Hey guys after a couple weeks trying I finally got registered here. I have a 57 Ranchero I've had since I was 8 years old. It is far from original but was a decent driver that is now getting the real restoration it deserves. It has a 410 Fe with a C6 that I built in my dads shop with his help when I was 10 years old, and then learned to drive in the car.
Here is a link to all my pictures so far. http://s20.photobucket.com/user/95ttoplt1/library/Ranchero
As you can see it was restored in the mid 80's. Then my dad was going to paint it purple/teal but it was never finished.
I'm going with an early 60's street racer style. The engine will be black with the Castillion Gold valve covers, and white headers. All the other parts will keep a stock vintage appearance. Paint will be a flat black/matte clear (not the primer look) with some hot hue's dark red metallic scallops and accents.
My biggest hurdle right now is the floors. It has had a driveshaft come out at high speed, twice. The passenger side looks like it hit an I.E.D., twice.
Is there anywhere to get an entire floor?
Can some one measure from the inside of the door jamb, at the back bottom of the door? Mine is buckled so bad at the back cab wall I'm afraid it has pulled the rockers in.
Welcome to the site. Looks like you got your work cut out for ya. The Ranchero guys will have to answer the question about what's avail. for Complete Ranchero floors. Limey has alot of pics on a rebuild similar to what your looking at, I don't remember the title of the thread to search for though..maybe he can tell you.
When was that video at the strip recorded? That was great...Was that your dad driving and your voice as a kid at the end?
Cool
Rich
That video was just shot in the middle of August (2 months ago) after about a week long thrash to make it safe. The car had been sitting since 1998, and my Dad shipped it down to us as a Christmas gift. The last time it was driven, the driveline had decided it was done at about 125mph, the second time it had done so.
So I had to replace the transmission case(broke in half) and put in a new ring and pinion(pinion broke off) and of course a new drive shaft. I had to go through all the brake hydraulics, added a 65 mustang master, welded a 8x10 patch into the top of the tank etc etc. I wanted to get a "before" pass at the track, and it was about .7 faster than expected(9.23 1/8). The kids in the back ground are my little girls.
I have a set of ported C4AE-G heads on the bench and a bigger cam. I'll probably swap out the 3.25 open for 3.89 trac-loc and a Saturday night special converter. Maybe a little giggle juice if it wont make the number after that. I'm hoping to have it at least together enough for Drag Week 2014.
Don't know of a complete floor being available anywhere that I know of. You don't run a drive shaft safety loop?
It will have one now for sure. It will need it for NHRA tech anyway.
After talking to a local old dragracer, I determined that I was running a truck style drive shaft and that the splined slip yoke was breaking from torque, and then coming apart at speed. I have switched over to the car style slip and have not had an issue since. Unfortunately the damage is already done.
Welcome to the forum. I'm glad that you got the drive shaft issue under control. Now I hope that you can come up with the floor / tunnel pieces that you need.
A station wagon uses the same floor 57/58/59.
Quote from: RICH MUISE on 2013-09-24 17:12
Limey has alot of pics on a rebuild similar to what your looking at, I don't remember the title of the thread to search for though..maybe he can tell you.
My thread is here (needs updating when I get chance!): http://57fordsforever.com/smf/index.php?topic=2427.0
I used VW Beetle floor pans because the shipping cost for repro 57 pans was so high, but for you I'd definitely use repro ones. Seeing as my Ranchero body is currently stripped out I can take any measurements you like (I'll have to get hold of an imperial tape measure!) if you send me a photo or describe exactly which areas you need measuring I'll happily do it at the weekend. As others have said, getting hold of a better floor and repairing that might be easier than trying to repair what you've got, but I'd make sure all the braces and rockers were repaired/replaced first as the Ranchero isn't the most rigid body style out there.
Quote from: Lou on 2013-09-25 00:40
A station wagon uses the same floor 57/58/59.
I assume the front sections are the same on all '57's.? How do they adapt the rears from the wagon? Do they need triming, or do they go up under that space behind the rear window?
410Ranchero: Check out EMS. They are the manufactures of the panels that are generally considered the best for '57's. Their link is in our supplier links list.
Gary that thread is priceless to me! Thank you so much for documenting your progress. Everything you have that was rusted out I have on mine, and then some. If you cruise through the link I posted above you can see how bad it really it. The pictures of yours will be a tremendous help when trying to figure out it all comes apart and what is behind it all.
I'll get a picture tonight of the measurement I am looking for
if your Ranchero has the same wheelbase as a Custom you can use a mid-2000's Crown Vic cop car driveshaft.
There aluminum, hi speed balanced, and use a larger u-joint. From centre to centre I think they were 51 inches
same as a Custom, Ranchero, Wagon.
