I just acquired a decent 1967 Fairlane 500 Ranchero. It runs and drives just fine and doesn’t have any significant rust issues so as far as I can see, I don’t need to tear into it for any reason, just enjoy it. Normally I’m not a “Ford Guy”, I have and have always had a variety of vehicles both foreign and domestic. I have a large number of engines and transmissions lying around, Olds, Pontiac, Buick, Chevy but no Fords. So I’m in unknown territory. I wanted to start this thread to gather some much needed knowledge about the ’66-‘69 Fairlanes and Rancheros. I’ll post stuff about my Ranchero and I’m hoping others will chime in with suggestions and information from their own experience with this chassis/body style. My internet and catalog searches have been inconclusive. For example, some parts are listed as ‘66-67 while others are listed ‘66-‘69. BTW, Facebook is useless. Yes there are Ford and Ranchero threads but you have to plow through pages and pages of senseless drivel to find a nugget of real info only to find contradictory info further on. The HAMB has always seemed to attract the serious and experienced people. So please, feel free to show your Fairlane/Ranchero/FE related stuff as I learn what’s what under my Ranchero. So far, I really like driving mine, but it has a few quirks that I would like to address and I’m sure quite a few of you have been down this road. As I got it….. I drove it 3 hours home, no problem. (Well, except for getting a ticket) Picking it up in Castroville, Ca. and going to lunch at the Trolley Car.
My first task was to remove the old Appliance 14x7 aluminum wheels and 205/60R-14 tires. Waaay too low profile for my taste. It came from the factory with 195/75-14s so I went up to 205/75R-14s on some old American 5 spokes from my stash and 235/75R-15s on factory Ford steel wheels in the rear. I was going for the Late 60s-70s weekend warrior look. I’ve added the center caps since the photo was taken.
I forgot to mention that it has the 390/C6/9” combination. The engine and transmission were rebuilt stock about 5000 miles ago. He added Hooker headers with a crossover and a Flowmaster 2.5” exhaust system. He also added an “RV” cam and a 650 vacuum secondary carburetor. I seems like it should be a little faster than it is. I need to look into the tuneup, the timing may be retarded. It’s so clean, it looks like they just installed it yesterday. No tasteless Chinese accessories, just Ford stuff.
My first question is, how do I reduce the “power” in the power steering to improve the feel in the steering wheel? It still has the factory slave cylinder power steering. Any suggestions?
Bob, this fella in TX is suppose to be the go to guy on Fords. Very helpful, might give him a shout to see what he suggests. He does Fairlanes as well as Stangs. Classic Mustang Disc Brake Conversions and Power Steering
Thanks Walt, I’ll have to check him out. The power steering works great, has new hoses and doesn’t leak but it’s too easy. I like a little more feel in the wheel.
You have old style power steering. It's also a low power system. Remove the belt and see if that's what you want because that my be the end result. I'm sure you are aware that the 67 is a one year design in sheet metal and interior trim. 66 is different as 68 - 69 is real different.
Nice ride! I had a 68 Torino with basically the same steering system I also thought it was too light with not much feed back. Seems to me the steering was heavy and hard turning without power. It just occurred to me.Would a steering stabilizer firm up the feel? Dan
Or do like I did and broke my neck. Now I wish cars had easy power steering like the old days! Note: That is not a good option.
I might try that. Yeah, being one year only was kinda why I liked it. The change in ‘68 is really obvious on the outside but I’m a little confused by catalog listings for chassis parts that say ‘66-‘69. I’m interested in lowering springs and sway bars. Do ‘67 Mustang parts interchange? The PO put twist-in spacers in the front springs, four per side! I hadn’t seen those in years. The rear springs are rusty but seem to be sound. I have 2” lowering blocks but if lowering springs are available, I’d like to check them out. I would like a 2” drop all around but I’m ok with it as it is just without the twist-in spacers.
I’m not a fan of idiot lights as the only sign of trouble, so I rummaged through my junk and came up with a S-W oil pressure gauge and a temp gauge. Both are 2 5/8”, probably a good choice for an old guy. Searching the internet I didn’t see an under dash gauge panel that I would buy. So I made one. The gauge panel has an angle built in to make the gauges easier to see. The gauges didn’t match very well so I opened up the oil pressure gauge and by cleaning, painting and swapping parts I got them to look more alike. I brought them in the house for better lighting and to show them off to my wife, she gets a kick out of me making stuff from the junk laying around in the shop. I’ll mock em up in the Ranchero and if they look too geeky, I have a 2 1/16” set I can use. I just wanted to make use of the big gauges that I’ve had for years.
