Projects 1949 Shoebox Ranchero Build

Congratulations!

 

Congrats!!!

 

That award is well deserved! Congrats!

 

Registered for BTT50s this year. First time in a few years. Figured I’d drive the Ranchero down for the events 50th.

 

Good plan. A 50th is always special.

 

Congrats on being selected the North Dakota Street Rod ***ociation's "Pick of the Year"!
Snapped this at the NDSRA display, Toppers' show last month in Fargo ND. I did ask the folks at the table if you were around but nobody there seemed to know?



I'll have to look for you at BTT50's. I registered too but not 100% sure I'll have mine back together by then.
(No sense rushing things, right?? )

 

I will be looking for your car there, very cool build.

 

Thanks Terry. Sorry I missed you at Toppers. Maybe we’ll cross paths at BTT50s.

 

Thank you. I’ll look forward to seeing your Buick also. Looks great.

 

Well…I put a bunch of enjoyable miles on the Ranchero the past four summers, but it was time for something different. There was a guy that had wanted it since I built it. So with the itch for another car we made a deal…I knew what I wanted and I’d let the Ranchero go when I found the right car. After about a month of both searching I found the one. So a little more than a month ago he drove the Ranchero 90 miles home to his beautiful shop and home. He’s put about 1000 enjoyable miles on it in that month. He loves it. And it’s in a collection of about 20 or so cars. Happy for me to see. He sent me this picture this afternoon. He had put 100 miles on it today.

 

So I had to show what we got…we’ve always wanted a baby bird so I found a 1956 TBird that had been concours restored and finished in 1995 with only 15000 miles since and kept in a climate controlled garage. Had everything I wanted and was the right color. It’s not another big project…I don’t have another big one in me. So I’ve already removed some of the ugly (to me) and will personalize it some more over the winter to suit me. I removed the continental kit, skirts and bumper guards making a bumper and filler panel insert so it can be put back to original if wanted in the future. Additionally I plan to drop the front with Aerostar springs, change wheels/tires/caps and add a/c. I also changed to a smaller, less deep steering wheel. Hope to have some fun with it next summer. First pics are how I got it, the rest right now.

 

So after meeting you at back to the 50's and seeing your amazing car you sold it and are buying a 56 T Bird. I also have a 56 T Bird and love it. Good choice.

 

Interesting end to a good story. I have sold everything that I have built. Some don't understand that the attachment is temporary. I had an 03 tbird for not quite a year. I didn't develop a love affair with it. I think I would have been happier with a 1st gen that I modded. Good luck with your new project.

 

Was about to post “ remove front bumper guards” & page down pictures & they be gone. Front end looks so much better bare. Nice ride. Always felt those old birds needed better seats, but not sure what

 

Sorry to hear that you parted with the ‘49 but I too understand that sometimes it’s the journey that gives the most satisfaction. Thanks for bringing us along.
Great choice for a replacement, I’ve been eyeballing the little T-birds for a couple years now, it’s definitely at the top of my list when I finally decide to quit big projects and downsize.

 

. . . looks like you're going in the right direction. And you can probably finance some of it by selling the not-wanted parts -- nice!

 

In my exp., the seats are too low to the floor for old guys who need some bend to the knee to be comfortable. If you raise them much, you will be looking at the top of the windshield frame. I'm curious if anybody has a good solution.

 

SOLD THE BEAUTIFUL WELL-DONE '49 !!!!!!!!
O MY !!!!!!!!! I LOVED IT,
WATCHED EVERY PART OF IT GOING TOGETHER....

ONCE SOLD ALMOST EVERTHING TO GET A '55 BIRD, BOT IT OVER THE PHONE, DROVES MILES TO GET IT;;;; DIDN'T FIT IN IT !!!!!!! DROVE IT HOME AND COULDN'T SELL IT FAST ENUFF.

STILL LOVE THE LOOKS OF THEM,

 

Sad to see the Ranchero go, but I do like the new 'Bird! We lucked into one a few years ago and it's turned into my wife's favorite car. I haven't started cutting yet, but headed that way. I like yours already with the "gingerbread" off. Tell us more about fabricating the filler panel in the back....I definitely want the continental kit off the back of ours, but that big hole left behind leaves a problem. I like your solution.....

 

The first pic shows what it looks like with the conny kit and all related parts removed. I put the bolts back in to fill the holes and not get lost. Next photo shows what came off. I will hang onto it all and it’ll go with the car at some future point. Someone might like it that way.


I was lucky in that I got both old bumper ends with the car and by cutting the ends off and switching sides I was able to make a bumper filler piece. I used 14 gauge metal to add onto the top center and shaped it to kind of match the deck lid shape.


To make the splash apron filler I got out my trusty 4 mil clear vinyl with some tack adhesive on one side, laid it out and using a sharpy drew the shape. No pics. I transferred that to thin Uph panel board and that to 18 gauge sheet metal. Hooks made in the sheet metal in each rear corner hook on the original apron, two screws you can see and two screws up under the deck lid. I used rubber edging around it, but I think I’ll get rid of that and use fuzzy Velcro on the underside of the edges when I finish paint it. Still some welding, cutting and filling a rust hole and chroming, but it’s coming along.

Lots of pics. Hopefully you get the idea. Thanks for your interest.

 

Very nice work. Lucky you had ends of previous bumper: the real key to getting it done

 

Nice work! Very helpful, thanks for sharing all that! Now to find an extra set of bumper ends.

 

Does a reproduction 55 bird rear bumper bolt on?
What about a 55-56 bird front bumper on the rear, either used or reproduction?

 

My uncle had a pea green one when it was only a few years old. He took the continental kit off too.

 

I like the fact that he's home about 30 minutes before making it "his". My kind of guy.

 

All those will work, but the 56 Birds run the exhaust through the corners of the bumper. So the exhaust would need to be changed. I don't know if the center of the 56 front bumper or the center of the 55 rear bumper has the same profile as the 56 bumper ends. If they did then one of those could be cut up and used to fill the space of the continental kit.

 

Thank you. Good luck.

 

Yes. All of those will work, but to use them the 56 splash apron has to be trimmed down closer to the car and the corner of the quarter panels has to have a corner welded in. The car was way too nice to do that to. Although I dislike the continental kit, I wanted to save the car in case a future owner would like to return it to factory and I also like the exhaust coming out the corner of the bumper. Yes, I would kind of liked it the way you describe, but I needed to compromise with myself to stay happy all around. At 75+ years old I’ll drive it a few years and see what happens. It’s all good and fun.

 

The contours are similar, but not near deep enough so it would require quite a bit of slicing and dicing and I got those two ends with the car so by switching sides they matched up real close only having that center filler to help match the curve of the deck lid.