Unchopping a chopped 57 Ford Ranchero windshield

I keep getting off track... this shot shows the replaced innner rocker panel section... if you were doing the whole floor with repro panels I think it is available too although it would be easy to replicate by any sheet metal shop or if you had a brake you could do it youself

 

Here is a close-up of the back of the front section... I know they don't show the work done but they may be helpful as a referance to someone trying to assemble a new floor with repro parts... no on ever said this part was exciting

 

your doin just fine tedium is tedidum sometimes

 

If you knew me you would understand... I have a habit of not getting rid of much which is why I can dig through stash to complete this project... but, Dave knows that I'm also buried in another project that this was to be the tow car for... my son found this Ranchero on eBay and figured Dad had the parts to build him a ride... well after 5 years on nothing being done I decided to do something... hindsight being 20/20 that something should have been relist it on eBay and let someone else have all the fun... now I've dug into parts that I didn't intend to use and now the only recourse is to finish the @!#%@ thing

when I should be finishing this... which comes first? the tow rig or the car thats being towed? and, just ask... my favorite is the ones that has been collecting dust

 

At least this shows some of the patch work... when we are done you will never see it

 

I've spent the last 2 hours reading every post on this thread...its posts like this that keep my ginormous project going as well (you have me WAY beat!) I do believe you have some serious intestinal fortitude....

Love it! Keep up the good work (I'm really surprised I hadn't seen this until now.)

Speaking of which I gotta take some pics of mine and update my thread....thanks for the reminder.

That said I agree with another poster....your planning is amazing, I truly can appreciate the A) time that went into doing the work(and) B) the time it took to think about the modifications and game plan prior to makin the cuts. My truck is far from original and I really dont care about stuff like that (it was too far gone) however I have tried throughout my build to stay one step ahead of the engineering standoint and making things not only better, but easier to work on and more dependable on a maintence and functionality standpoint....

 

Wow! Damn man, I had no idea!

I'm the same way except without a nice shop to work in... the last summer and this summer being absolutely miserable with constant rain and even snow I feel so lost, I can't work on anything right now effectively.

Is that a 26-27 T body with a pre 25 deck on it?

 

Its on here too: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=431579

At least you have a garage to work in... I'm lucky to get in mine to find parts... both the 27 & 57 are at someone else's garages... I wish I had the tools & talent to pull these projects off... I worked side by side on the T while I was laid off but the 57 is just stopping by to say "are we done yet"... so meanwhile I just work seven days a week cause I got cars to feed... the body is a 27 on Essex rails, Whippet grill shell, shortened 18-22 turtle deck, 39 Lincoln trans, thunderbird 312, Halibrand non-quick change... three point suspension, 95" wheel base

 

I see I mad e a big typo, that was supposed to read "Except without a nice shop to work in" (I edited it now)

My garage is a small dirt floor one with a leaky roof and has a 59 Taunus in it (bonus points if you've heard of one) and most of my stuff wont fit inside anyway... so I do it in the driveway.

Your roadster is soooooo coool! I love it!

 

This has to be one of the rarest NOS parts to go this car... I question why they even offered it unless it was just left over from production models... think about how much damage the rest of the Ranchero/wagon would have had in order to need to replace this?

 

Your are amazing.

 

OK this is the one that didn't need body work... garage kept under coated CA wagon... I modified the suspension and had a built 312 that would do 16 sec in qtr... violantly bang the speedo at a 130 plus... handled like a slot car and stamp stupid on my forehead but the oringinal paint was so thin primer was starting to show thru everywhere and with moving back to the land of rust... I decided to strip it down for a repaint... its sat in this same position since 91... never claimed to be smart

 

Nah... I have an eye and friends that have amazing talent

 

as you can see we are setting up mounting brackets

 

this is the front mount to use on the rotisserie

 

When you use these NOS panels, do you save the paper tags?

 

Please do not take this as a "how to" use your rotisserie guide... we are newbies trying to figure it out and welcome any comments and or opinions... everything we found seemed to deal with using body mount locations... well we aren't putting the front ones back on until we have the body back on the frame to insure they are in the correct locations and somehow mounting that low didn't seem logical anyways... so mounts were fab'd to the strongest points front and rear and we will start fitting thing together in the next couple of days... front was 2x6 sq tube plates from inside the cab bolted through existing openings basically sandwiching the cowl w/ brackets going down... the back used the channel that supports the tailgate to bolt to 4x4 sq tube w/ brackets going up... we are still debating how much cab bracing will be required since any weak points have been repaired... and we assume we can't replace the quarter panels while on the rotisserie... please comment if you have been down this road before...





