57 Ranchero based on Fairlane?

[jvo]

Yes, THANK YOU JIM, that's exactly what I want to do.  And I like it.  I spent all day in the shop, and my back is killing me, but I got the B pillars welded up good and solid.  I'm not going to finish the front part of the B pillar yet, as I want to get the top perimeter of the box and tailgate done.  I am dying to see what its going to look like, and I actually have some time now to do it. 
So, I whacked out the package shelf, haven't drilled out the spot welds on the brackets yet, and I will have to metal finish the inner wheel tubs before I fill all that space in also, but that can still wait a bit. 
Here are the new mock up pics.  The front end of the box rail, is pretty much where I want it, but the back end is 1 1/8 inch HIGH. ITS JUST TEMPORARILY MOCKED UP, HAS TO BE LOWERED ON THE BACK. Sorry for hollering, but I wanted everyone to know the back end is hopefully going to just disappear behind the fin at that point when viewing from the side.
In these pics, the top of the drivers door is almost perfectly level.  I can't get the box rail down any more on the back end without some more work to the top of the Fairlane quarter panel which will allow it to sit down on the back, but dammit I was tired and hungry. 

[jvo]

Here are the last couple pics.  Should get a little more done tomorrow.

[hiball3985]

Absolutely amazing. I'm just trying to guess what you are seeing through your visions..
Where is that Norwell character hiding ? He's the graphics guy, help me out Jeff.

[rovohn]

Wow,looks really good John,looking forward to seeing it in the flesh sometime.
Cheers,John

[jvo]

Yup. You pretty much nailed it Jim.  Thanks.  This week I hope to get all the top of the bed tacked together, and in place, along with the tailgate opening.  I have to stop however and finish rebuilding the tailgate, small amount of rust repair on the bottom, that I started about 3 years ago, and find all the parts for it.  I have such a bloody mess in the shop from grinding and such, plus parts from the rusty Ranchero that I don't dare to throw away, plus all the 4 door parts that I don't dare throw away.  IN the pics, look at the storage above the sides of the garage door.  Jammed full of "stuff", and its all dusty and dirty, but somewhat organized, but I have a full loft over the garage that is full also.  Can't wait to finish this and sort it all and get rid of some crap.

[junior58]

Really loving the progress of the "Fairlanchero". I'm a Fairlane guy and love the more defined fins compared to the Customs (tho I love them too, so don't flame me).

[djfordmanjack]

what a huge but cool project !
I like the idea of the sail panels extending into that ridge surrounding the load bed. Since you mentioned that the Fairlane rear body is getting higher to the rear (while only a mockup). I think leaving the sail panels/ridge level and having it taper to the back could look cool. it will give the car a more natural look while highlighting the og Fairlane fins. after all, that's what is about the Fairlane look. the rear fins being angled and getting taller to the rear.

[jvo]

Thanks for the comments guys.  I realized in the past day or so, whilst staring at the ceiling at 3:00 AM, when I do some of my best planning, that I need to start at the rear now, and work forward.
I brought the last of the rusty tailgate and bed panels in, and am presently drilling out spot welds, and building a bunch of stuff from scratch.  I got the tailgate crossmember all disassembled, and went to my local sheet metal guy.  He's going to bend me up a nice 14 gauge rear crossmember.  The part of the crossmember with the tailgate hinge plates is good enough that I can cut out some rusted areas and save it.  Luckily, the hinge plate area is not in real bad shape. 
I started making the inner rear corners with the two holes in it.  Took a while to get all the pieces separated, drilling out spot welds, and now I am putting new metal in those rusty places.  Dirty dirty work, but we've all done it, eh? 

Anyway, I figure I have to get the rear crossmember mounted, so I can bolt the tailgate on, THEN I can figure out the height of the top of the box rails. 
I almost started fitting and spot welding from the front, then it dawned on me that I could easily be too high or too low, and the probability of being exactly where the top of the tailgate would be, would end up being pure luck only.
Might not have much to show as I have a lot of rust repair on the back end, then finish repairing the inner panel on the tailgate, and put it back together, then bolt it back onto the car.  After that, we will see where the top of the box is.   