Good to know! I did comb through all the junk yards around me to find one, but the morons had lifted all the cars with a fork lift and crushed the driveshaft in each one!
If you need floor pans and tunnel I have new ones for sale at my cost plus shipping.
410 ranchero, what part of the country are you from? I had replaced the front and rear floor pans in my 57, then I bought a much more solid body. The new body doesn't need much floor work. I cut up the 57 project, and removed the floors in one piece. Mark
PM's sent to both!
If someone can measure this for me it would be appreciated. I could not hold the tape and take the picture. But resting the tape on the tunnel and measuring straight across even with the top if the tunnel, inside to inside.
(http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b207/95ttoplt1/Ranchero/20130926_101550.jpg)
See below, first photo is with the tape run from inside to inside of the door pillar as in your photo (running over the top of the transmission tunnel) and comes out at 61 3/4", the second is run from rocker to rocker and is to the "step" part which measures 66 1/8":
(http://imagehosting.rodsnsods.co.uk/2425244924a968df.jpg)
(http://imagehosting.rodsnsods.co.uk/2425244924b8f22b.jpg)
410ranchero:
When I bought my 57 back in 1998, it had no floor boards to attach the front seat to. I found a seller in Hemmings Motor News, I believe he was in Wisconsin. He had some of the original dies Ford used to stamp out the floor pans. I don't know if he is still in business, but I was very happy with what he sold me back in 1998. The business was called Classic Enterprises, located in Barron, Wisconsin. Hope this helps. Here are some photos of the before, after and current repairs to my 57's floor boards. The tunnel has been partially rebuilt in order to install the Tremec TKO 600, so it doesn't look like the last photo any more.
Bob
57 AGIN
Bob...I had no idea of what you started with. What you've done with that car is just amazing...always has been, but even more so now that I see the beginnings!
Quote from: 57AGIN on 2013-09-27 03:25
I don't know if he is still in business, but I was very happy with what he sold me back in 1998. The business was called Classic Enterprises, located in Barron, Wisconsin.
http://www.classicent.com/ford.php
Specializes in retractable and convertible, but says the floor pans should fit any model car, 57-59.
Rich:
Some day when I finally make a motorhome trip towing the 57 back East, I'll share my build book with you. First I have to strengthen the coach's frame and towing setup, as it is only rated to 3,500 lbs. and the 57 weighs 3,700 lbs. When I bought the car it had cracked bias ply tires, drum brakes, a 4-speed T-10 that popped out of 2nd gear and a front seat that couldn't be fastened to the floor. Every major structural cross member weld was a blow through (motor mounts, rear transmission mount and upper rear shock mounts) done by someone who probably started work the day before doing my car (photos attached). lol But, it is better now than when it rolled out of the factory at Terminal Island in Long Beach, CA, on September 27, 1957.
Bob
57 AGIN
sure kills they built them better back in the day arguments. and makes one appreciate robots welding.
Zap- :unitedstates:
WOW! I have never seen one that bad, it looks like someone who didn't know how to weld tried to repair it themselves.
Quote from: Limey57 on 2013-09-26 15:04
See below, first photo is with the tape run from inside to inside of the door pillar as in your photo (running over the top of the transmission tunnel) and comes out at 61 3/4", the second is run from rocker to rocker and is to the "step" part which measures 66 1/8":
(http://imagehosting.rodsnsods.co.uk/2425244924a968df.jpg)
(http://imagehosting.rodsnsods.co.uk/2425244924b8f22b.jpg)
Wow I am an inch narrow on this. That buckle in the floor board really screwed some things up. Thanks for the measurements. I'll have to get the wife to help me with the rocker measurement
Quote: Bob....."But, it is better now than when it rolled out of the factory at Terminal Island in Long Beach, CA, on September 27, 1957."
Happy Birthday!! I didn't realize they were still building the '57's then...wern't the '58's being introduced about then? I don't know when the first '57 rolled off the assembly line, but we gotta have some '57's that are 57 years old, or pretty soon
I always thought the new production for the following year started in August and they hit the dealers in September?
hiball3985 & Rich:
According to John Gambles site my 57 was produced on the last day of 1957 production in the Terminal Island plant Long Beach, CA. My VIN number indicates it was #247 from the end of the 1957 production line at that plant. My guess is that they might have been celebrating the last day with a little (or a lot of) brewski and not paying a great deal of attention to quality control. What the heck, it came off the line with a 6 cyl., so they weren't worried about their welding. But when I had the front clip off and was going to install a built 351W and saw what they had or hadn't done, I knew it had to be fixed.
