The Rust Ranch!!

So I bought this '62 Ranchero a few months ago. The seller said all the rust issues were fixed. But when I crawled under it I spotted a street sign patch! WTF is up with that dude! He went silent...the price droped like it was on air bags. So now I have some pictures to share with the HAMBers. ENJOY the RUST RANCH.











This is a picture of the floor board which is hidden under the bed.




Here are some images of the floor pans. They were so rotten. Worse than I could have imagined.

 

Ouch!!!

 

The good news is that the rest of the machine is straight and rust free. I guess this thing just sat long enough for the floor boards to rot, but everything elese was spared.

Here are some shots of the restoration. Removal of entire floorboard and then I thought I'd shore up the subframe and make my own floor boards.

 

Good lord, that's a car originally from Oregon? Looks more like Michigan. I bought floorboards from a guy in Oregon because they were so much better than mine...

 

Holy CRAP!!!! all the rust issues fixed? did you tell him to get his head and eye sight checked??? That is nutsssssssssssssssssss

 

That makes me appreciate mine a whole lot more .Mine must be a rare find since it has no rust in the floors or under the bed panel .Is that the norm with these cars or is that one just a worse case example ? Those pics and that story remindes me of a 67 Malibu i had in high school .It looked like a million bucks till the bondo started bubbling through the paint.When i dug into it there was wire mesh and aluminum sheets popriveted over holes in the doors ,qaurters, backs of the front fenders etc.with bondo an inch thick smeared over it.It also had road signs and New Jersey licence plates riveted over holes in the floors and trunk .The trunk floor was a piece of scrap expanded metal with a piece of vinyl from a swimming pool laying on top to keep the water from coming through.The guy told me it was a Texas car and that it had been restored and never had any rust ...

 

I think mustang floor pan are the some .

 

Rocker-iffic! Glad to see you're saving another Ranchero... I am currently selling my 3rd one in five years.

 

yeowzer. good thing he took care of all that rust for ya! what a guy!

 

Your are going to spray some weld thru primer on that metal before you weld the floor in right? That is alotta rust. Sucks, but you will make it right.

 

Yea, I plan on giving it the WORKS. I dont want to do this ever again. And while I'm at it I think I'll take advantage of the easy access to the E-Brake cable and swap it out too.

 

Wow! is that factory A/C?? damn dude, i have a '63 ranchero as my daily, and damn do i hate the unibody! good thing is i only have a few tiny holes in the floor, its pretty solid. my issue is the front top of the windshield and front windshield posts are rotted out like most falcons and rancheros do. bithcin' cars and you can always score them on the cheap! keep us up to date on your progress dude!

 

i'd have left it with the seller! i'd bet my paycheck you're gonna find rust in the rest of the body, as bad as those floors are.

 

Rust? What rust?

 

Well, first off I got it CHEAP, and its a runner. I've taken off both front fenders and looked over all the rear half, taken off many bits and pieces hunting for rust and I cant find any. Front A pillars are in great shape too. The only other rust I have is just a spot or two in the base of the passanger door. I'd guess the dude left the windows open and let it sit for about 10 years.

 

Its quite possible that the rest could be nearly rustfree.I new a guy that had two 67 Camaros years ago that were builders.One had cherry rust free body panels and the most rotten floors and trunk you could imagine (kickpanels ,braces ,trunk pan ,etc all swiss cheese) and the other one had perfect floors ,trunk and braces and rotten qaurters ,door skins and even the dash.I think alot of the rust issues depend on where it was drivin most as far as dirt roads etc. ,plus how well it was cleaned through the years at the car wash.Also the window gaskets leaking or not play a big part in floor pan condition.Rust likes wet carpet for sure...

 

Hey Dropout. I thought I was the only guy that rustbuckets sought out. Now I know there's at least two of us!
Rust work can be kinda fun if you have the right attitude. Good luck with the falcon.
Why is it that 50's and 60's Fords always seem the worst?

 

Yeah, this Ranchero's door seals took a leave of absence years ago. It still had the factory carpet, under that was the rubber mat, under that the wad of sound deading fabric. All of it was sopping wet and just plane nasty!

Hey Chaz, I dont think its just two of us dude, you should have seen my buddys Cuda!! hahaha. it was just like my Ranchero.

 

Hey Publicenemy1925 can you suggest your prefeared weld thru primer?? And do you have any more suggestions on prep before welding on a floor pan. Thanks

 

I've been using U-POL lately, 3m is good to but clogs up real easy.

 

sweet jezus!!

 

Nice...

"Rust"...??? Isn't that a paint color...he said he took care of all the rust...maybe he meant he took all of that color off the car...surely he wouldn't lie to you...???

R-

 

Have you shown the seller these pics and how the hell did he/she explain what you just showed us here !?? Not much metal left there, from what I see. Seems' like you're happy with it and I wish you good luck and looking forward to see the progress updates on "the rust ranch".
/ primerkid

 

NAW, I didn't send these phots to the Old Dude. I doubt he would give a fig anyhow.

I'll keep adding to this post as things progress.

 

I would have looked for something better. You got alot of work ahead of you

 

"I would have looked for something better. You got alot of work ahead of you"

maybe you just have more cash to throw around big spender.

at least you wont have to worry about new floors for another 40 or so years. good luck.

 

I know a guy who would have fixed that with POR15.

 

PM me if you want an additional body.

There's a pretty much rust free 62 Falcon Ranchero here in town for $500 or less. If interested i'll take a hammer to the floorboards & rocker panels.

I'll be back in town within the next couple of days to take photo's

I posted some of it about a month ago of the Ranchero as well as a 59 Ford PU & a 58-60 Chev PU.

 

Naw, I dont need a new one, I'm getting ready to weld in the new floor boards in the next few weeks, and then I wont have anything to major to do.

Hope some of you locals had a chance to go to the Portland Swap Meet. Its been a great turn out.

 

It's not rust it's patina.

Seriously, it's nice to see you taking the required steps to fix it and not just giving up on it.
Some would have looked at all the rust, especially for a unibody, and gave up outright.
Congrats on saving an old ranchero.