I bought a real nice looking 63 Ranchero with a 260 and 2speed automatic;dual exhaust, lifted all around, and had Appliance "Cragar SS" wheels with Goodyear Trans Am Radial Tires. Nice interior with some extra chrome work, carpet, and upholstery; even a tonneau cover on the bed. The floors were'nt rusted that bad, like yours, but under the panels in the bed there was nothing left. Even the shock support for the air shocks was just hanging there, someone had used wire mesh and roofing tar to blend it all together so it looked good. I wound up taking everything out of that car for my wifes 65 Mustang; she would'nt drive the Ranchero. Entire front suspention, brakes, rear end, springs, shocks,radiator all went into that Mustang. Kept the 260 and automatic, and even sold that years later. Took all the little stuff and chrome pieces to the All Ford Drags at Bremerton Raceway and gave that stuff away. That car sure looked good, but the only satisfaction I really got out of it was seeing the hulk hauler driving down the street carting what was left of it away. I still have the red carpet from behind the seat, and use it to lie on while under a car; that sure is tough carpet, I guess it had to be to hold the car together.
If this car were really bad it would have folded in half as I drove it home. But the A pillars, rockers and all strut/shock towers are in super rad shape. I'm no rich man but this work doesnt need to cost a lot either. So far I've got all my raw materials from the steel yard scrap bin. Even the sheet metal I plan on using for the floor boards was a lucky score. They'd just miss cut a load and tossed it in the scrap pile.
I used to live in Oregon,the inland cars are pretty rust-free but if they came from the coast, salt air & humidity can make for rust issues.
OK, folks heres the new updated photos of the Ranchero. Here is my new gauge cluster. Its from a '62 Merc. Comet. Here are my new tail lights. The buckets are from a '60 Galaxie and the lenses are from a '59 Ford [I think]. A near perfect fit. Last bit of news is that I am now driving the Ranch and getting ready to patch up the bed next. Hope to see you all at NW BilletProof this comming weekend. I'll try to get the Ranch up there.
He looked you right in the eye and said "The rust issues are all fixed." And you had to go crawling around underneath it and unfix 'em. Don't blame him, it's your own damn fault. Looks like you have it well in hand. Question! Are you going to install sub-frame connectors or is that what you have done? I can't quite tell. That's actually worse than a local one I passed on recently.
Yes, I did tie in the sub frames. After seeing all the rust I new I neede to do just that, or I'd never feel really confident with the machine. I'm no pro, I'm sure some might see what I've done and scratch their head. I've learned much during this process and have had a blast. I dont blame the old guy who sold it too me. He's cool dude and sold the car for a very fair price. I hope I see him at a local car show, because I'd like him to see how far I've come with it, I'm sure he'd be pleased. Side note: I took the Ranch to work today. First time it's been up to speed. As I drove along, a wad of dry leaves and dust dislodged from the fresh air vent and exploded into the cab. I had a tornado of shit blowing all over the joint. I could hardly see due to the dust in my eyes. I had dry leaves in my lap and on my shoulders. I wish I had a video camera running to capture that scene.
It's worth it. I just got back from BilletProof Wash-Out...I never would have attempted such a drive with my old rusty ass pans. Now I can get busy with the fun stuff. Good luck on the floor job Steelcity6, keep that Nova alive.
like the small custom treatments and wish i could have hit billetproof but i didn't want to hog up all the sunburns! cool ride and way to save it.
Thanks 55Dude. I've had lots of compliments. Update, truck bed is almost finished and sealed. I have more photos to share, but I dont have them here at work. I'll post to this thread soon.
when he said rust free he must have meant you didnt have to pay extra for what was already there ! looking good though nice work!
I wonder if the old guy built the Ranchero in the first place, if he did then he was doing you wrong, if he didn't build it maybe he just didn't know how bad it was on the bottom side. I, doubt it, but maybe! Your work is looking real good and you'll end up with a cool cruiser. I took a '41 Ford Convertible from a rust bucket to a Top 100 finish in 2001 R&C best rides. Anything can be fixed if you have the will and skills to do it. I purchased a rear '64 Impala upper back seat off of ebay from a guy in Tennessee for $20., twice that to ship it. Paid for all the weight of the water in the seat. The seat cotton was so wet and smelled like hell, the guy most likely is very happy he sold the piece of crap. It worked out fine for me, all I wanted was rear speaker structure to graf into a Caddy rear seat. Some times what looks like a deal turns out great. Good luck on your ride, will be looking forward to your progress. CRUISER
Can't wait to see what you did with the bed, and love the job you did with the floorpans. "There's nothing like driving my Ranchero......"
