OK, For those of you with a long memory, over a decade ago I got this Ford Ranchwagon. I started on it, and slowly let other projects get in the way.... Well, the Strange Days crew brought it out of storage today and moved it to the front burner. HRP here on the Hamb has one of these and its an eye popper! It was kinda weird going over it again and planning a course of action. We'll start by replacing the front floors, and go from there. Its going to have a 1 1/2 inch chop, be turned into a woodie, have rounded hood and door corners like in days of old, and some kind of custom grille. It has a Fatman front end with 2 inch drop spindles. I'll post updates each week as we progress.
We sooooooo want one of these (Condor Yellow, strong running gear and a beefed up frame to haul the roadster around with)!!!!!! Congrats! And yes HRP's is stunning.
well you got my interest up!!! so don't leave us hangin.lol oh and you said something about a custom grill,if you got the stock one and its still good let me know if you want to sell it!!!!!!!!!!!
HOT DOG!,I am really happy to see you getting back on the wagon,,we have talked about your ideas for several years and you have been one of the most vocal supporters during my wagon build,,both here and through Private Messages. The idea of turning a Ranch Wagon into a real Woodie has always been the "cherry on top" in my opinion and creating something that never existed gets me excited about your build. I remember you talking about your wagon back in 2004. I'm already subscribed! HRP
Damn, now I really need to get going on mine! I did mock up my intake and crabs on the stand just for inspiration... Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Well, if HRP is this excited, I better pay attention! I'm really interested in the woodie idea. Subscribed!
Nothing goes better with an intake mock up than seafood or a serious social disease! Made me laugh, those damn keyboard keys are never where they are supposed to be. We have all made those mistakes Wowcars. However if was on purpose, then all I can say is, good one.
Chaz is a master craftsman when it comes to working with wood and other materials,,He is a master of thinking outside the box. Some of you may not know of his past exploits,,check this thread out.HRP http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=218544
You cant have a real woodie without a long board stick hanging out your rear .... just saying. Subscribed.
I didn't realize so many people liked these red haired stepchildren !!!! Most folks I show the wagon to just kinda look at me like WTF are you doing now? Don't worry, by the time we're done they'll be drooling ...
I will be watching this one as well, got a '54 Ranchwagen. As if HRP's wasn't enough to shoot me out of the water. Now another one. I have another project in line first, maybe some day.......
There are several guys that have subscribed that own 52-54 Ford ranch wagons,all of us are suckers for the "Red Headed Stepchild",,ya know that would be a good name for the project! HRP
sweet, looking forward to seeing this longroof come to life, especially with the idea of adding wood to it.
PART 1 ... FLOORS 7/21/13 This car is a complete rust bucket! Most Fords of this vintage are. Here's a picture of the floor (or lack of it ) when we started. The horizontal cut below the dimmer switch indent was our starting point. We made a pattern out of posterboard for the piece we needed. Cut that out of metal and pressed the necessary ribbing into it with our English wheel We then bent it as required on the metal brake. and then welded it into place. This looks easy, but welding in panels is a pain in the butt. After years, I'm finally getting a handle on it. We did the same with the next panel... In four hours today, three of us were able to fabricate and weld two panels. That's a good day in our book...Lots more to do, but its a start. A friend asked my why I bought such a rustbucket. They're ALL rust buckets.. They are 60 year old tin. Looks better than me after 60 some years... Here's a photo of the original floor...
I like the way you used the English wheel to duplicate the pattern in the floor toe boards,,it's the little things like this that will continually raise the bar. HRP
Working on old iron like this is an exercise in patience. The whole project is overwhelming, but we just take it week by week and take our time . We start each Sunday with a " where do we go on this today?' kind of attitude. If we stay at it every week, it will eventually get there. Steve, Dana and me have gotten together every Sunday at 11:00 for YEARS. We've cranked out a lot of interesting projects and learned tons of skills in the process. It really is fun and we look forward to it every week.
OK, we did some work on the rider side front floor today. Here's a pic of where we started The floor, inner AND outer rocker panels are shot, and so are the body supports that hold the body to the frame! Lots of work here. Here's a picture . You can see that EVERYTHING is rusted out here. Dana went to work tearing out what was left of the floor. This is an uber crappy job. Here is one of the body supports, you can see the end has just rusted away. Another photo of the brace after sandblasting.This is the portion we have to re-make We first welded on new sides, They are a perfect copy of the originals Then the bottom was tacked on and then fully welded Here's a pic of the old rusty end, and the new end grafted on.... We have two more braces like this to repair, and then we can replace the inner and outer rocker panels. Lots of work, but we're having a blast!
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