Ranchero build

[Ford Blue blood]

That's a great looking wheel....Summit brand?

Wheels are American Racing (VN5155765), exact size and off set as recommended by many folks on this site.  Many, many thanks to those who went before with the "does this one fit" trials.

I guess my "wiring mania" comes from working on electronics for thirty plus years and from the electrical inspectors when doing Habitat for Humanity houses.  Keeping things tied together and neat prevents tons of potential failures.

I use relays to take the load off the ignition switch.  It was designed for maybe three circuits, our builds end up with close to twenty.  I will be running Halogen head lights, relays for them.  Can't tell you how many head light switches I have replaced for folks over the years that had those on the car and no relays to keep the load off the switch.

[Ford Blue blood]

Got the bed sand blasted and up in self etching primer.  Not crazy about the color but my paint guy strongly recommended the stuff as a solid base for the work to follow.  Plenty of that!  Getting it all cleaned reveled plenty of "hickeys" that need attention prior to paint!  A good coat of urethane high build is next followed by a butt load of blocking and some hammer work with more primer and blocking.  This is fun?

[RICH MUISE]

I thought so 10 years ago, lol. Looking great, Bill.

[57chero]

I know what your in for, hours of hammer and dolly work and a lot of sanding. What I did as far as sanding bondo and blocking the primer was cut one of the hard rubber sanding blocks the width of the recessed grooves in the bed floor and tailgate panel worked pretty good, any thing to try and  make it easier.

[Ford Blue blood]

When building the 66 Falcon Ranchero the bed floor needed as much work as this one does.  It took only a short period of time to figure out normal blocking and folding of the paper would take an extended life time to get it ready for paint.  Made a new tool for the blocking.  A 2 X 4 with slightly rounded edges covered with very thin foam to take the self sticky paper would fit the recesses perfectly.  So that tool was added to my drawer of home made tools and will be used again!

[RICH MUISE]

Now all it needs is some hardware so you can attach it to a sabre saw!

[Limey57]

Boy, I remember this bit well on mine............  I was convinced the inner wheel wells were straight until I started to block-flat the primer, the previous owner must have been throwing bricks into the back!  It's never ending, I was tempted so many times to think "that will do" but I just kept going and I'm glad I did now.

[Ford Blue blood]

Got some more shinny stuff on yesterday.  The dash is ready for assembly and installation.  After it is installed I will be pulling off for a couple of weeks, need to clean up the yard and some of the junk laying around.  The 63 Bird (parts car) needs to go along with a 2001 AWD Explorer that was to be used as parts for the 60 Ranch wagon.

The last picture does a fair job of showing how the paint behaves in direct sun light.

[RICH MUISE]

Looking great, Bill.
Yep on the yard thing here as well. Waiting for my neighbor/contractor to come in December and build us a new fence in the backyard. Tired of looking at all my junk AND the neighbor's as well. LOL...one of the downfalls of living in a city. So, in the meantime, I've been clearing up the back and filling the dumpster on a regular basis.

[Ford Blue blood]

Thanks Rich, my place is at the end of a dead end street.  If you stop by you're seriously lost or here on purpose, you don't just stumble by.  As a result the "stuff" tends to be put on the back burner.  So every now and then the "field day" event has to happen.

[gasman826]

save the rear end and sway bar out of the Explorer.

[Ford Blue blood]

Gary had planned on that.  It is a 3:73 T-lock.

Got the dash assembled and ready for install.  That bad boy picked up a little weight with all the stuff in it!  Will need a buddy to assist.  Pretty happy with the looks, turned out how I thought it would.  The moon eyes and sat radio are a little out of sync, but overall happy with it.

[gasman826]

Looks great!

The only way to work on a dash.

I also struggled with my design vision and contemporary faceplates for modern, aftermarket electronics like gauges, radios, HVAC, air ride controls, power window switches, EFI, so on and so on

[Ford Blue blood]

Been a long couple of weeks with little work in the shop.  Had a great Thanksgiving, house full of family, many laughs, some gorging, too much pie and ice cream, and now piece and quiet.

Got the dash mounted without incident.  Will work on hooking up the gauge wires, mounting the light and ignition switch, hooking up the AC wires, and finishing the radio install.  Pics to follow.

[RICH MUISE]

I know I typed a response to that pic of the dash last month...must have forgot to hit the "post" button...happens daily, lol. Anyway, I really like the looks. I'ts gonna be sharp!