I sure don't want to have to chop the height of the tailgate to make it look good or vice versa.  But I guess I could lean it forward like the back window also.  Might look good.  To be continued.

[jvo]

A few pics of the back end of the rusty Ranchero pieces, just in case anyone forgot what we were dealing with here.  Trying to make all the replacement pieces.   

One of the things I need is a close up pic of the side of the tailgate opening. You can see in one of these pics that there isn't anything left to copy from, below where the tailgate strap is.  I don't know how to make this so as to make it look somewhat like original.  The top part I think I can save, where the tailgate strap bolts on, and the latch area is.  Its rusted, but not beyond being saveable.

[jvo]

Just a few shots of making the rear corners. Initially, I was going to make just the bottom of these panels.  Starting piecing the old one together, and it wasn't going like I wanted, so I made a paper pattern of the outer plate, that screws onto this piece, then transferred it onto some 16 gauge sheet.  The box sides are 16 gauge, I think, so I figured I would make these the same.  The originals I think were only 18 gauge, but it was hard to tell, as they are so rusty.
The 16 gauge is more like blacksmithing than metal shaping though.  Tough stuff to work with to pound the reveal into it.  I put the panel into my box & pan brake, and made a series of very small bends so as to get the tapered roll on the back end.  It tends to put slight creases on the bend line doing that, so I had to hammer and dolly it over a piece of railroad rail to get it back smooth again, but it did what I wanted, and the roll is in there to match the original panel.  Tough stuff to work though, this 16 gauge.

I just spaced the line out about 5/16 of an inch from the paper pattern, then put some 3/16 sheet metal under where the sharpie line was on the panel, and proceeded to beat the line into it with chisels and punches.  I use a whole lot of different chisels and cheapo brick chisels, which I sharpen, or should I say "shape" the end so it isn't so sharp ( to keep it from cutting through the sheet metal).  I have a drawer full of different chisels and such to beat shapes into sheet metal.  Works pretty good.  I have to keep moving and re clamping the panel to finish the corners and the tapered roll on the end.  Lot of work hammering this 16 gauge into submission, but it turned out okay, and it will be all new metal when done.  No more rusty crap.

[jvo]

Just a few shots of the chisels and such, in case anyone is interested.  The photos make the panels look somewhat distorted, but they are exactly the same size and shape as the originals. 
The chisels are all shaped on a belt sander, so as to take off all sharp corners and edges, otherwise they make a lot of marking that is hard to remove later. 

[jvo]

Here is where I could use some help.  Can anyone give me a close up shot of what the bottom of the brace looks like on the back of this panel?  Does it tie into the floor of the Ranchero?  Or is it just there to give some rigidity to the middle upright in the panel, i.e., without it, the middle of that panel might be a little flimsy?

Also, the trim piece that ties this panel to the tailgate opening, anyone got a close up pic of what the missing bottom looks like?  I "assume" there isn't any special shape to the bottom of that piece, but I would like to make it look as much like the original as possible.

The bottom side of the tailgate opening is also gone.  Hoping for a close up pic of that as well.  Thanks.

[57chero]

Here's a picture of mine , don't know if it will help or not.

[57chero]

A couple more.

[KYBlueOval]

Here is where I could use some help.  Can anyone give me a close up shot of what the bottom of the brace looks like on the back of this panel?  Does it tie into the floor of the Ranchero?  Or is it just there to give some rigidity to the middle upright in the panel, i.e., without it, the middle of that panel might be a little flimsy?

Also, the trim piece that ties this panel to the tailgate opening, anyone got a close up pic of what the missing bottom looks like?  I "assume" there isn't any special shape to the bottom of that piece, but I would like to make it look as much like the original as possible.

The bottom side of the tailgate opening is also gone.  Hoping for a close up pic of that as well.  Thanks.

John.........I'm building a Ranchero, and the body is on a rotisserie,30 miles from home. The frame and tailate are at my house and I can get you photos of whatever you would like, but I think a phone conversation would clear up any misunderstanding as to exactly what you need.
Let me know if I can help.........John    502 773 05 nine two  Kentucky, Eastern Time Zone