Hey Steve, thanks for the input. I haven’t checked to see if it’s the original engine (not that I really care) but from what I know of the two previous owners I would be surprised if it isn’t. One of them got the Marty Report for the car and it all seems to coincide. It’s a factory 390/C6 car. The engine has been rebuilt so I suppose parts could have been swapped out. And it’s a Chevy version of a Holley, so that’s been changed for sure. I haven’t looked at the list number (or at least I don’t remember looking at it, lol). I haven’t done anything to the engine except reset the points and bump up the timing and adjust the carb. It was so lazy when I drove it home I knew there were tuning issues. I haven’t even pulled the plugs yet. It runs pretty good and with other projects needing my attention, I decided to let sleeping dogs lie. The front springs each have two of those old rectangular spring spacers in them. With the ****** headers, the pipes have a case of the hang downs so I didn’t want to lower it any more. Style-wise, I always liked the big tires in back and the front level or slightly lower, giving it that 70s super stock racer look. It was easy to achieve with this car and it helps with the headers bottoming out problem. Speaking of headers, the PO added a bolt on crossover pipe and being a “bolt-on”, it leaks everywhere so that will be one of the first things that I address. As far as modifications go, I initially started looking for ideas and aluminum heads and intake seemed to be a good direction until I started reading about rocker arms, shaft end supports, and shimming the stands and etc, etc. My buddy at the machine shop said that he would donate a block if I wanted to build a separate roller cammed aluminum headed stroker engine. That seemed like a better plan; put the current engine in retirement and drop in a fresh bullet. But driving it around, it’s kinda nice as-is. It’s pretty peppy and there’s more in it. I definitely want to tighten up the transmission, it was rebuilt but they didn’t add a shift kit or anything and I’d like it to be more snappy at the shifts. All in all, I’m very happy with it. The back end is a little buckboard-y and living where I do it could use A/C, but I like it. I’d really like to get it painted soon but I don’t have anyplace to park it inside at the moment so I’m holding off on that. It gets a lot of attention and thumbs up whenever I take it out. Something about Rancheros makes people smile. Thanks again.
My FAIRLANE is a bit different from norm.1955 Ford post 2 dr sedan,original paint bumpers and all stainless. Factory tinted gl*** all around/redone stock appearing interior—-no accidents,no rust Texas car(mostly Cali) frame on 55 cut at firewall—welded to the existing frame is the entire frt clip from a 95 Mark 8 Lincoln—-engine trans sits in original “cradle”—-ALL ALUM 4.6L DOHC V8(pre Coyote)300 hp 6,000 factory redline—-square engine bore stroke same.Factory Lincoln power steering,struts,sway bar,power disc brakes(99 Mustang GT) Gr8 daily driver—6,000 trouble free miles.Factory hi po radiator& cooling fan. Everything under hood is 95 Lincoln.17 x 8 Mustang wheels.
I like it! ‘55-‘57 Fords have always been at the top of my list. I sold my ‘57 Ranchero to pay off my house. I drove a ‘55 2dr wagon for several years and I really loved that car but it was a painted over rust bucket when I bought it and I knew I could enjoy it for a few years but eventually I’d have to repair a lot of rust or sell it. I sold it and moved on. I was actually looking for another ‘57 Ranchero when I found the ‘67 that I have now, (if they made a ‘55 or ‘56 I would have been looking for one of those). I thought that it “felt” smaller and lighter to drive than my ‘57 and my wife would be more comfortable driving the ‘67.
It’s that time of year here in NorCal when an old man’s thoughts turn to spring and big pain in the a$$ under-the-hood projects. I’m caving in and considering putting A/C in my Ranchero. Has anyone retrofit their big block with one of the aftermarket kits? I have seen a couple factory under-dash units for sale but I think I prefer something that will blend in and leave the under-dash area clear. Any suggestions? I haven’t really looked into it yet but I hope it isn’t like all of the other aftermarket stuff - listed for Mustangs and Fairlanes but not Rancheros.
Yes, but even the Fairlane doesn’t show up in many catalogs, just Mustangs. Idk, Vintage Air shows kits for Mustangs but doesn’t mention whether it is useable for Fairlanes. Have you seen how much the kits are going for? Yikes. $2300 +, plus shipping. I’m thinking I’d rather spend that towards body and paint.
It looks like Old Air has something that I could work with…. I don’t love the big under dash units but, whatever.
One of the ones I owned was this color . One owned 40K on the clock $900.00 garage kept . Those were the days
I think I might part ways with my Ranchero. Nothing wrong, just not using it like I thought I would. Send me a PM if you need a clean, unmolested California car.
Here is my Fairlane/55 ford 2 dr post,factory tinted gl***—all windows,ORIGINAL PAINT,NO ACCIDENTS,STAINLESS AND CHROME BUMPERS ORIGINAL. FRAME ON FAIRLANE cut off at firewall—entire frt clip from 95 mark 8 Lincoln inserted-securely welded. Engine trans DOHC ALL ALUMINUM 4.6L v8,300 h.p,(forerunner to COYOTE)trans 4 spd o/d—-engine trans sits in Lincoln “cradle”.Hydraulic ***isted pwr brakes(95 Mustang GT)/power rack pinion,struts,big sway bar.Car thinks it’s a Lincoln—gr8 daily driver and fast too!!!Mustang 17 x 8 wheels all around.
I went to pull the Ranchero into the shop because we were going down to LA for a week or so. It hadn’t been run for about a week and when I started it, it wouldn’t idle. Not at all, black smoke and gas smell. Once again, the secondary side of the Holley 650 was puking gas into the intake manifold. It’s done that on and off since I bought it. Last time I replaced the broken O-ring on the needle and seat housing and it seemed to fix it. No time, gotta go, I’ll fix it when I get back. I ordered a kit for later.
I looked into buying the correct carb but most of the “rebuildable” cores were $200+. I looked at those new Summit carbs, like the old Autolite ones, but they are $500. Even though the current Holley has the Chevy linkage arm, it’s fairly low mileage (and $750 from Summit!) so I pulled off the carb and started dis***embling it. It appeared to be new when I bought the car and I don’t think anyone has messed with it but it looks like the car must have sat for a long time and not run. Gaskets shrank. Fasteners on gasketed parts were loose, even the power valve was loose. It’s kind of amazing that it ran as well as it did. The kit I ordered from Holley has a lot of parts but the correct base-to-body gasket wasn’t a**** them, figures….. I didn’t realize it was a problem until I got it back together and worked the throttle and the secondaries. It stuck full throttle - the primary blades graze the gasket, the secondary blades got caught. I’m going to search my stash for a better gasket but I might have to enlarge the bores in this one. A $70 kit with a bunch of extra parts but a pitiful selection of base gaskets. Oh well, most of our favorite companies have been bought out by groups that don’t have a clue about the product. I suppose all their focus is on FI and it’s electronics.
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