So a while back I posted about a very original, fairly rust free, Ranger 4-Door Sedan a coworker of mine's brother had. Well - last weekend I put $200 down. A few more hundred and it comes home in two weeks. The story is a little unreal - but this car has less than 17k miles. Previous owner and husband bought it and took it to their place in Mexico brand new. Within the first year or two of owning it, PO found out husband was cheating on her. She got mad when he left her with the car, so she drove it to the middle of one of their farm fields and left it. Fast forward to about 1985. Co-workers dad wanted a parts car and bought it uber cheap. He brought it home, drove it off the trailer and parked it. It ran a few times over the next twenty years, but the last time was in 2005. Basicly been parked out in the Mexico / AZ sun since new. Current owner just needed some pocket money and has a LOT of old iron on the property and let me pick this car up CHEEP. Sure it will need work - but it should be a LOT of fun. Serial number is: C9UF7252** Body: 58D Color: ME1 Trim: 24 Date: 06B Trans: 3 Axel: 1 Info from VinMagic.com 1959 Edsel Ranger 4-Door Sedan! VIN: C9UF7252** Engine CodeCV8 292 CID 2V Production Year91959 ***embly PlantULouisville, KY ModelFRanger 4-Door Sedan Production Sequence7252**7252** Data Plate information Body Series58DRanger 4-Door Sedan Paint ColorsME1Jet Stream Blue with Snow White Trim24Tu-tone Blue Vinyl And Signet Cloth Manufacture Date Code06BFebruary 6, 1959 Transmission Type3Mile-O-Matic (2-Speed Automatic) Rear Axle13.10:1 Plans!? Hrm....Leave as is. Get it running for now, double check the mechanical condition. Steering has ZERO slop. Doors shut like new. Then? Lower it. Maybe Duals. Trying to figure out if I should have mufflers or not. I kind of want it to just be AS IS. I might see if can get a better carb than stock. Perhaps a disc brake system! This is one stock but crusty and dried out old Edsel and should be fun. Any other thoughts on what I should do? This isn't a hardtop / cool Edsel but it might be fun to just turn into something I can drive the hell out of for fun and annoy people with at the same time.
I can't find the old pics I had. Will keep looking. I only snagged three. One is a blury shot of the interior, second is of the odometer, and third is of the vin plate.
HOWEVER...here are those pics and the old thread is here: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1959-parts-edsel.618806/#post-6874751
As an aside - the back window was broken out by a nephew of the owner about 4 years ago. All the missing trim is in the trunk.
My '59 Ranger 4 dr sedan had a 292 y-block. The Y-blocks were not available in '58, but were in '59 & '60 1958: 361, 410 1959: 223 (6), 292, 332, 361 1960: 223, 292, 352
No further news other than it may come home next weekend, or the weekend after. We'll be moving her for the first time since probably the mid 90's when it was parked in the spot its in now (driven there). Hopefully with our nice dry Arizona climate the engine will be free, and the pans wont be too full of holes. I'm pictuing lowering it with some after market rims (Cragers maybe) and dual exhaust. Any thoughts on what else? What speed equipment was made (if any) for the 292 Y-block series Ford engines? It also has the two speed auto which I had in my Villager. Not a huge fan of it, but it worked.
So I did my homework on the 292. Sounds like a neat engine that can have some easy modifications (head shaving, port work, etc) that can really wake it up. I've arranged the transfer of the car and ***le / ownership for Saturday. Will take tons and tons of pics. I keep thinking of ways to have fun with it. I've never really customized a car before so this will be my first. I figure it was cheap enough and common enough to allow me to not feel bad if I do something to it.
So here she is. I'm somewhat doubting the 16 orig miles - there were two 1975 Tourista stickers on the car, but I do know the car has been off the road for YEARS. Enjoy the pics. I did get the engine to turn over via short cirtuiting the solenoid. No idea where the keys are yet. Owner is looking, Enjoye!
She lives! Unfortunately a back injury has caused me to stop all major auto work and home renovations, so I've been kind of depressed lately. Well today on the way home from work I picked up a battery, and some alligator clips, and ordered a brand new ignition switch. The alligator clips and wires, well I wanted to check to see if the Edsel would fire off before I try to change out the old switch. The PO disconnected the fuel line and ran the car via gravity feed from a lawn mower tank. So I just poured some gas down the carburetor, and gave it a shot and well it took a few seconds but she fired off! First start in a long time I bet. Talked to the PO he cannot find the keys, and is hopeful that he is narrowing in on where the ***le is. I saw the ***le the first time I talked to the PO, but now he can't find it. We may have to get a copy of his dad's death certificate and go to the MVD to get a reprint. If that fails, well, there is always a bonded ***le. The engine sounded smooth and strong. When my back heals, it will be time to get this one on the road with a minimum of effort. Definatelly want duals, lowering with blocks and Aerostar Coils. After that --- still trying to decide. Being a base model Ranger I don't have to worry about old the old power steering system (like I had on the Villager) or complicated old style brake boosters. Enjoy the short Vid. Sorry if I sound ****y but its the first BIG car related thing I've done in a LONG time. It made my day!
I think it would be cool to get it running mechanically and make it reliable then just drive the damn thing. Doesn't sound ****y at all. Glad you are bringing it back to life! Way to go!
For sure following this thread... and the other three cars you have been working on! Sounds like an awesome score!
Thanks guys! The ****iness is just me being excited about doing car stuff for the first time in a LONG while. Today I installed a new ignition switch, and now of course the starter wont engage. *Shrug* this car has been sitting a LONG time so I should not be surprised, but I did get it to idle for a few seconds before the starter gave up.
So I changed out the ignition switch and key cylinder with new ones from NAPA. After a quick fire, and shut down, I set up for a real idle, but the starter wont engage. I tested this again today and confirmed. I think the starter might be a tad gummed up. I'll have to pull the starter, but in my current condition that aint gonna happen. Ah well, a few weeks after recovery might get me there! It did sound VERY sweet before it stalled out due to a lack of gas.
I read a form post recently on where battery condition may cause the starter to not engage even though it sounds like it is. Well sure enough, I hooked the battery charger up and it's showing no where near where it should be on charge. So I'm going to leave it on for a while and try a little later to see what happens.
So, after getting a heftier newer battery ( 600 cca) I've found that the starter is rather sticky. It will engage but slowly with some grinding. Not good. Will have to pull it when I'm better. It's engaged right now, and I'm tempted to see if it will start and idle.
So this morning I'm off from work and tinkered with the Edsel some. First, I've got a "Freeze plug" out, so I'll have to find a new one to put in (they are NOT hard to reach on the 292 unlike the FE 332). I fiddled with the starter for a while (tapping on it with a hammer) and finally got it to engage and disengage as well. So I thought, well - what the heck. I fed the tank line into a gas can, and fiddled with it a bit and finally she runs! The more it runs the better. At first it was hitting on about 6 cylinders, and finally got all 8 to hit. I also checked and sure enough the transmission engages just fine. I took a quick video of it running (will post the link after it goes live on youtube). It idles smooth. One problem is the fuel pump has two holes on the driver's side that squirt gas out (not all the time). I did some google searching but could not find out why. Any Y-Block enthusiasts want to postulate?
If the diaphragm is leaking, it will squirt gas out the vent hole, but it will also let it run into the crank case. Might want to not run it until you can replace the pump...or use an electric pump for now.
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