Ive been browsing classifieds for a while and keep running across these two 62 ranchero's for $250. They look relativly straight, but have no motor/tranny. Still, two of em for $250 is one cheap project. What are some of the different way these 60-64's have been done?
Grab em while they are hot. All that Mustang 5.0 stuff fits in and disk brakes from a number of cars are a bolt on I.E. granada, fairmont, early stangs. I have a 61 that was running a 351 Winsor/ top loader 4 and it was sick.
They are bitchin'...and look good set up in about any style. If they aren't rusted out piles of crap, go for it! Olson
Buy them....they are bad ass and can be made into just about any type of ride from mild kustom to full blwon race car....cheap parts and tons of stuff will drop right in...
If you're looking for ideas go to The Ford Falcon News Forum http://www.tffn.net/phpBB2/ and check out the reader's rides section. All sorts of round-body falcons to give you ideas.
That's true, trying to dump a couple east coast Falcon coupes, the crappy one the rearend is half torn out, even the solid one has some frame issues since the rear bumper is a little loose. AMT made a model kit of the Falcon Ranchero, if you need ideas. I came up with an original one with the custom nose and tail and started one from the reissue with those parts added. The way it builds, I had to recut the hood to keep it openable. One thing, though, seems like you can get every patch panel known to man for the 64-66 stang, maybe could adapt them to patch a Falcon if it just had one or two bad spots in it. I seem to recall a JC Whitney catalog that shows this exploded-view diagram and about all you needed from the original car was the roof and cowl.
I might just have to make a move on them. Worst comes to worst I end up with one decent car and a parts/free car for someone else. Best case scenerio is I wind up with one that I can put in a 351C/4spd., parallel leaf straight axle, ect. And one nice cruiser. I need more property...
This is a unibody car. Look under the car real close before buying one.They're about as prone to rust as anything ever made and don't have a frame under them. They should have been named the Ford Bic as they we're built a as a disposible car. Cool looking but one whole lot of work usaully. But if you have a wire feed welder and a whole lot of time. Also the spring tower perches limit the amout of air that flows thru and the v8 cars (64-65) 15 mins. in a traffic jams will boil it over. (I put a switched fan on my 64 which helped) Look real close where the front of the leaf spring hooks into the unibody. when this lets go it is an ugly surpise. Good Luck
I'm still too ignorant , it seems, to load a good photograph, but you can look at my profile for the picture of my 63.
Actually, I hated Falcons until I saw yours. I changed my mind after seeing it. I knew there was hope after that.......I may even hafta have one some day.
Check the rear "frame rails." This area is prone to rust. If you buy them to part them out, PM me, I need stuff.
Also, check the front frame corner directly under the battery tray. I bought a '65 Hardtop once that looked solid, till I put a bumper jack under the right side of the bumper and picked it up without the rest of the body moving. I've looked at a few others that were rotted out in that corner.
"Also, check the front frame corner directly under the battery tray. I bought a '65 Hardtop once that looked solid, till I put a bumper jack under the right side of the bumper and picked it up without the rest of the body moving. I've looked at a few others that were rotted out in that corner." The 60-63' Falcon/Chero's/Comets' have styling cues of the best of the 50's and with somewhat modern handling they are capable of anything. The Falcon/Comet's are able to use most of the widely available early Mustang/Shelby repop parts and there is a real cult following for the versatile Six Cylinder engines. There are all kinds of radical performance parts and mods possible without reverting to 350/350/Tilt wheel / gold chain mods. Falcon's (and Comet's) are the tits... They are light and easy to alter and build your way.. The East coast has fewer remaining workable projects but don't be afraid of a little rust '61 Comet front suspension under battery: And with some easily found Mustang/Shelby parts: I got a kick out of the California Hot Rod shop buildup shows' top bodywork guy complaining that the Mopar body brought to his shop was beyond hope. The same car on the East Coast would have been lovingly rescued and resurrected without a hesitation. Powerband
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