A Chevy 301 is a 327 with a 283 crank, a Chevy 307 is a 283 with a 327 crank. Cool truck, enjoy it the way you want it.
Edmonton 137ave & 124st(ish) A&W / BP Big parking lot - 150+ cars on an average Friday evening. If it's warm & dry get there by 6:30 for a spot .
Thats a cool car. It used to belong to a guy in the Pioneer Automotive club in Alberta back in the day. See if you can get in touch with any of the old club members.
I did not know that they had a club. Does anyone know of any former members. I would like to try to contact anyone that may remember this car.
The original Ranchero shared its gawky headlight pods with the rest of the 1957 Ford p***enger car line. Although it looks odd today, contemporary buyers preferred the Ford to the '57 Chevy. Looking more like a convertible than a station wagon, the Ranchero's styling was very well received, even if buyers didn't exactly line up. Base Rancheros came standard with Ford's 223 cu. in. (3.7 L) six, but Ranchero Customs had a standard 292 cu. in. (4.8 L) V8. (Photo © 2008 Jerry Edmundson; used by permission) The idea eventually caught the fancy of Robert McNamara, who became the Ford Division general manager in 1955. McNamara was fond of clever product concepts, especially if they could be produced relatively cheaply. The coupe pickup became part of the 1957 Ford line, developed in the Ford p***enger-car studio by Bob Maguire, Dave Ash, Chuck Mashigan, and A.J. Middlestead. It was subsequently dubbed Ranchero. Structurally, the first Ranchero was a two-door Ranch Wagon with a shortened roof and a metal bedliner bolted over the wagon's floorpan, using the lower half of the wagon's tailgate. It shared the Ranch Wagon's stiffer rear springs, giving it a nominal payload of 1,200 lb (544 kg). It wasn't ideal for serious hauling, particularly since the Ranchero was not exactly over-endowed with brake or tire capacity, but it was adequate for light-duty use. More significantly, the driving experience was little different from that of the two-door wagon; compared to the contemporary F-100 pickup, it was practically a Cadillac.
I'd go talk to Wayne Wadson at Wadson's Hot Rod Shop, if anyone might know the car it would be him or some of his buddies. Wayne was at Wheeler Dealer in those years when they ran a top fuel car.
Hey selohssa, thanks for posting the link to your thread on the El Camino and Ranchero thread. Your car is cool as hell and I love stories like this. Any progress with the car?
Gotta be the first "Boxcar Find" on the HAMB! And a darn good one at that! Crazy as it is, I dig the paint, wheel well treatment, etc., and wouldn't change it at all. Even the grille. But, it's your truck- ENJOY!
So, I finally have an update on this. After I got it running and driving years ago, I intended to drive it as it was and have fun with it. There was a snafu with the e-brake that kept it from p***ing inspection and then I saw a local wanted ad for the buckets that were in the car. I never liked those seats, so I thought that this would be a great opportunity to switch it back to a bench. Little did I know that a 2-door bench would be so hard to find. This all came about while I was in the process of moving homes and the Ranchero got put on the back burner. Well, it sat, and sat, and sat in the yard, waiting for me to give it some love. I started it on a regular basis and even drove it around the yard a few times with a paint can for a seat. I could either sell the car for next to nothing to someone who could tinker on it or I could do it myself. I decided to fix it up. My plan is to make it into a nice driver and use it as a truck when needed. I liked most of the style of the car but HATED the color. Since it will be a driver and it will get the odd scratch and dent, I want to give it a paint job that will be easy to repair. The plan is to go black overall with a blue metal-flake insert where the gold trim originally was. I want it to retain the mid to late 60's look, but I am ok if there are some parts that are not 100% era correct. This is what it looked like when I finally drove it out of the yard
looks like that spent quite a bit of time in ole Ontario...or perhaps it got stripped at a rebuild back in the day and not treated accordingly...Stuff doesn't rot like that out there does it? It looks to be a challenge but it will be great to bring it back...
so hes supposed to cut up an old survivor hot rod to make it comply with new age, post millennial, history revisionist HAMB version of cool... why does this not surprise me... OP, incredibly cool score. Really nice save.
Since this will be a driver and not a show car, I am fine with lap welding non cosmetic areas. Unfortunately, the box floor is cosmetic. This meant a lot of **** welding, especially the inner sides and wheel wells. The rear sections of the box floor sides were made out of double layered thin sheet metal. They are known for rusting here, so I replaced the areas with 16ga cold rolled.
That is a very cool car. You did a great repair job of the floor and bed. I've always liked the 1957 Ford because we had a 4-door '57 Ford Station Wagon. I would recommend next to media blasting it and then paint it white on red, again, my favorite color combo. Good luck and well done.
If it was originally a D code Ranchero it really was a shame that they messed up a fairly rare truck like they did. Good to see your saving it for what it is.
Considering the Pontiac script valve covers, the 3 speed, and the fact that the car was built back when, if it really is a 301, its probably a 1/8 over 283.
I have the four rims that were on the car as in this old pic (only two caps though), but one wheel obviously ran with loose lug nuts for a while and is junk. The E-T five spokes that were on the front when I got it were like new. I managed to find two more to make a set but they are only 14" and look too small. I would love to use them on a vintage speed boat trailer in the future. There are many wheel options for the mid to late sixties look but I decided on Cragar SS. These were THE wheel around my neighborhood when I was a kid. I found a guy locally who was changing the look of his Mustang and was switching out his Cragars. Although the current tires are too low of a profile, I like the look.
Shoprats (RIP) Ranchero looks incredible. I don't think that I should go quite that low due to our appalling roads here in Edmonton Alberta Canada. However, If my car can even look a tenth as cool as his, I would be happy. I love those wheel arches. They have a factory look to them but are aggressive at the same time.
This is the right quarter. It took a lot of sitting and staring to get the look that I wanted but I am happy with the results.
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