57 Ranchero based on Fairlane?

[jvo]

New member here.  John Van Oostenbrugge in Lethbridge AB, Canada.  I recently bought a rusty 57 Ranchero.  It needs a new frame as well as most of the bottom sheet metal.  In searching for a parts car, I found a Fairlane 4 door sedan for cheap, but mostly and best of all, it has some semblance of floorboards under it, as well as a solid frame.  I have always loved the Fairlane body style, so I did a bunch of measurements and have decided to cut up my Ranchero and put the cab and bed onto the Fairlane floorpan and chassis.  I know the Fairlane is longer and I have to fab up most of the bed with new metal, so I plan on extending it a couple inches.  I'm thinking I will use the Ranchero doors, and either find some Fairlane doors from a 2 door, or use the Ranchero doors and cut the tops off them, and fab up the door tops from the Fairlane to the Ranchero doors. 
I'll probably slant the back of the B pillar forward slightly as per the posts on the h.a.m.b. in the post where the guy put a Skyliner roof on his Ranchero.  The photoshop image is what I'll be looking for in my finished version. 
Anybody know if this has been done before?  I mean, the part about using a Fairlane body with Ranchero roof and bed?  Any help or pointers will be helpful.  I am fairly well versed in metal work.  I'm semi retired and am doing metal fab and patch panel work to buy my groceries now.  Thanks.

[Limey57]

Welcome to THE place for help and advice!  I have seen a photograph of a Ranchero with a stretched cab, it had windows behind the doors which (I assume) gave it a small bench seat behind the front seat.

I'll dig around and see if I can find it...........

[Limey57]

Found it:





Looking at it, it looks like the rear window has been moved back (and the roof lengthened to suit) losing some bed space, but the wheelbase looks stock.

[Limey57]

........and a 4 door stretched version:

http://www.goodguysclassifieds.com/classified/4733/1957_Ford_Ranchero.html

[hotroddonnie]

Jvo they let you in!!!!!! Now you'll be 57 Ford smarter! HRD

[canadian_ranchero]

welcome to the site.james told me you found a frame.looks like a neat project

[jvo]

Thanks for the welcomes.  I don't plan on doing a huge stretch, just enough to put the Ranchero onto the Fairlane platform.  I measured from the front of the door to the back end of the taillight and the Fairlane is 4 inches longer there.  So, I will maybe add an inch or two to the cab, and an inch or two to the bed.  I have to rebuild the bed from scratch anyway, except for the middle removable piece, which is in very good shape.  The project will not commence for a couple months though, even though I'm itching to get going on it.  Just not enough time right now. 
Mainly just doing research for the time being.

[jvo]

I think I might want a couple of doors from a Fairlane 500 2 door sedan.  The Ranchero doors are 46 inches long right at the base of the window, front to back, and the doors on the Fairlane 500 4 door parts car I am using are 40 inches long, if I remember correctly.  Can anyone tell me if the doors on the 2 door sedan are also 46 inches long?  If so, I will be looking for a pair of those.  It will make the job much easier if I don't have to use the Ranchero door bottoms, and Fairlane window area, welding the two together. 
And, I shouldn't say the Fairlane 500 is a parts car, as it will be what I'm going to use.  The Ranchero will actually be the parts car, as the roof and box will be removed from the Ranchero, and grafted onto the Fairlane body. 
I know it would probably have been easier to start with a 2 door Fairlane, but this one I found still has a good frame and most of the floor pan is in really good shape.  Thanks for any input I can get on these measurements.

[Ford Blue blood]

The Ranchero doors are the same length as the Fairlane 2 dr sedan and the 2 dr ht and the 300 series.

Welcome aboard!

[Limey57]

Where does the extra length difference lie in the frame length?  If it is within the cab area (and all other are the same) it would be easier to cut & stretch the cab in the middle and use two doors to make one longer door to fill the gap, rather than adding a bit into the bed and a bit into the cab.  That way you could (possibly) use off-the-shelf replacement floor panels with an extra piece let in.

[JPotter57]

That should look pretty cool with the larger fins and longer wheelbase.  Keep us updated with photos, I'm interested to see how it comes out.

[jvo]

I'm not 100 percent sure where the frame difference is, but I do have a couple measurements that show some of it.  On the Ranchero, the distance between the front mount on the rear leaf spring to the body mount ahead of it is 3 inches.  On the Fairlane, that same measurement is 5 inches.  I got another rough measurement from the rear end housing to the back end of the frame, not really accurate as I was lying in the grass with the car not jacked up, but this measurement on the Ranchero was approx. 2 inches shorter than the Fairlane.  Again, not a really good measurement, but that sort of coincides with the measurement I got on top of the quarter panels from the front end of the doors to the back end of the taillight was 4 inches longer on the Fairlane. 
Again, I have to rebuild the bed from scratch, so I'll just make the bed sides and floor a few inches longer to match it all up to the Fairlane body.  This I can't say till I get it mocked up and there won't be any planning involved.  It will be a "whatever looks good will be good" type of decision.  The only pieces of the bed I am saving will be the back end of the vertical side pieces where the panels screw on.  The bottom of mine are rotted there also, but I can patch them.  The bed sides, floor, and wheel housings are rotted out on the bottom couple inches. 
Anybody got a couple Fairlane doors from a two door car?  My Ranchero doors are in good shape, including the bottoms, so I might just use them and cut the tops off the parts car, but if I could find a couple donor doors it might be worth doing that way. 

[jvo]

Trying to figure out how to post a pic or two.
Okay, that was easy enough.  Did this to show everyone that I'm not cutting up a pristine Ranchero.  It is rusted on the quarter panels up to the top, and around the taillight housings.  Same on front end.  Surprisingly though, the doors are good, the roof seems good so far, till I remove the trim anyway, and the middle section of the bed that unbolts is very good.  It seems almost that the parts I need to do this project are pretty decent and everything else is pretty much badly rusted.  All the trim is in very very nice shape, and it has a good 302 with top loader 4 speed.  Starts and runs like a champ, but has no brakes.  I was hoping when I went to look at it ,that it wasn't rusted too badly and that I could just register it and drive it and restore it as time went by, but not so.  It needs major structural work.  Only reason I brought it home is the trim was good, and had good power train.
Even the rad support on the front is totally rusted through on the bottom, the parts car is very good.  The inner fender wells on the front though are totally intact.  I think someone maybe changed a few parts over the years on this thing, as the rust is not totally consistent.  How can the inner fenders be good, yet the quarter panels have holes in them at the tops all around the taillights and same with the headlights?  Anyway, this isn't a pristine car getting cut up, but rather I am saving a rusty parts car from getting crushed. 

[JPotter57]

It is a cool project, I would rather see it saved than going to the crusher.  Making it into a custom of some kind is a cool way to do it.  Personally, I think it will look killer, especially if lowered, it will be a sleek looking ride.  With the Fairlane windshield posts, it will have a chopped effect.  Should be cool.

[junior58]

Welcome aboard. Looking forward to watching the progress on this one, so lots of photos please.