Newbie from England

[57ford]

Hey guys, new guy from England here. Just thought I'd post up some pics of my Ranchero. The guy I bought it from said the car was "on the road", however on further investigation it turns out that:
A: no parking brake
B: no radiator core support to frame bolt
C: no steering column drop
D: rear spring plates loose
E: DANGEROUSLY installed Jerry can as a gas tank
F: no wipers
G: no turn signal switch
H: built on a convertible frame, hence rear end 2 inches further back
I: front tyres rubbing on suspension
.....need I go on?
Very pleased with the car just very frustrated.





Whaddya reckon?

Robin.

[wv 57s forever]

looks good plenty to keep you busy.


    wekcome

[RICH MUISE]

Not too professionally done....I hate hearing about guys getting stuck with stuff from "not exactly honest" sellers. Where did you buy the car from?
Welcome to the forum, btw.

[Ford Blue blood]

Welcome aboard!  Must have gotten it out of Canada, same place my "rust free" Ranchwagon came from!

[hiball3985]

Welcome. Looks like you have a lot of work ahead of you if you decide to fix all of it.

Are you sure it's a convertible frame, it would have an X cross member, or it might be a
Fairlane frame.

Unfortunately the Ranchero gas tanks are expensive compared to the car.

It looks like some front sheet metal is missing also, I can see the grille through the wheel opening. Stainless around the front winshield is missing or did it come with the car?

Good luck with the project, lots of help here if needed.

[Limey57]

Hi, when did you buy it?  The guy that had the work done contacted me over on Rods N Sods, I'm guessing you bought it from him (Andy) or are you Andy??

If it was the car that I think it was, it came over here a while ago, brought in by Ian Rubery from Stoke, the thing that sticks in my mind is that one also had an axle position that looked "wrong".  There's a whole bunch of friendly, knowledgable folks here, I'd have been stuck with mine so many times if it wasn't for this place!

Where abouts in the UK are you?

[JPotter57]

Look at the frame in the rear, at the front of the spring eye.  There should be another pair of holes approx. 2 inches forward of the Fairlane mounting position.  At least that's how my Fairlane parts car was.  You would have to remove the leaf spring brackets and weld them to the forward positions, as well as move the rear spring hangers forward to the available 3 holes there.  I was surprised to see those extra holes in my Fairlane frame.  It seems, you would just move your spring hangers forward 2 inches, and that would fix the rear end issues.  Give it a look and see if the extra holes are in your frame.

[gasman826]

Length of drive shaft and parking brake cables will be affected.  I'm impressed the body fits over the frame in the rear axle area.  At one time, the rear of the Fairlane frame would have to be trimmed and the rear cross member moved.  If the convertible frame was used, did they leave the X-frame in it?

[Limey57]

IF it is the Ranchero I'm thinking of, when it came over the original rear springs were shot and were replaced with a pair off another car (not a 57 Ford) just to get it roll-able. I was told that these odd springs were responsible for the odd wheel position. Might be worth checking that the springs are right if you haven't done already.

[57ford]

Gary, it is the car you're thinking of. I bought it 2 months ago off of Andy (for too much money but I had to have it). The springs appear to be correct for the car, albeit the bushes are shot. Its definatley a convertible frame as it has the x member. It has the holes so I can move the spring hangars forward, so that's all good. There's a cross member added to mount the rear shocks but these are in front of the axle, and from looking at frame pics the cross member should be to the rear of the axle, correct? It had a new windshield rubber installed, without putting the trim in first!!! But I am missing the corner pieces. For the time being it will probably be a mild kustom so I can use it until I have everything together to maybe restore it. It will never be 100% restored as it has a Rover/Buick 215 and 5 speed so parts are plentiful over here.  There are new e brake cables with the car which are Ranchero, just need to move the cable brackets rearward. All of the trim is with the car, I just need the corner pieces for front and rear. I'm really glad this forum exists, there's a few little differences between this and the Fairlane 500 I had a number of years ago.

[gasman826]

I have an extra frame if you want to come get it!!

[Limey57]

Aha, I now know the car.  It was brought over by Ian (Wagonman on Rods N Sods) , it was white, but he moved it on, I don't think he knew about the wrong frame as he was convinced it had the wrong springs.  I think the mild custom route is a good idea as it struck me as being one of those cars that had lots of bits missing and had been messed with a lot, meaning it would take a lot of time & money to get it back to 100% factory.

There's some nice custom/kustom Rancheros out there, for me, this is beautiful, stretched, chopped etc, etc but still looking "factory":



Chopped 2 inches using stock convt/ht windshield, seat lowered 3 inches, lengthened front fenders 1", quarter panel fins 2", frenched head lights and tail lights, custom made tail lights, louvered hood and tail gate, narrowed 9"

[gasman826]

Sounds like salesman talk...easier to change out the wrong set of springs that change out the frame.

[57ford]

I was gonna say, if you pay the air fare I could bring it back as hand luggage!

[Limey57]

Just strap an empty oil drum to each corner and float it across!