New Member from Hawaii

[smkeeman]

Hello all,

I just joined the group today and am excited post, share my ride, and hopefully get some guidance, opinions, and input.  I picked this ?57 Ranchero up about a year ago.  I purchased it from a friend on Kaua?i after he decided it was too much for him to maintain.  I was doing some work on his boat when we started talking about the car.  He cruised the car with his wife every Sunday to church until she got too sick to ride and she passed shortly after.  He parked the car and only moved it when he had to mow underneath.  Eventually, the brake line ruptured and it sat for a number of years. I wanted to help him out so I replaced the brake line, flushed and bled the brakes, put in a new fuel pump and carb and she fired right up.

He was so excited to see the car alive again, the smile he had was priceless.  In all honestly, I wanted the car, I wanted to bring her bake to her former glory; but never in a million years did I think he would part.  We cruised it through town a few times until one day he offered to sell it to me.  I couldn't believe it and I jumped on the opportunity.  A month later I moved one island over to Oahu (Coast Guard transfer) and a few months later was able to get the Ranchero over here and start some work.

She's in decent shape, but needs some work and the more time I spend with her the more I noticed she needs done.  The metal around the windshield frame and knee knocker on the drivers side has wasted away and it looks like two owners ago just patched with some fiber cloth and painted over it.  It looked good but during the ride on the ship over it cracked and exposed the rot.  I'm not stranger to body work but the lines on the widow frame and knee knocker are a little out of my league but I cannot seem to find anyone on island willing to take my money to do the work.  The attached photos are before the patch cracked, I'll post another that shows what I am working with.

Anyways, in an effort to not write a novels worth of words I'll end this now.  I look forward to getting to know all of you and can't wait to hear your thoughts and learn a few things.

Sean

[smkeeman]

Here are few more photos.  I had to learn how to reduce their size.

[Ford Blue blood]

Welcome aboard!  Great to have another sea fairer in the group.  Car looks really nice.  Folks here are great, will help when and where they can.  Best part there is no judgement passed unless you talk about installing that other make of engine in the car :<).  That rust is a bugger to fix but can be done.  Enjoy your ride, here and in the car.  Bill

[RICH MUISE]

Welcome! Thanks for posting that great story, and congrats on the car. She's a beauty. I can see in the pic with the carpet removed, the floorboards look solid, so that's a big plus.
One of our members here did a similar dogleg repair a few years back. Hopefully DJ will see this and chime in.
That's a common area for our '57's to rust, but honestly, one of the more difficult areas to repair. The problem there is that A-pillar is three layers thick, and they usually rust out from the inside-out, so by the time you see it, it's already pretty bad. For the same reason, it would be difficult to find a donor car with a good section....you just don't know for sure by looking at the outside surfaces.
What I would do in your situation.............A normal body shop is very unlikely to have the talent/resources to get it done. Find out about the local car clubs, where they meet, etc. Particularly look for the Kustom guys rather than the hot-rodders, as they're more into body mods.Go to local shows and cruises and ask around. Find out who the local talent is for custom bodywork.
That I know of, you're the first one on this forum from Hawaii, so no "local" member help there for ya.

[RICH MUISE]

Sean.found some info for ya. The member I talked about that did the dogleg repair on the A-pillar was djfordmanjack from Austria. You'll appreciate his talent when you check out his build thread. He's got lots of dogleg repair pics starting on page 11 of his build thread..........these would be good pics to make a copy of when your searching out bodymen to do the repair.
http://57fordsforever.com/smf/index.php?topic=6705.150#lastPost

Also, The owner of the huge Hamb forum spends part of his time in Hawaii, I sent him a private message asking for a bodyman reference. I'll let you know if he responds.......he's a really busy guy. I'm not sure which island he spends his time on.

[Fairlane62]

Welcome Sean, nice project.  I think this is the only member car in the U.S. that Rich won't be able to drive to see. 😁

James

[hiball3985]

Welcome aboard. Looks like our Rancheros are related.

[abe_lugo]

Welcome!  Cool Ranchero.   That is a tough fix.   A thought would be to find a doner section. They show up.
I actually cut up a parts cars and one guy was ecstatic about getting those. 
Keep searching I'm sure there is someone that can weld and form metal that may help.

[RICH MUISE]

following what Abe said.....if you do go for a donor car, be aware your Ranchero is built on the Custom short wheelbase platform. That means Rancheros, Custom or Custom 300 2 door (not sure if 4 door cars are the same in that dogleg area), 2 dr station wagons, and couriers could all be donor cars.
Fairlane (longer wheelbase) cars may or may not be the same at the dogleg.......maybe somebody here knows.

[lalessi1]

Welcome to the forum! Here is a build post that shows what one member did!

http://57fordsforever.com/smf/index.php?topic=6705.msg57880#msg57880

[CobraJoe]

Welcome aboard, nice ride!

[smkeeman]

Thank you all so much for you input.  The car is solid, I was worried what the pans were going to look like but yeah the carpet out shows solid floors.  I went as far as pulling the bed panels out and underneath the pans are in great shape their too.  The only spot that needs some love is the spot under the bed on the drivers side, forward. 

I search in the internet regularly for donar parts, I thought I had a lead from a car in TN, but it went cold.  I?ve also recently got linked up with a local car club.  Lots of classics and mods, but I am hoping it leads to some good connections.

djfordmanjack has some talent when it comes to shaping sheet metal.  That thread inspired me to at least entertain the idea!  I?ll keep everyone posted as to how it progresses.

[mustang6984]

I MAY have an entire "A" pillar that would do for either total replacement or as a parts piece to do the deed. Price is your favorite cost...just cover the shipping to your doorstep. It is in a Courier that I picked up for free from one of our members last summer. Just looked at the cowl yesterday. I will check it again and if it is as good as I remember, I'll cut it out this weekend and we can get it homeward bound to you.   

By the way...sweet looking ride! Congrats!!!

[smkeeman]

That?s an amazing offer, but as the universe happens to work I?ve been talking with Terry out in Boise and he found a drivers side a pillar in a salvage yard.  Just had it cut out today and is boxing it and shipping it out tomorrow.

If by some chance it doesn?t work out I will definitely let you know. 

[mustang6984]

Okay...no problem...Terry is a great guy. We've met up a couple of times during my travels while moving cross-country.
I was going to cut them put anyhow and keep them aside...never know when someone might need them. They will be here if you need them.