By the way... earlier Ford NOS did have tags (I still have them from the 49-51 panels I used years ago) I've had a lot of 57 stuff and just like the one in the picture it is shipping tag which is neat and I'll save that too...

 

I was really hoping for some responses... and then looking back at the pixs I realized I probably didn't give enough info... the mounts seem solid in structural areas... and I'm going over to take a picture of the assembled unit before I go to work... but, one of our concerns is do we have to install door braces? the opening is small compared to a car, you have full bed support to the rear cab bulkhead, the cowl isn't the factory C channel cowl - its full box channel convertable cowl, and and floor and rockers are now solid... we plan to put the braces back in before we do anything thats structural... but, for blasting, finish work, and paint it sure would be easier without them... opinion appreciated

 

Here is an overall shot

 

Hopefully the additional pixs help... we have discussed a worst case senario would be to straddle a body cart over the connecting rail of the rotisserie and then lower the body for additional support on that to roll it outside to blast and bring it back in prep and seal the inside of the cab then put the braces back in that we made to do the floor add door braces then remove the body cart to rotate it to finish the underside... seems like a lot of additional effort -if we can get by without the bracing... anyone with experience out there?

 

Hey Steamliner...The work on your Ranchero is really fantastic and I've been anxious for each update. As for the body support while on the rotisserie, I wish I had some wisdom to pass on but I don't as I've never dealt with one before. After reading your posts on how you "clamped" the body to the rotisserie supports, your logic seems right. My only suggestion would be to "go with your gut". If you are trying to justify NOT using the additional supports, then maybe you NEED to use them. My $.02

 

Found this interesting; Collectable Automobile magazine Aug 11 article "Sizing Up the 1957-58 Custom" interesting because of the focus on the Custom (referred to as the Junior Ford due to the shorter wheel base & overall length) and not the Fairlane... quote from Ward's as "the industry styling and sales pace-setters" While many enthusiasts today deem it as the best looking postwar Ford, sales iof "57 Fords clearly led the market in thier day, stealing model-year sales leadership from Chevrolet... Good looks weren't everything. On the racetrack, the new Fords won nearly half of the NASCAR races. With 53 races for the 1957 season, Ford won 26 of them. article photo's include pre production designs that didn't make it, production models, Fireball Roberts & several police cars.. almost missed this one (no 57 pictures on the cover) so I thought I'd post it

 

An ol-timer co-worker who was a Hudson man (thus impartial to Chevy or Ford) would tell of the time these cars were new. He said the Fords were much more popular among the men and teenage boys (hotrodders), such as they were around this rural area. The Chevies were popular with women and farmers. He said the Fords were a much better car, both body and engine-wise than the Chevies.

Funny how the Chevies got saved and most of the '57 Fords didn't. I wish it was the other way around. If I never saw another '57 Chevy I'd never miss them.

 

I, too, have just found this thread today, and have spent way too much time reading all the posts at work (sshhhhh). Great ideas and excellent work; I wish I was half as talented. Keep up the good work and keep the updates coming.

BTW, I had a '57 Retrac in HS in the 60's, black with the dual headlight conversion. It was a total rust bucket, but the top worked, with a little help from soda cans stuck in the right places.

 

I am really enjoying this. It is nice to see a project resurrected.

 

Left Coast guys have no idea... 57's were born to rust... add salt and they look like this:

 

^^^I've fixed worse^^^

hell I've driven worse!

 

We are doing a little regrouping as Scott finishes his Summer classes and planning on hitting hard on the project in the next few weeks before Fall sessions start... since I can tell that folks have looked and really haven't posted any comments... we will take the belt & suspenders approach... double support from both the rotisserie and body cart to move it around until we get the inside of the cab done... add braces then use the rottisserie to finish the underside... the quarters are part of our bracing dilemma... we aren't going to want to remove them to hang the quarters and as you can see the quarters replace the whole inner door jam...

 

You're using the wagon quarters on it?