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AMT 1960 Ford Ranchero


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I have built what was called a '61 Falcon Ranchero. Not the most ideal representation of a Ranchero, but it will pass as a Ranchero. My question is the '60 Ranchero being disused here the same as or different from the '61 Ranchero with the mystery Big Block engine in it ? 

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Since Round 2 is going to keep popping out this kit in various guises, why not cast up a Six Cylinder to make it a bit more correct? It doesn't have to be a complicated addition to the kit, the six is a pretty simple engine to begin with! 

But yes,  BBC in this never quite made sense to me. Although, a friend of mine actually raced one like this back in the 60's! 

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37 minutes ago, espo said:

I have built what was called a '61 Falcon Ranchero. Not the most ideal representation of a Ranchero, but it will pass as a Ranchero. My question is the '60 Ranchero being disused here the same as or different from the '61 Ranchero with the mystery Big Block engine in it ? 

Same kit, a few years ago Round 2 tooled up a '60 grille and hubcaps for it. 

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I think that tooling up the proper six cylinder engine was cost prohibitive. Note that the team at Round 2 is quite astute and no doubt considered this when doing the modifications to a 1960.

How far do we go with upgrading a 1961 era tool that has seen modifications and considerable use over the last 60 years? 

Once you add the engine, now you still have the one piece chassis, originally a curbside, then hacked to accept an engine. And the body is 1961 era injection mold thickness and Steve pointed out isn’t completely accurate anyway.  At this point they might as well have scrapped the tool and created a completely new kit!


 

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4 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

At this point they might as well have scrapped the tool and created a completely new kit!

I wouldn't turn my nose up at that! Seriously though, I'm just glad it exists. It's decent kit if you accept its era-based limitations and I'm always happy to see it. I've built a couple and I usually end up swapping the chassis and drive train out anyway.

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The new '60 grille/bumper unit is no great shakes, compared to the more accurately-shaped and better-fitting original '60 unit - and in both cases the grille is molded to the bumper anyway. I did a bit of work using two '60 grilles to make a separate unit, then cut down the bumper from behind to make it look right. I imagine Round2 figures if anyone wants an improved front bumper and grille, and correct two-piece red and chrome taillights, and a six-banger, they'll hit the aftermarket. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

The problem with the bumper fit on these kits isn't so much the bumper as it is the fender. The fender where it meets the bumper is flat where the bumper is rounded. When I built my Falcon, I made some cuts to the backside of the fender, gave it the same curve as the bumper and then filled the cuts back in with superglue. IIRC, I also trimmed a little off of the bottom of the fender, thinned the bumper down on the ends and notched the bumper where it meets the leading edge of the fender. It makes a big difference in how the grille and bumper fits.

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  • 1 year later...

The reason for the big-block Chevy engine is that, sometime in 1976, someone at AMT dug through their tool bank for an engine to put into the Ranchero.  The best fit apparently turned out to be the 396 from the '66 Impala, by then the Modified Stocker which had fallen out of the catalog a couple of years prior. 

I'd bet they first checked the four Ford Modified Stocker tools, and found the axle holes in those engines put them too far forward in the Ranchero's chassis.  So, in went the Chevy.  

Engraving a mirror image second exhaust pipe (which worked, ignoring the fact that the chassis never had fuel tank detail--the tank would have been next to the single muffler on the stock six-cylinder truck) and a few more tweaks turned a then dormant tool into a saleable kit.

Someone mentioned a Y-block Ford swap...it was done, in a Hot Rod Magazine article in 1960.  I can't remember who did the swap, but the recipient of the four-door sedan was one of the Ford brothers (Henry II, or William Clay Ford).  The shock towers were trimmed back similar to the Thunderbolt Fairlanes in 1964.  The rear axle was replaced but the four-lug wheels remained.  Adapters won't leave enough room in front, and the four-lug front hubs can't be redrilled for five-lug due to their design.  I remember those hubs not being round, but having protrusions for each wheel stud.

Anything other than a 144, 170, or 200 six is nowhere near to a bolt-together deal in an early Falcon (pre-1963-1/2).  My older brother put a Windsor 302 and C4 into a '62 sedan delivery.  As I remember, the transmission tunnel needed to be enlarged at the front.  (Maybe a stick transmission bellhousing would have fit?) He split the difference by lowering the transmission a bit to reduce the amount of hammer work needed where the tunnel met the firewall.  The delivery was an Arizona car, he didn't want to butcher it up.  Subsequent owners beat that engine (from my mom's '70 Torino) into submission, it was replaced by a 289.  I saw the car for sale on Craigslist last year when it resurfaced after a long absence, substantially the same as when it was put together in 1977.  The price seemed pretty good, but I've already got a '62 Fairlane.

The delivery still had four-lug wheels up front, five in back.  The spare tire was on a slotted steel wheel with five-lug pattern, with the four-lug pattern drilled in (one hole was common to both patterns, both were on a 4-1/2" circle).  He was never able to find later five-lug parts to change the front end over; by then none of those cars were in junkyards anymore, and the Granada disc conversion wasn't common knowledge yet.  

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  • 1 year later...
On 12/6/2021 at 9:19 PM, Mark said:

Anything other than a 144, 170, or 200 six is nowhere near to a bolt-together deal in an early Falcon (pre-1963-1/2).  My older brother put a Windsor 302 and C4 into a '62 sedan delivery.  As I remember, the transmission tunnel needed to be enlarged at the front.  (Maybe a stick transmission bellhousing would have fit?)

I wonder if the earlier (pre 1965) 5 bolt bell housing windsor would have fit. 

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No, '60-'62 Falcons were simply not designed with a V8 engine in mind. Everything is different on the V8 cars, even the "frame rails" up front are heavier gauge.  I have heard that some early Falcons with V8 swaps later develop issues with shock towers and frame rails spreading apart under the added strain.  Some of the V8 suspension stuff will bolt in though.

Ford briefly learned from their mistake with the Falcon.  All early Fairlanes have five lug wheels, minimum 8" rear axle, same brakes on six and V8 (later 390 cars do have 9" axle and bigger brakes all around).  But they forgot again with the Maverick and Mustang II.  With the latter, '74 (only year with no available V8) differs from '75-'78 considerably up front, especially under the skin.

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