The Ratchero
August 27, 2019
With the hopes and dreams of placing The Rotinental’s Ford 460 big block into another car, Jay purchased this 1957 Ford Ranchero. Ahead was everything but that plan, for this project soon turned out to be one tougher than the MG he had built in his teen years.
Watch the Ranchero introduction in this Burnout Extra.
October 13, 2019
Knowing that it would be a slow process fixing this beast, Jay placed the car on jack stands, took the tires off to keep the chrome from pitting and began taking parts off of the old truck. Starting with the fenders, front end and dash, this Ranchero was getting completely stripped down to the core. Around October was when Jay truly realized the Ford 460 would simply never fit in this truck easily. With the Lincoln project placed on the back burner, the Ranchero now needed everything.
The first update of the Ratchero can be found in this Burnout Extra.
February 17, 2020
After some in depth searching, Jay came across a 1958 Ford 292 Y-block V8 engine on Facebook Marketplace. Attached was a manual 3-speed transmission, perfect for the application and exactly what Jay had wanted.
April 23, 2020
There are 4 different engines that will bolt up to the Ranchero; a 223 cubic inch inline 6, 272 V8, 292 V8 and a 312 V8. Later models also could receive the Ford 352 FE engine, as it came out in 1958. Jay’s VIN shows that his specific Ranchero came with a 223 originally, so on this day, he wanted to test fit the 292 with the transmission attached to see if everything would still fit correctly. Immediately after, his plan was to move onto bodywork.
April 25, 2020
Just a few days later, both Jay and Ryan were determined to get the body off of the frame. The best way to describe it would be a “don’t try this at home” moment. Without a lift to hoist the unibody cab/bed up, they used wood, pallets, jack stands, jacks and managed to slowly lift the cab over 3 feet in the air without having everything come crashing down and bend the metal more. From there, they rolled the frame out from under it and later lowered the cab onto dollies for portability.
June 9, 2020
After stripping the frame free of the rear axle, all brake lines, front suspension and steering, the transmission crossmember and the 5 mice found living in the frame; Jay found a couple small frame sections that needed to be patched. Putting his very entry-level welding “skills” to work, he patched the frame in two different places.
June 13, 2020
When separating the engine from the transmission, Jay found a mice mansion that could’ve dated back to the Gregorian decade.
July 12, 2020
Floor work had begun. Attempting to save as much of the bottom braces as possible, Jay stripped the old floor pans out and purchased new ones. New rocker panels also came with the Ranchero at the time of the sale. Around this time, Jay decided that the bed of the truck would not be salvageable after talking to multiple metal workers in regards to the condition of the bed.
November 15, 2020
The 1958 Ford 292 Y-block engine began to be stripped down. Supposedly it had been running in a truck according to the last owner who pulled it from the vehicle. Thankfully, once apart, there seemed like there was normal wear and tear with no real pressing issues.
Tips when rebuilding an engine can be seen in this Burnout Extra.
October 30, 2021
On this day, The Ratchero was officially split in half. After the unibody cab/bed had been off the frame for a while, Jay officially split the cab from the bed part of the body. Need to know the reasoning behind it? Check out the Burnout Extra that explains why this car would never be the same again regardless of the decision that was made.
Find out the reasoning of the split in this Burnout Extra.
February 2022
For months the engine had been sitting due to an unknown issue. The crankshaft, bearings and pistons had been reinstalled, but the engine would not turn over by hand. Jay later pulled the bottom end apart once again and found chips in the crankshaft that were worse than he thought. A brand new set of rod bearings were ruined and the crankshaft needed to be sanded down properly.
Learn more about the crankshaft dilemma in this Burnout Extra.