Thanks GoBettie! I am just about ready weld the bed up. The way I've done it, the cavity that was once dead space can now be accessed from inside the cab. So I can put tools and extra junk back there. And I've suported that section of bed floor so that I can put a heavy load in the back and not worry about that metal colapsing. I caught the bench seat on fire a several weeks ago. It was funny, I was helping my girlfriend learn to weld. And before I was about to begin, she asked me where my fire extinguisher was. I pointed them out, mounted on many walls in the garage. But the one that is near where I was welding was gone!!! Wow, I wonder where it went. Well I found it and set it in the back of the Ranch. then seconds after I began to weld, I saw a bright orange glow. I bent over and noticed that the back of my bench seat was quickly going up in flames. I calmly reached over to the fire extinguisher and gave it a blast. Killer! If it weren't for her I would have been one pissed dude. NOTE: Keep your safety shit on hand and check up on it every so often. Dont think you now where everything is, actually look.
Wow, that's a lot of work on a rust free car...just kidding. You did some nice work on that thing! Need some new pic's here to admire...
hahaha that's absolutely hilarious. Good job fixin the little bugger up; i've seen way less rust than that and been scared off. Keep up the good work, i'm sure the ranchero appriciates it!
Brave...or just stoked about how cool this machine is. I think that if we like the car we'll find a way to save it, right? The other nice thing about interior repair, no one can see it. As long as its strong and safe thats all that matters. I was cleaning out the garage the other weekend and came across the seat belt I pulled from the Ranch. I litterally mean PULL. The belt was still connected to the bracket and large washer...sandwitched between the pieces was a rusty hunk of metal that looked more like an old gnarly chunk of tree bark than metal. Now the seat belts are firmly mounted. That gives me peace of mind. More photos to come in the next month.
I used to live in the Pacific Northwest. I think the reason your car is so rusty in the floorboards is the car was stored on grass at one time. One year on the lawn will take out the exhaust system. A couple of years or so and the floorpan goes out. Seen it before. Always store a car on pavement or at least gravel, or put a tarp under it to keep the moisture from coming up under the car. Nice job on the rust repair by the way. Pat.
I owned A falcon years ago,similar front but a shorter deck than a Ranchero. The entire body is a unit and i see you added extra sections underneath. Good idea. The OZ Falcon Utes had a shorter deck because the roadside curbs here are are so deep,Ford was worried the long ranchero would continually catch and drag the rear of the body . Apparently a test vehicle bought out from the USA did just that. Ours were built on a station wagon floor pan . You can see the rear door arches inside the OZ bodies.
I had a similar thing happen in an old truck. I decide to clean 4 years worth of leaves that had fallen in the cowl and collected at the floor vents. Well, thought I had vaccumed it all out, and got lazy about putting the vents back in. Decided to drive the truck to work the next morning, got up to about 35, and all of a sudden it was like being in a snow globe. Little bits of dirt and bits of leaves swirling around. Had to turn around and go back home and change clothes and wash up.
The floor boards are being reproduced in either the front half or the whole thing. I replaced them on my 62 runchero and part of the rear bulkhead and the underneather part of the bed. Don't remember where I got them but it didn't take a lot of research to find them. Good luck.
HAQHAHA, great stuff. I'm glad so many of you think I did a great job at repairing and upgrading the floor boards. I'd thought about and almost bought new pans. I almost bought the entire floor from a parts Ranchero. But in the end I felt this was what I was capable of doing. Thanks for the compliments on the tail lights and gauge cluster. I've seen photos of the OZ ranchero Utes. They are different. I had no clue that the door jams were there. I'll have to get someone to take more photos of one. More photos will be comming soon, but I've been draggin my heels. I just took the Rancho out for a spin last night. great fun.
Thats pretty typical ranchero rust, the panel over the rear seat well in the bed lets water leak into the rear seat well which has only two 1/2 inch drain holes that plug up in the first couple of years of its life, I noticed this on my 65 when I bought it new and would pull the panel and clean under it regularly and wound up cutting larger holes to let the crud "drop out". Luckily the floors from a wagon will work or Dearborn Classics sells patch panels. See my profile album.
I only see two photos of the Ranchero but it looks like you worked on the innter rear fenderwells. Having a spread like yours would be ideal, I could only wish to have that kind of outfit. Hopefully my rebuild will fix the problem and allow plenty of fresh air to dry out any leaks.
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