OK - here goes .  .  .  "pumpkin" is slang for a differential housing, owing to it's rounded shape similar to well, a pumpkin.  The 9" Ford rear differential is recognized as a very strong, capable piece of machinery that can take a lot of punishment and still deliver the goods.   The "4.11 gears" reference refers to the axle ratio ( actually 4.11 to 1 is more technically correct ) where the numerically higher number refers to the number of times the drive shaft has to rotate through 360 degrees to equal one turn of the wheels.   The axle ratio is determined by the number of teeth on the pinion gear and the ring gear respectively. 

When I was younger my uncle ran dump trucks and backhoes.  He would stockpile gravel during the fall/winter, keeping the farmers creeks cleaned out for free (sweet deal for both my uncle and the farmers).  Kept their fields from flooding, and he had the gravel to sell when road projects started up in the spring and summer.

One weekend I was helping by keeping the trucks full.  He'd take the manual into town with a load, and I'd load up the truck with the automatic.  I'd them move it out of the way, and when he got back he'd park the manual tranny truck for me to load, jump in the auto and go.  I had no idea how that thing worked.  I remember it had a four-speed with a 5-speed gear box behind it.  I was somewhere around 14, I think.  Come to think of it, I still have no idea how to run that particular combo.

So how does it work?

I feel bad that I am late to this party.  All the relevant comments have been made.

Plebian apparently owns the object of my lust and desire in a 78 Bronco.  First year of the "big" Bronco, and last year that had no federal emissions requirements, though they did come with the 351M/400 which were smog specific engines.

I personally like to drive manual trannies.  But, I no longer have any vehicles with a manual.  This is due to a couple of factors.  First, my wife doesn't drive stick and really discourages purchase of a stick shift since she can't drive it.  Two, I mostly drive in the city, and an auto is easier to drive around town.  Three, while it is true in absolute terms that a manual is more reliable than an auto, in practical terms of the driving and buying habits I have, a modern auto is just as good.

Someday I plan to buy a clean 78 Bronco and build my dream SUV.  Two years ago there was no doubt that I wanted a manual tranny.  Preferred was an NV4500, but I would have settled for a NP435 or an SM465.  But lately I have been thinking more along the lines of a really hardcore E4OD build instead of rowing myself.

Well, I'd practice on a beat up pick up if I could, but all I have available to me is a Camaro.

I just try to keep an eye on my RPM's (my buddy taught me keep it somewhere between 1500 to 2000 before shifting. It's his vehicle, so what he says goes) and to engage the clutch all the way before shifting. Other than that  .

Also don't forget my dad's advise, "Learn to drive a stick in a vehicle you don't own, and don't have to fix."

Hell, don't ask me - I learned on a tractor.   

I learned to drive a tractor first as well. When I first started I had to hold onto the wheel and hop off the seat to depress the clutch fully. It was before I was 8 years old for certain since we moved when I was 8, and I already had been driving for sometime.

I first started driving pick-ups at around 10. It was following dad in the tractor on dirt roads as we moved fields, and I sometimes got to move trailers of hay from the field in my uncle's diesel pick-up when uncle was 'too tired'(drunk).

My main transport before I was legal to drive was a horse tho. We were about 13 miles from town. So if I needed to go town badly I just saddled the ole steed up and rode in. There is no legal age to drive a horse it seems.