I figered I might as well start the non-crew lounge off and share this with ya'll. It's a Ranchero, so since it has a bed I think it counts.

My Father-in-law bought this little rig when he was 19 (he's now 54). It's an original 260 car (er, I mean TRUCK!) and has a 4 speed from a Fairlane.

About ten years ago our shop foreman went through the engine, welded in new floors, replaced the fuel tank and installed the four speed. He went through the suspension, new bushings etc. and did the brakes.
Then it sat.

Being an old car nut and a Ford Diehard I watched it sit and collect dust and wasp nests for a half dozen years. Finally I decided it had been long enough.
I pulled it out with a forklift this spring and started in on it.

Here's what it looked like when I first pulled it out.

First order of business was to get it running and get it home. The fuel system was toast. It had been sitting for years with about a half a tank of fuel so the lines were all gummed up etc. I installed a new fuel pump and filter on the carb. Got some stainless lines for the fuel lines and installed a new sending unit. After a few coughs and sputters she fired right up. Man I love thes old rigs, so dang simple.
Here it is the day I brought it home.

Nice, my Dad just pulled his 1963.5 Falcon convertible out of storage (been in storage of one kind or another for over 30yrs) and it doesn't look anywhere near as nice as your Ranchero, a couple dents but no rust.

His was parked with an empty tank of gas, also a 260/4spd (factory) no power steering. The checked the oil, filed the points, and put the fuel line from the gas tank into a jug of gas and fired it up. The motor is a 260 but it's out of a '65 Falcon Station Wagon and was swapped into the Falcon in about 1985 or 86.

Not nearly as clean as yours, but now that it's out of storage we can let the rebuilding begin


-ron

Nice Ron.

The Ranchito is far from rust free. It is there, and there is plenty of it.

The Ranchero was my Father-in-laws for years. About 30 years ago he did the body work and paint himself. He was purty good with the bondo
just covered up the rust. It's funy because everyone notes how "straight it is" and he just laughs because he knows what's underneath.

So the plan for this rig was to be a daily driver (sharing time with the crew) for this summer and then maybe get to working on it this winter.

Next time I go to Dad's house I'll have to try and get pictures of all the Ford stuff around there. A couple Mustangs, my '67, my brothers '68, Dad's '75 MII with 302/C4 my brothers '74 2.8/4spd (motor is transplanted from a '76). My '54 F100, '54 F100. There are a few Torinos in both 2 and 4dr persuasion, my '79t-bird, Dad's 85 and 90 t-birds.. Lots of F-series pickups from the 60's-70's (and a few from the 80's) and the one that I'm after which is the C-750 which is currently a long chassis frame but I want to shorten it up to a single axle with 5th (Dad has a spare one from a semi)

Numerous motors laying around too, old 260/289's, a 391 (out of the C-series) a few manual transmissions.. going to Dad's house is like an unorganized greasy museam that you have to be careful at, otherwise you could get tetnus...

I hope the Ranchito is safe and reliable enough for you to drive, whats the scoop with the wagon? does it get any 'road time'?

-ron

Well, it is safe to drive. However, the Ranchito isn't on the road at the moment, it's in the interior shop. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The Wagon? That is my 1964 Plymouth Fury.
My grandfather bought it brand new in 1964. My dad rode in it when he was a kid. When we moved back here in 87 it had been sitting in my Grandparents garage for at least ten years. My Dad bought it from him and I rode in it as a kid. When I turned 16 I started driving it since the folks had bought a van. I drove it through High School and when I graduated my folks gave it to me.
Now my little boy gets to cruise around in it.
It's never had a name other than "Orthmann" on the title.
It looks a little different now. I put some 01 Bullitt wheels on it.

After I got it running I started driving it to work at what not, just enjoying it. It's a spicy little rig with the 260 and 4 speed.
At this point my father-in-law started getting excited about it being back on the road. So he told me if I wanted to do the work and what-not, he'd pay for the restoration. I thought that sounded like a purty good deal!

So, the first order of business was to get it running nice.
did the basic stuff, plugs, wires, oil change (oil smelled real bad).
Then we moved on to the next step.

Four Barrel induction and exhaust.

The old girl looks right at home there in the garage.

Thanks. I'm real happy to have it.
The wife is good with it too since it's been in her family for 30 plus years.
It's neat to have my Dad's car (grandpa's before that) and her Dad's car sharing the same garage.

Here are some pics of what the interior looked like and some of the rust issues that needed to be dealt with. Even in the arid climate of eastern Washington the rust never sleeps.