My Ranchero Resurrection

[KYBlueOval]

It has been awhile since I updated my progress........years to be exact, but here are some photos (my 16YO grandson taught me how to post photos etc.) showing what it happening now. The body is painted, both interior and exterior, and the "cutting & buffing" is in progress. The upholstery has begun,on parts and pieces that can be done w/o the body being present(some assembly required).I should add, that the paint work is being done two hours away.
More photos in posts that follow.

[KYBlueOval]

Obviously, I did not learn how to rotate the photo!

[KYBlueOval]

That's all for now.
John

[RICH MUISE]

Looking fantastic, John! Thanks for the update, I bet it seems like forever with all the waiting. I'm real anxious to see it completed. I'm curious how close that body color is to mine.

[KYBlueOval]

Rich, the color is a Corvette color........I believe it was used on several years........ Fusion Grey Metallic as I recall. I'll look it up later, and will correct the name if I got it wrong.
Not that you asked, but the interior paint was mixed to match the upholstery material. Took five attempts before we got it right.
The clear coat was mixed 3 to 1 Matt Clear, to Gloss Clear. I like it!
John

[Ford Blue blood]

Very nice John!  That is going to be one "killer" when assembled!

[lalessi1]

X2!!!!

[RICH MUISE]

You did the interior the correct way. So many guys do the paint first, then try to find a matching fabric for the upholstery.....just ain't gonna happen that way.
Mine is also a gm color.2005(3?) Chevy HHR "dark tarnished silver". As deep as the paint looks on your hood, it shouldn't take too long for them to cut and buff.

[KYBlueOval]

Rich, I did the selection of the  interior fabric color "backasswards".I've seen many red interiors that have Black seat belts, and that looks odd to me.My uneducated guess is that the fabric color was selected and after the interior is completed,seat belts were sought, and the red belt material did not go with the red upholstery or carpet.So black was used.
So I approached the interior color selection differently. Not wanting black seat belts with a red interior, I contacted 6-8 vendors of seat belts, requesting samples of their red belt fabric.What I found was that there are not many red choices and I received the exact same red belt material from multiple vendors.
So, I picked out the red seat belts I liked, and then went looking for upholstery material and carpet to go with the seat belts. Once the upholstery material was selected, matching paint was mixed.
BTW, I'm using 3 point belts from Retro-Belts in Nevada,I liked their chrome hardware,vs plastic.
John

[Gene]

If you had it to do over again, would you graft the scoop off of the 63 T-bird onto the hood?   I saw the preliminary photo of it on there.  What does the underside look like now?  Will you put a 63 T-bird blanket on the hood?

[KYBlueOval]

 Gene,here is a photo of the back side of the hood. What you see are aluminum panels that were made and glued in with panel bond, and then seam sealer was used to close up the perimeter gaps.
Would I do it again.........Yes, I think I would. A lot of work, but unique. As you can see it is not functional.To do that was going to require some serious reworking of the '57 hood "frame". I decided to make the panels and move on. An interesting aspect of this modification, is that the curve of the '63 T'Bird hood is almost identical to that of the '57 hood.
I'm not sure what you are referring to "Will you put a 63 T-bird blanket on the hood?"
John

[Gene]

That looks pretty slick.  That 3-M panelbond is impressive stuff.  All those welds would weaken the meatal.  You are right, function adds a ton of work.  I don't think they are functional on the baby-birds.

Blankets...as in insulation blanket.

[cos]

Hello  Hood scoop on early TB had a block off plate, Only remove for summer time use decal on it. Been looking for a early TB scoop for my 57 car for long time with no luck. Really like the one on members black custom.

[Ford Blue blood]

Ya, the 61, 2 and 3 Bird scoops were functional year round.  My 63 bird scoop is functional, only needed to cut out a small portion of the frame and two "extra" holes to access mounting bolts.

[Jeff Norwell]

A beautiful Job John...