57 Ranchero

[Limey57]

Painted the wheels and fitted them this afternoon.  REALLY need to get the engine & transmission in to drop the front, I like gassers but I didn't build this as a gasser!!!!

Got 101 other minor jobs done as well, you know, those jobs that collectively take hours but it doesn't look like you've done anything.

[hiball3985]

It's looking really sharp, nice work Gary.

[Jeff Norwell]

Outstanding  Gary!

[RICH MUISE]

Gary...you mentioned the Aerostars AND dropped spindles on Doug's thread...did you ever get the engine/drivetrain put in? If so..how's your front ride height? A spindle to fender lip measurement would be nice.

[hiball3985]

I thought about using Areo springs with the Granada spindles but my calculations told me it would be too low without using spring spacers and I didn't like the idea of spacers. I can give you the spindle to fender lip dimension with stock springs and Granada spindles if you need a comparison.

[Limey57]

Engine & transmission are still out (plumbing the brakes at the minute).  The guy I bought it off told me it had Aerostar springs & dropped spindles, but I can't confirm what spindles they are or how much they're dropped.  I'll remove a wheel an take a few photos in the week to see if someone can confirm if they're dropped.

[JPotter57]

Excellent work Gary...

[Limey57]

Keep forgetting to update this......  The end is in sight, but there's always so many small bits & pieces to do!

Class III style hitch installed, managed to find a supplier of English sized (50mm) hitch balls to suit the US style fitting, a 2" ball is only slightly bigger but just enough to stop it coupling:



Steering wheel, I was after an original wheel and eventually found one locally, but it needed help!



The round boss on the back was badly damaged, only a third was remaining:



I removed the good remaining piece and cast it into soft resin, once cured, cut the mould in half to give a two-piece mould tool:





I then used a chopped glass-strand resin to cast up two replacement parts, these were trimmed and bonded into place:







Any large cracks were ground out and given the same treatment:





The whole lot was then flatted, epoxy primed & glossed:

[Ecode70D]

     Gary
      Your Ranchero looks great and so does your steering wheel.   You didn't have much to start  with.   You did a great job of making that missing piece.
What do you have for an engine?   

[Limey57]

     
What do you have for an engine?   

A '79 302.  Collected it last week from the machine shop, it's been fully rebuilt & balanced with a 40 thou re-bore.  Just started building it back up, I've got a set of aluminum heads to go on with an Edlebrock performer inlet & 600cfm car.  Got to wait for (yet another!) Summit order to arrive, it's when you get to the end you notice all the bits & pieces that are missing.

[gasman826]

MAN!!!!!!  That steering wheel effort was something.  I was feeling all cool fixing a bunch for cracks in five or six wheels.  I threw better ones away.  Who knew I could have sent them to England!

[RICH MUISE]

Wow, great save, Limey!!

[Ford Blue blood]

That is some kind of work!  Just outstanding!

[Marc]

Wow! You've done a ton of incredible work on that Ranchero! It really looks great.

[RICH MUISE]

The materials look like dental lab stuff.