Ranchero build

[Ford Blue blood]

Little more progress, little more boring stuff.  The weather has really put a cramp on things.  Can only paint in the morning before the temps hit 90+.  Spend the afternoons sanding, wiping sweat off, drinking water and blowing dust out of the shop.  The materials I have work well into the mid to hi 80s.  After that the paint seams to come out of the gun already dried.  Just will not lay down nice like I like it to do!

Got the hood underside shot, fairly happy with it.  The bed floor is ready for a second blocking.  Got the rest of the bed blocked out and ready for paint.

Last work on the thing until October.  Heading out of town Wednesday for the frozen tundra.....

[Ford Blue blood]

After much pondering I have decided that I would like the Ranchero to be a little more utilitarian then just a "show truck".  The bed was ready for shiny stuff but decided to do the bed liner thing.  I used a tint able liner (ACS Defender) tinted with the base paint the rest of the truck is painted with.  Color match is close until the sun hits it.  The pearl in the tint just does not leap out at you like it does in the paint.  Overall pretty happy with the finished product.  Pleased to see the cured liner has a nice sheen and shows the fact the bed is pretty straight.

[lotsafords]

Haven't quite talked myself into the bed liner yet but certainly understand the reasoning.  What I'm interested in is you bed opening device.  Willing to close up the exterior handle hole and make what ever modifications necessary to get a smooth tailgate with interior latch.  Pictures and or drawings with measurements would really be appreciated.
Thanks
Jack

[Ford Blue blood]

Little over half way down this page     http://57fordsforever.com/smf/index.php?topic=6035.255

I used the stock latch, welded on the little extension, made the new latch out of 1/4" rod and 1/4X1/4 square tubing.  The connecting link is just a bent piece of rod again.  Mostly it was "six pack" engineering, a little luck and a couple of tries to get it right.  The latch release was then powder coated.  I couldn't begin to tell you how many times it was installed and removed during the process.  I just don't have the dimensions written down and have been to bed since I put it together, sorry.

[Ford Blue blood]

Bed is assembled.  Corner panels will have to come off again for the side stainless.  Had a really good time wrestling the bed center in without chipping any finish off anything!  That bad boy is big and heavy!  All stainless hardware, decided on the button head vice going with black oxide or galvanized. 

[Jeff Norwell]

Looking great Bill!

[RICH MUISE]

I wouldn't have tried installing that bed center piece without a few helpers, or a ton or moving blankets. I know I'd be cussing at all the scratches, lol. Looking good Bill, anxious to see those colors with the bed liner out in the sunlight. Gonna be pretty. Keep the pics coming. You move a lot quicker than I did on my project....what's your current target date?

[Ford Blue blood]

Thanks guys.  Rich the moving blanket on the tail gate and an old broom handle did the trick.  Laid the panel on the "hump" over the axle and a folded up moving blanket on the gate.  Put the broom handle under the front portion, raised up the end and rolled the front to about three inches short of hitting the cab.  Removed the roller and gently pushed the bed cover to the front.  Pulled the blanket out and set it down in place.  If all is well the cover self centers and is ready to be bolted down.

I had a target date of paint this fall, interior panel fabrication this winter and finished up in early spring.  But....life has changed the plan!  Many, many things have interrupted progress.  Wife's medical, travel changes, foul weather, house work and repairs and just stuff in general.  So now the target date is floating out there in space.  Not too much left in prep work.  All the panels are ready for paint, only the fenders are left to work.  Have the lower patches in both, need to finish frenching one and do a couple of small repairs on it to begin the blocking process.  That I can do given we do have days warm enough to paint primer over the winter.  Paint in the spring?

[Ford Blue blood]

Been taking care of some of the "little" things that can be really BIG things on down the road.  Nothing photo worthy, just shop time in this weather.  Got a new brake light switch installed and functioning.  Was not happy with the pressure switch as it failed already.  Used the ol standby 65 - 73 Mustang switch.  Only to find out right side brake light didn't come on.  Right turn worked ok so wire from turn signal switch to bulb is good.  That leaves the switch.  Nope, had the front turn and rear turn wire swapped.

Got the wiper switch installed.  Covered the cable with shrink tube to prevent any "hot times" under the dash.  Happy with the install, looked for the new knob that I put in "safe" storage.  Man is it ever safe! Have that under control thanks to this board and Lynn.

Next are seat belts, door panels and the finish welding on both fenders.  Those will get primer as soon as the temps come up and the paint will stick!

[djfordmanjack]

It's always surprising how much time these 'little' things take to finish or troubleshoot. Much easier to tear it apart than reassembling! 

[Ford Blue blood]

An afternoon of pondering my belly button came up with the AM/FM antenna location.  Wanted to "hide" it but allthe hidden antennas just didn't feel right.  So here is what I came up with, should work OK for FM, might be spotty for AM but how many folks listen to AM now days?

[lotsafords]

Will the antena really work better there than an actual hidden antenna?

[Ford Blue blood]

I don't believe it would be any worse.  Just could not get comfortable with a location for any of the hidden antennas out there.  The closest I came was one mounted on the outside edge of frame rail, just didn't like the look when sitting back looking at it. 

The radio is a Sirius/AM/FM/MP3.  I have those in my daily drivers, listen to FM around town mostly with a little Sat. from time to time.  I am sure the antenna will work fine with the FM stations because of the wave length of the signal.  FM frequency band is much higher then AM thus a much shorter wave length.  Ideal antenna length for FM over it's band is 33" where AM ideal antenna length is several hundred times the FM antenna.  Tuning inside the radio makes it think it has a "perfect" antenna but that still does not make up for the lost signal because of the actual antenna length.

Sorry for getting too far down in the weeds......

[lotsafords]

Really enjoying your build and learning alot as we go.  As I'm putting mine back together I realize that I need a tailgate latch seal by chance do you know who carries them.

[Ford Blue blood]

I don't believe they are re-popped.  I do have one and the latch but would like to sell them.  Latch is "OK", a little pitting, seal is complete and not torn.

http://57fordsforever.com/smf/index.php?topic=8013.0