Do yourself a favour and pick up an aluminum intake for it. The stock cast iron has got to weigh at least 50 lbs. I’d redo the fuel line with steel and get rid of the rubber setup. Just noticed it has non-power brakes…drums? I’ve had at least 6 Rancheros in my time. My dad had a 67 Ranchero 500XL like yours. 390, C6, buckets, console, factory air….
Oh yeah. That’s quite the exotic mess he did with the fuel line. It’s strange, most of his work was great, he restores British motorcycles as a hobby and does nice work. I’ve been reading about the eBay intakes and most of them seem to be ok. The weight reduction would be great.
He put someone’s disc brake conversion on it, the one that still allows 14” wheels. He’s like me and doesn’t care for power brakes but in this application it could use a little help, the pedal effort is a little excessive. I might play with a different master cylinder. I would really like to upgrade mine to the 500XL interior. I’ve been watching for the bucket seats, the real XL stuff is pricey and I don’t know enough about the stuff yet to know if it’s really correct and worth the money. Are the seats for the Fairlane the same as the Mustang?
The actual seat could be the same, but the upholstery pattern is different and the seat frames for a Mustang should be different I would think as the Mustang sits lower.
My sister's boyfriend in high school had a '66-'67 farelane 427 4spd ice blue with magnums blue gut. He used to race it at New England Dragway ,then drive it to school it was stupid fast,I remember the little 427 flags on the front fenders.
My high school buddy had a ‘67 Fairlane GTA, maroon with a black interior. It was beautiful and fast especially compared to my ‘33 5w with a 396/4 spd, no carpet and no side windows. Mine was faster but…. I think memories of his Fairlane inspired my current adventure.
Seats are different , 66 -71 same floor pan so seats from any will fit . I had 3 , 2 GTs and an XL growing up . Then got into the king of them 70 Cobra 429 SCJ Drag PAC 4 speed
66-69 Falcons are "Stubby Fairlanes" structurally. Engine compartments are basically the same. Falcons may have weaker/lighter parts in the 6-cylinder models. The 67 Ranchero is the 66 Ranchero with a Fairlane front sheet metal instead of a Falcon's. Most of the suspension is swappable with 67-70 Mustang stuff. The three are all parts-bin engineered. Fairlane and Falcon wagons of that era are the same wheelbase and are the same car with different front sheetmetal. Doors interchange on the wagons. Fairlane engine mounts will bolt into Falcons for FE engine swaps. A lot of Granada crap will work as well.
I forgot about the Grenada. I used to do some Grenada disc brake upgrades for customers in my shop. There is a ‘68 Ranchero being parted out somewhat near me. It has the bucket seats and console with the floor shifter. They are in “core” condition but I wondered if I should go get some stuff and how much different it is.
I talked with the guy and he’s a serious Fairlane/Galaxie guy. He has several including a factory 427 Fairlane and a ‘63 Galaxie 427. So his prices are muscle car market prices. I’m going to try to get the seats from him but he’s geographically difficult so it will take a little planning to get them. The console is out of my price range and since it’s not really the right one, I’m going to pass on it. He has the right one but it’s really out of my price range.
Since I got the car, the transmission seemed to shift early and sluggish for a recent rebuild. So I did some investigating and found that the adjustment screw on the vacuum modulator (a green stripe version) was protruding from the end of the hose fitting. I’ve only seen them flush or down inside a little. So I gave it two turns in and went for a test drive. Much better. I gave it one more turn in but I didn’t get to test drive it. Tomorrow is another day. I hope 4500 miles of driving with a maladjusted modulator didn’t hurt anything. I’ve already decided that a performance shift kit is in its future. It’s ok, but I think it could be a little snappier.
Good point, and I have a nice leather wrapped one that I took off of my Model A. I’ll pull it out today and see if I can get an adapter kit. I also found a spare P.S. pump nearby that I can experiment with if I want to.
Oh man, that’s just perfection. Make the outside maroon and it’s just like my high school buddy Keith’s car. That’s the interior I hope to have in mine someday.
Beautiful car. My uncle owned a red 66 Fairlane GT 390 4 Speed car, black interior. Good luck on yours.
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