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Your friends '58 Ranchero, neat vehicle by the way, would of had a 292 C.U.I.N. engine when new as the 312 was discontinued after the '57 model run. Now it could be that he or someone else put a 312 in the Ranchero since it would replace a 292 with no modifications needed.

I can't wait for May.

I like the way you aged the paint. With all the body and frame issues you were faced with it turned out great.

The truck looks like a mess, I love it. This looks like a well used truck.

Your lettering on the tailgate came out perfect.

I like your tail gate bed chains.

Very creative in so many ways. A lot of the things you did made me smile. I like the park bench seating the wild headers and the hands coming out the side of the cage.

Very nice. Did you use the kits hinges for the trunk and hood ? Colors look just like 1957.

I like they way you joined the two bodies and made it look like that was the way that Chevrolet made it.

Very nice looking build. I agree with the others on the Cragers, always liked that wheel. The LS engine swap is a real popular way to go today. Personally I always liked the overall look of the Tempest/GTO back in the day.

Nice clean looking build. I know what you mean about those decal stripes, any decal that size will test your patience .

Great idea. Nice chopped top. Look forward to seeing how this build turns out.

Yes Chevrolet had a 427, as did the Ford you show in the picture. But how many of those race based 427 overhead cam engines were in the cars in the showroom that we all buy our cars from?? Ford offered an FE based 427 in a couple of different horse power ratings and some were pretty stout. I have owned a few 427 Chevrolets back in the day and they were very good engines. My last one was a special ordered Bel Air 2 door with the 385 H.P. version with a 4 speed and positraction. The lower H.P. rated engine was the only way I could get Air Conditioning on the car. This was a daily driver and even used to tow a travel trailer. I actually got a speeding ticket for passing a tanker truck on a hill in Oregon. I was in the designated passing lane but I was going over 70 M.P.H. and they really didn't like that. The Chevrolet 427 that started as a 396 and ended at 454 C.I. was a very reliable engine that with the optional high performance versions being a very well respected race engine also.

I looked at your "After" picture of the body and was thinking that really looks like a '53 Chevy.

Your build is really lookin good. I remember reading about "The Silver Bullet" back in the day in Hot Rod magazine. Since that car was always being changed I wouldn't worry about the Velocity Stacks. It wouldn't be out of the question for them being used at sometime in the past.

Very real looking weathering. Great engine detail and chassis.

I think Ford is chasing the current "Trend" and not thinking that anything will change, so they're going to discontinue some fairly good product because they aren't making enough money. I agree from a business view they can't keep selling any car at a loss, but why are they losing money on that product. I have heard that Ford thinks it has to many chassis that can't expand or contract to go under their different cars. Wouldn't it be best to redesign their chassis so that can better adapt to different car lines ? Other manufactures have done this and it has lowered their cost on several different car lines and they went on about their business and made a profit. I realize that many are buying the big SUVs and Crossovers today but gas has been relatively inexpensive, however in the last few weeks that has changed to where we are spending more now that a few years ago when everyone wanted out of the big rigs and get something less expensive to operate. If this happens again, and I think that it will, then Ford is going to sitting on product that people will no longer want and have nothing in the pipe line they would be interested in. I think Ford, and any other manufacture for that matter need to take a hard long look at their internal cost to produce their product and figure out how to offer a quality vehicle with a price that they can still make money but more importantly be at a competitive price point in the market place. The bottom line in my opinion, for what its worth, Ford may find themselves in a position that they have nothing to sell that people want to buy at that time. For Ford to starts from ground zero to design and develop say small or mid sized cars because that's they way the market may go, it would take 3 to 4 years to put something in the showroom and buy then their back chasing the market again. I think in the end Ford will find they have shot themselves in the foot.

I think that the 332 cu.in. engine was the start of the FE series engine. The FE was offered in 352 cu.in., 390 cu.in. and 427 cu.in. There were some other displacements offered in the Edsel and Mercury lines. Very clean well cared for Ford. If this owner keeps this car serviced and cares for it as in the past he should be able to enjoy it for many more years.

I have used Tamiya X-11 Chrome Silver followed by either Clear or Future after the paint dried. This looks close next to the chrome headlight ring. Not as good as a clear lens but it makes it look different enough and is easy to do.

I went back and looked at your building pictures. I remember looking in on this thru your build. This was well thought out with the year model change and your attention to all the little details. The finished model looks perfect, but to fully appreciate what all went into this you have to look at the building process.

That is a wild Turbo/intake setup.

All of your body work really makes it look long and low. The tail lights look right, are those the stockers ? Great engine idea, why not .

I have to agree. I usually withhold my personal opinion if it is negative and try to compliment the things I find positive about other's builds. There have been times that the builder will ask for input both positive or negative and I have responded with only offering some possible solutions and then been attacked by others on the forum for being a "rivet counter" or something. When asked for input you have to walk a very fine line and sometimes it is hard to come across as trying to help and not criticize.

Great looking Dually. The paint treatment reminds me of some I have seen around that time.

I was following your build on this and I just lost track of it. This Bus turned out just great. The Rusting and all of the many detail parts you created go a long way toeward the effect you were trying for. You mentioned that yours was the only one in its class, but the most important award in my mind is the People's Choice award. When you receive that kind of acknowledgement you know you have a winner.