By Craig Sparkes
It’s been a long month since my last blog. If you’re wondering what I’ve been up to, remember the Back From The Dead series that described the restoration of my 1967 Oldsmobile Cutlass 442. Well, I’ve gotten another dead pony to restore. This time it’s a 1966 Ford Ranchero. My wife sensed that I was getting a bit bored (as well as bugging her) so she gave permission for another “project car” purchase. I’ve always wanted an early Ranchero so my quest began. Most of the 1960-63 Rancheros were either too far gone (rust) or already restored (what fun is that ?) so I focused on the 1964-65 and the 1966-67 Rancheros. Finally found one close to home — I live outside the San Francisco Bay area — and this was in the city. It was rust-free and without major body damage. A real find!
Now the ugly part. The Ranchero was owned by a “boy racer” who stripped off all the trim; screwed a monstrous tach — that has oil, amp, and water temp gauges in the face — on the dash; put 15×10 rims on the rear and 15 x4 on the front with corresponding “big ‘n little” tires; and a bench seat that is not for the car. If that wasn’t enough, he blew the engine! So, I picked it up for a song — after politely declining to buy the engine. Decoding the VIN I determined that the Ranchero was an upscale trim edition and a real 289 V8 car equipped with a 3-speed floor-shifted transmission. Thanks to the boy racer, the car now has a Ford Toploader 4-speed — which is worth what I paid for the whole car — with a Hurst shifter. He even left in the bell housing and clutch fork. Also, in the car are a set of Hooker headers and Flowmaster mufflers. So the performance part of me will be having some fun.
After coercing my neighbor to donate his pick-up and a friend’s flatbed trailer, we drove into San Francisco and picked up the car. It now sits proudly, but forlornly in my drive next to the garage. So what have I been doing? Chasing parts – what else! Since the purchase early in March, I’ve found all the trim save for a single piece that goes around the passenger side of the roof and the radio faceplate. Also, just today, I scored a complete 5.0 (302) engine from a 1991 Mustang GT with only 83,000 miles. I’ll convert the engine to a carb setup to avoid all the hassles of wiring the FI system. Tomorrow, I’ll meet a guy who has a hoard of Ranchero parts and get all the missing trim AND a real 1966 Ranchero seat.
So, in the coming weeks and months, I’ll be having a ton of fun rebuilding the Ranchero. The goal is to make it a nice driver’s car — just like my 1967 Cutlass 442. I had a nice set of American Racing Torque Thrust mags from earlier projects and they’re now on the car with white-lettered tires in place of the drag setup. The entire car is in black primer and after I get it sorted will be given to a friend for a nice paint job. Haven’t decided on the color but the interior will be black and the bed covered in black Rhino Hide. So a nice blue or gray seems right. Any suggestions?
I won’t be doing any new Back From The Dead articles any time soon as I’ll be taking my time and having fun putting the Ranchero back on the road. And as I found out with the 442, who knows what parts will be bad or fail as I get the thing moving. But, that’s part of the fun (?) of restoring these 60’s cars. The Ranchero now becomes the chief parts chaser, goes to the dump, and hauls stuff from the Home Depot car in the Sparkes household. A welcome addition and my new project.
Wish me luck, I’ll need it.
