[OrthmannJ]

Hey ya'll,

I'm new here to the Forum, but I’ have been checking things out for a while.

I decided I might as well introduce myself and share about my Ranchero project.

What I have is a 1963 Falcon Ranchero that my Father-in-law bought when he was 19. He's now 54.

My wife says she remembers riding in it when she was a little girl.

So, it's been sitting for years and I finally convinced him it was time to start driving it again.

So now it's my project/summer driver.

 

[OrthmannJ]

Here is what it looked like about three months ago.

It had been sitting for the last 10-15 years in the side yard of our tractor dealership.

 

[Ranchero65]

Welcome to FM and the Ranchero section . Looks like it won't take much to get it going. Good Luck with it !

 

[FEandGoingBroke]

Looks great! Keep us in the loop! Fellow Washingtonian

 

[61Sunliner]

Welcome. Heck that looks like a driver just as it sits. Have fun with it.
I've also got a 63 I've been tinkering with for years, put floor pans in it and scarebird discs and it's just waiting for me to install the Ebay $25.00 Mustang 6 cylinder and c4.
Mike

 

[chunger]

Wow, I think most of us here wish we could have started with something as clean as that!

 

[OrthmannJ]

Thanks for the welcome everyone.

The car is a 20 footer right now.
About 25 years ago my father-in-law did the body work and paint. He put a couple gallons of Bondo in it.

The plan was for us to get it running, and then I would tinker with it and drive it this summer. After the weather turned to more of the cold, non cruising type this fall we'd do the body work and interior.

That all changed last week, but I don't want to get ahead of myself.

 

[OrthmannJ]

First thing I needed to do was get it running.

The car is an original 260 V8 car. When he bought it it was running a 170 I-6.

About 10 years ago (or more. probly more) our shop foreman, who is quite the motor head, did some work on the car.

He replaced the gas tank, fuel lines, welded in new floors, added an electric fan, rebuilt the motor and put a Fairlane four speed in it.

Of course, sitting for 10+ years wasn't good for it. I replaced the fuel pump, installed a new filter on the Carb and used the old "Gas can under the hood" to get it running.

Then I loaded it on the trailer and brought it home.

 

[carstenseth]

Your lucky, that is so nice. I wish my Ranchero was that nice. Keep us updated on what you do.

 

[OrthmannJ]

Well, like I said, it's a 20 footer. You get any closer than that and it starts to become clearer that it isn't that straight. It's got plenty of rust.

So, I got it home and went to work on the fuel system.

I installed all new lines back to the tank. The sending unit was no good, so the local Battery/Auto electric outfit dropped the tank and installed a new one.

 

[OrthmannJ]

Here is an idea of what the interior looks like.

 

[OrthmannJ]

Here's a beter look at some of the problem area on the body.

 

[Ranchero65]

Hey that wagon looks nice also push button auto ?? 318 or 360 ? MY dad had one I liked driving it.. get the hell out of my way lol .....

 

[OrthmannJ]

Hey that wagon looks nice also push button auto ?? 318 or 360 ? MY dad had one I liked driving it.. get the hell out of my way lol .....

Thanks.

It has the push button auto and the wide block 318.
My Grandfather bought it brand new. It's been in the family ever since. Never had a name other than "Orthmann" on the title. My Dad bought it from Grandpa in 87 and it was our family car until about 96. I drove it through High school and when I graduated Dad and Mom gave it to me. I cried. Now my little boy gets to ride in it.

I bleed Ford blue, but I will have Ford's that come and go, that Mopar will always be there.

 

[OrthmannJ]

So after I got it running the first order of business was exhaust. Our business is literally across the street from one of the areas most renowned custom exhaust shops.

I ordered headers for it (which ended up needing to be modified, they didn't list different ones for manual trans) then had him build an "X" pipe, install flowmasters and chrome tips I've had lying around me garage for four years.

Here is the finished product.

 

[OrthmannJ]

Now remember, this was going to be a driver this summer, so with that in mind we decided to replace the old rolling stock. At this point it was still rolling on the same tires that it had been sitting on for at least ten years. Although they didn't look too bad, I know that sitting for years can be bad on tires (bad experience last year with decade old tires on the 64 Plymouth)
So we went for the upgrade.

 

[OrthmannJ]

I was talking with a couple of mexican guys who work in our shop about the word "Ranchero"

Apparently a Ranchero is the "Rancher" the guy who owns/operates the ranch.

"El Rancho" is a big ranch (THE Ranch) and "Ranchito" is a little Ranch.

Since the Falcon based Ranchero is the smallest Ranchero Ford made, we've taken to calling it "The Ranchito".

 

[OrthmannJ]

The windshield was cracked something fierce, so we decided to replace it.

 

[OrthmannJ]

So the windshield we got ended up being one with green tint. We decided it looked funny, so we asked if we could get it in clear. The guy said it shouldn't be a problem.

As we are standing there, our shop foreman says "you know, when I did my Mustang the guy told me the headliner should be tucked up behind the windshield"

This is where it starts to get crazy. My father-in-law says "well, we should do that. But, we would need to do the whole interior.... Well, we need to do the body work first."

I know you've heard of the "Snow ball" effect. This is it.

So now it is no longer a "drive it during the summer, work on it in the winter" project.

It's actually getting painted right now.

 

[OrthmannJ]

About two weeks ago we made a deal with a local paint shop to have the body work done and the paint.

So on a Sunday afternoon me and a couple of my buddies came down to the shop and pulled the bumpers, grill, lights, trim and other bits to get it ready for the paint guys.