Many have tried, few have succeeded! This shoebox Ranchero has the best profile I've seen yet. The flat roof and bed rails make it look like a truck, and not a converted car. Smart, smart. Lots of experience and skill showing here. Subscribed.
I still thinking about a solution for the hinges on the tailgate. I did not have that problem when I built a pickup out of a 57 nomad that had the roof crushed on it. Frank
QUOTE="1-SHOT, post: 12847748, member: 255079"]I still thinking about a solution for the hinges on the tailgate. I did not have that problem when I built a pickup out of a 57 nomad that had the roof crushed on it. Frank[/QUOTE] Yes, all the pickups, rancheros, elcaminos, and wagons flattened out the bottoms to allow for weathertight hinging. I was about five minutes away from cutting out the lower panel and making a flat one a couple weeks ago. Glad I didn’t now, but it does create the hinge dilema. I’ve got a thought in mind that might work...stay tuned. Got any pics of the 57 Nomino? I’d love to see it. My brother built one out of a 55 Nomad in the 60s. I tried locating it a year ago or so to no avail.
I worked in a body shop after I came home and I was constantly trading cars never took any pictures, it was my therapy we were not very popular then. I still think wagon hinges would probably easiest way to go and they would look era correct. I really like the looks of your early ranchero. Frank
Jake; If you want to feel real good about your over all profile and rear gate program look up photos of the 55 Chevy that Jo Bailon did back in 1957. You Win pal, You Win on all accounts. The Wizzard
Actually the Cover Car on the April 1958 Custom Cars magazine. I won't post it up for ya. The Wizzard
Ford built a wagon with a tail gate & side gate that was a real tuff to keep aligned be cause all the weight on the hinge . The top hinge was really uggley.
Look at the tailgate of a Cameo....for all the good looks of that pickup the tailgate left me looking for some thing better after all these yrs.
That is Unreal, the workmanship is spot on !!!. I really like the way u changed it up from the original Australia build, Takes a lot of , for lack of a better word ,Foresight
Very nice build, and you are doing a great job with this. The F1 rear cab was a very cool idea and I love the profile with that cab back. As to the tailgate hinges, what you have now wouldn't bother me one damn little bit, but I am sure as the build goes on you may have an idea or two about that. Once the car is painted and slick I don't think those hinge's will be a big deal at all.
Thanks for the side profile pictures. It looks even better from the side, if that's possible. The way you did the roof just nailed it.
Jake's a helluva guy and he knows what he's doing! He was my instructor back in Custom Class at NDSCS. Cool to see him getting front page on the Jalopy Journal!
Thank you Ryan, Joel and everyone for the kind words and constructive ideas on the build. It is all much appreciated. I’m just an old body man/upholsterer having fun. Today I whittled a hinge cover out of wood. The guys at the college machine tool program say they can make one out of aluminum and mirror image another for the other side. It mounts with screws from the back side and will be painted to match the car. Hopefully this smooths out the look.
I have to agree with Gotgas- until I saw the flatter roof and truck back window, lets just say I wasn't sure I was feeling it. Looking good!
Wow that’s a huge effort. No doubt you have seen photos posted up by a fellow HAMBER of the 49 and 50 Ford utilities that were built over here. What you might not know is that Fifties and Sixties 2 Door Ford and Chevrolet cars are worth a small fortune over here as they were never manufactured here. It would be fair to say you could have found someone over here who would have happily traded thier single spinner Ute for your Tudor as well. Having said that, we would not be seeing this build if that had happened, so hats off to you for taking on such a challenging task. While it’s not the same, I know how much effort goes into a project like this one, because in 2011 , I finished converting a 1939 Willy’s Sedan into a pickup. 1937 to 1939 Willys sedans were dima a dozen, but the pickups were never made here, although there were a few 37 to 39 Willy’s made as Utilities both 3 window and 5 window versions.
How about model A door hinges for the tailgate? Smoother looking, strong enough, could be installed so as to provide a bit of adjustment. Nice job, it's looking good.
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