Bob
57 AGIN
Bob, that's interesting, I didn't know there was a plant in Long Beach. I wonder if production continued late if there were enough orders that had not been filled? The welder must have had more then a few brewskies :003:, my wife can weld better then that. I noticed a few things in the photos as strange, the notch in the hole on the motor mount pad and the none stock nuts that hold the upper A arm pivots to the frame bracket. You never know what you find after so many years and who knows who worked on it.
Sorry, off topic again..
/back on topic/
Any one around middle Tennessee a want a free lunch? I need to comb over another 57, preferably a ranchero. My rear floor pan is so buckled I need to measure the entire cab to make sure I get mine back to where it needs to be. The driveline hit the floor brace as well. I almost have all of this cut out, but then I need to pull everything back out to where it needs to be so I can brace and then weld in the new floor pan, or a complete floor hopefully.
Limey your measurements confirmed what I was afraid of, with the buckling of the floors from the impact it has pulled the back of the doors in, now I am wondering just how far front and rear this "pinch" goes. I think this would be very difficult to explain all the measurements I need over the interwebs, seeing how its a series of tubes and all :003:
Also on the front valence has an odd issue. There is a small triangular piece that bolts to the front/bottom of the front fender. On one side it is welded to the valence, on the other side it is only bolted to the bottom of the fender. Which is correct? I know from looking the right front fender has been worked on, and has a patch panel in it already, unfortunately it does not look to be done very well.
Thanks
Troy
//end on topic// HAHA
Who's watching the Titans game today?
The difficult bit is going to be understanding if both sides have pulled in the same amount or one side more than the other. What I can do is take a series of measurements from underneath, from the outer edge of the chassis rail to the inner rocker panel, starting at the back of the inner rocker, working forwards to the front of the inner rocker. Doing that every six inches will give you a series of dimensions to compare with yours to allow you to see where your problems start. As mine is currently up on stands it shouldn't be difficult to do.
That would be great! I was just looking as I just cut out the rear pan, and the inner rocker to frame rail gap doesn't look to be far off. But the body mount bolts that would be in the floor in the middle of the door were both missing. I did get the rear floor cut out, and trying to get the other mangled piece out of the bed floor. I need to dig through your pictures and see how the front bed piece comes out.
I/m open to the process of removing the piece my grinder is setting on. I'm removing the pan that my air hammer is sitting on, its the last of the mangled sheet metal from the driveshaft.
(http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b207/95ttoplt1/Ranchero/20130929_153311.jpg)
I know I should have braced the cab first, but there was literally nothing left of this part of the floor, and what was left was buckled so bad it is pulling the bottom of the car together. If anyone has the brace that is shown in complete and usable condition shoot me a message. Mine took a direct shot from the driveline and the passenger side is beyond my skills for repair.
(http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b207/95ttoplt1/Ranchero/20130929_150707.jpg)
Okay, I have taken a set of measurements from the chassis (or brackets, as in the pictures) to the welded inner/outer rocker flange. These dimensions are the ones double underlined, the other dimensions nearest the bottom of the rocker are the dimensions between the measurement points:
Picture 1:
"Leaf spring bracket outer face" is the flat outer face of the bracket, "body mount bracket nearest front" is the forward rivet head of the body mount bracket, dimension taken from the head of the rivet.
(http://imagehosting.rodsnsods.co.uk/24252497bc8807fb.jpg)
Picture 2:
(http://imagehosting.rodsnsods.co.uk/24252497bc9773f5.jpg)
Picture 3:
"Body mount face" is the flat outer face of the bracket (that is rivetted flat against the chassis rail outer face), "body mount rear rivet" is the body mount rivet nearest the back of the bracket, dimesnion taken from the head of the rivet.
(http://imagehosting.rodsnsods.co.uk/24252497bca65067.jpg)
Picture 4:
(http://imagehosting.rodsnsods.co.uk/24252497bcb4e88e.jpg)
All dimensions are taken best I can, trying to keep the tape measure at 90 degrees to the chassis rail/car's centre line, but as the inner rockers are original they should be pretty close. If you need any more, just ask.
Dude that is awesome! Thank you very much! That will make it easy and hopefully help others in the future. Now to get out and start pulling things around.
That was awesome. Lots of work and time there to help a fellow car nut. well done sir!
Rich
If it helps to keep another one out of the crusher, nothing is too much trouble.
Quote from: RICH MUISE on 2013-09-30 23:49
That was awesome. Lots of work and time there to help a fellow car nut. well done sir!
Rich
(http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y146/TomIII/smilies/THUMB.gif) One more karma point for him!
Agreed, I'll add one too.. Well done..
Well I didn't get any measuring done yet, but I did get the engine out and tore all apart. Everything looks to be in order so its fresh gaskets and back together with the ported heads and new solid cam!
http://s20.photobucket.com/user/95ttoplt1/library/Ranchero