the optional 15" wheels. It gets 18 city X 21 Hiway. It's a wierd, out of style, Nothing special, Soccer Mom ride, but I'm not getting off it anytime soon, the "BDF" or breakdown factor you may wonder, is right at 250K miles with original Powertrain & New suspension, brakes/ R&P Steering.

I prefer driving my Slick as it's the most fun & fastest & best handling, the Aero is the most comfortable and my T-Bird is apart right now. . . But I can't replace my Slick easily or cheaply, and I haven't found a nice enough one I can afford & just drive as a beater, SOooo.

The Aero is my Beater, My T-Bird, is only car I (personally) own & being upgraded, My Slick is my "toy", and I can't replace that, and the 88 F-150 is the "PITA" that keeps breaking down, gets poor to bad mpg & isn't any fun to drive. It's a drag on everything.

FBp

[Johnny Canuck]

FBp, I mean a V6, like the 4.0 or 4.2. If it ever did approach the kind of gas mileage figures to bring it in to daily driver standards for me, even in a shortbox truck, it would probably be gutless. And no fun to drive.

But I ain't a rich man and I don't work solely to keep Shell in business either.

In the summer, I do drive my 15MPG uni around a lot. 50 bucks every 4 days to fill the tank sure can hurt tho, so even though I drive it nearly every day in nice weather, I drive it sparingly.

One thing that I have been mulling more and more seriously over the past 2-3 years is snagging a diesel to stick in a slick or bump, and running it on WVO.
Then, the dude I know who owns a Dairy Queen would provide me with fuel he has to PAY to get rid of, and cheap ol me would not be bent over Exxons knee.

Still trying to make the logistics of that one work.

[Garbz]

"Christine" makes the daily commute from home to the shop in Phoenix daily.

I can bail down I-17 with the best of them.

Need to add the air conditioning to the big block later this spring to make the commute more tolerable, but the truck does the job fine. only costs are fuel and insurancance and balky parts.

The truck is fully rebuilt and has about 7000 miles on her since slick stock which was her maiden voyage.

Garbz

[Slick Fan]

This thread makes me miss driving my truck.
I've gotta remedy that soon.

[The Big M]

My daily, doing chase car duty when I first retrieved my slick:



92 Integra. Very reliable and it was in near-mint condition when I got it. Insurance costs are much less that a new car (although it would be lower still if it weren't a 2-door), parts are reasonable, it's easy to work on, and I get close to 40 mpg (imperial, of course). Approaching 200,000 km and runs like a top. Doesn't burn a drop of oil.

I'm convinced that older cars in good condition are the answer for daily drivers. It is fuel injected and I suppose it could be considered a "newer" car, but it's nowhere near as complicated as a new vehicle. I may end up daily driving my slick on occasion in the summers, but I don't intend to expose it to another winter. Ever. I've sunk too much $$$ into the floor repair...

[FORDBOYpete]

The 4.2L is one of those "bad for business" engines. My Son has one & judging by what he goes through, I'd pass on one of them.
But the 4.0L is a pretty Nasty Little engine when running right. It's far from gutless . It will run to tripple digits if you care to take it there.
It's no 460 but it suprised me. That's why we bought it 13 years ago.

FBp

[65TremecGT]

I drive my well seasoned 65 everyday to and from work, but thats a total of 4 miles and love it. Everyone at work kids me about it since we have the new tow vehicle just sitting at the house, but I love driving the slick! Gotta have a crew cab with two car seats!

[Horsepower]

I think my slick is the baby out of my bunch. My 93 F150 4x4 has 190,000 miles on it my 84 F350 diesel has 550,000 on it and my 93 Gtp is pushing 170,000 miles. My slick only has 90,000 on it. When the slick goes back together I'm sure I will drive it everyday that the roads are clear. even with all the high miles I would get into anyone of them tomorrow and drive across country if I had to without any worries. its all in how you maintain them.

[ras4434]

my girl (66) has a 300 I6 with a transplanted 4 speed and 3:25 rear end. After 665,000 miles and only a broken piston skirt I would take her almost anywhere. She has owned me for the past 25 years and for 10 of those years the families only transportation. If it was not for the need of more room for boy scout trips I would still be be driving her all the time. The only improvement would be power steering and power brakes.

Doc IMHO you would be in good hands if you only drove the 66.

[rbcyouthdude]

my 66 is my daily driver. Of course My wife drives an o1 suburban, which we have to have with 5 in the family (I guess we could all squeeze in the slick). My 17 year old daughter drives a 01 F-150 extended cab. I love my slick and do not want anything else to drive. If I had a choice of a new car or just getting a really fixed up slick, The slick any day. (kinda miss A/C)

Michael

[cdherman]

I too would agree that if you can live without some of the creature comforts that a slick doesn't have, a 65-66 pickup with a 240 or 300 could be a very dependable and long lived setup.

Though you had a little trouble with the clutch linkage, I think that was a fluke.

Get a close ratio T-19 floor shifted tranny, drop a 2.75 rear behind it, and I bet the 240 will get over 20 mph, easy. Assuming that you don't decide to put AC in it, but maybe even with AC.

I never really contemplate my pickup being a daily driver, as it scares me to drive it what little I do. But in terms of dependability, its one of the most dependable vehicles I ever experienced in my 40 some years. Biggest problem I had for a while was rust from the gas tank that required occassional road side replacement of the big ole' filter can on the fuel pump.

In contrast to a new fangled vehicle, you can actually understand a 60's era vehicle and thus fix/repair the little stuff with no trouble. New stuff is very reliable for the most part, BUT, when it becomes unreliable, it invariably requires modern equipent and training to repair. And after 10-15 years, you may as well just crush it....

If I were going to get a "new" vehicle and try for maximum "bang for the buck" then I'd buy a 2003-2004 era Ford Taurus or Focus. Why? They made millions of them. Parts are cheap and every po-dunk shop in the USA can fix one. They are basically pretty reliable cars. But more importantly, even if they break down (and they will, ALL vehicles do eventually) you can get them fixed relatively cheap. And they have AC!!