Well, it WAS amt's '61 Ranchero...

[Farmboy]

Thanks Rich.  Should be getting more done a little quicker.

 

Edited March 9, 2023 by Farmboy

[cobraman]

I'm liking this a lot !

[Farmboy]

Glad to be on your radar Cobraman.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Pretty cool. The Deora's windshield and frame started life as a '60 Ford wagon rear glass, so it's only natural to see something inspired by it built from all Ford stuff.  

[Farmboy]

Tasty tidbit Ace.  Oddly, I was considering using the D100 split windshield early on in the build.  How oddly coincidental would that have been!  I decided not to as the mild chop to the Ford cab seemed the way to go.

 

[Mike foster]

On 1/24/2023 at 7:44 PM, Farmboy said:

Took a bit of head scratchin' to work out the interior due to the wheel wells taking up real estate in the cab but got it sorted out.  More photos to follow as assembly progresses.  Still working on the body, mostly sweetening up the rough stuff.  The grille area is all planned out, so's the engine and placement.  I think even the kit wheels look ok for this version.

 

Comments and observations welcome

 

 

Gotta love a ranchero build.....I'm a ranchero fan myself. Wanna see more

[Kenmojr]

Wow, that sure is one radical custom. Reminds me of custom by Chad Hiltz of Nova Scotia had at the Atlantic Nationals in Moncton, NB a few years ago. Outstanding work.

[Farmboy]

Hey Mike!  Thanks for the shout out.  The body should have paint soon.

Ken, Bad Chad's show was a favorite of mine.  Maybe he might bring a car to the Nat's this year....maybe even stop in to the model show like Gene Winfield used to.  

[JPL-ACE]

This is just my kind of models work. Creative, detailed, artistic, etc. Very nice work and thank you for explaining things as we all can always learn more. I try to put little tricks in my works when I figure out something clever or at least out of the ordinary. Even if my talent is from 50 years ago. Thank you for your work Mike.

[Farmboy]

Thanks for the kind words Gary.  Like you, I enjoy and learn from wip's..even 50+ years later.

 

[Farmboy]

I want a smooth slab tail so the tailgate panel lines were filled in, leaving an obvious rectangular notch in the body for clearance when folding the gate down.  Searching thru photos of rear 'slabbed' custom Rancheros and El Caminos showed a rolled pan to be the mod of choice much like I had performed to the front.  This is a test fit viewed from underneath showing the white styrene piece I cut and curved to fit.

There was no room between the end of the chassis and panel to add a curve so I filed the chassis  back as far as I could to the anchor posts.  This allowed a good curve and good fit.  Just a small amount of cleanup to do.

I had originally wanted the rear panel to be smooth from top to bottom but I noticed the slab customs kept the stock rear bumpers because without them they looked....wanting.  Stock bumper it is. It covers some of the work that was done but that's ok.  This is a mock-up of how the pan helped make for a clean presentation.

Comments and observations welcome

[Belugawrx]

Nice stuff here Mike??

Can't wait to see you cram that plant in the back !

....following ...

Cheers

[Farmboy]

Thanx for the shout-out Bruce.  Workin' my way thru to the engine slowly but surely.

 

 

[Farmboy]

This is a view of the rear end mocked up showing it nearer to completion.  The gas tank isn't cemented in place yet as I'll be removing the chassis quite a bit while installing the interior, and it sits on a piece cemented to the bed.  Note also the chassis edge needs evening.

 

One of the mufflers is shown in it's approximate location.  The pipes from the engine will come thru the inset piece on either side of the oil change access cover.  The more important piece is that chrome half-round connector attached to the differential.  It sits over the hole drilled previously so it lines up with the topside piece.

I made the transmission/differential connector from a half piece of ordinance included with a long forgotten aircraft kit.  I thickened it with a piece of styrene sheet shaped to fit.  This will be sprayed chrome like the other end on the bottom

Here's where it will sit when cemented to the bed.  I'll be using the joint from the Nova driveshaft in the photo to join it to the transmission.

Comments and observations welcome.

[Farmboy]

Life's kept me away from the bench for awhile but things are back to normal.  I had cemented the bed floor in the rear and....discovered two small but distracting gaps between the floor and bed walls.  Looks like it happened when cementing the wheel wells in place before securing the floor.  A little too much down pressure on them I guess.  Everything looked fine in gray primer, but they became obvious when I coated the body in Vallejo white primer.  Not panicking too much I did the inside perimeter with small 1/4 round.  I tried to convince myself it looked ok but...Dammit Jim, two days later I redid the floor using the wrecked one as a template. 

After finishing the new floor piece I gave some thought to the header exit points.  I had originally planned 4 separate pipes per side but decided to go with the ubiquitous flathead 3 per side arrangement, constructed from 4 into 1 headers from the partsbox.  A roomy rectangle in the floor made from a staple gun staple looked like the right way to go as it kept the pipes tucked in close to the engine.    Below is one of a few that didn't make it.   

It took a few tries but I finally got the shape I wanted.  I cut the holes in the floor, making the rectangle to sit above the opening to give it the illusion of structure

The above mock-up looks a mess but it's just the gray primer poking thru the white, along with graphite smears from pencil indexing lines.  You can see where the 1/4 round went against the walls. Its all sanded smooth.  This time I'll be securing the floor first, then the fender wells.  Haven't decided on white, black, steel, gray, or chrome for the headers after cleaning them up.

Comments and observations welcome

[Farmboy]

Much better.  Almost ready for paint.

Comments and observations welcome

[cobraman]

What a great looking custom.

[Farmboy]

Thanks Cobraman.  Looks like paint is next.

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

Interesting work going on here. Looking forward to seeing more.... -RRR

[Farmboy]

Happy the build is of interest RRR.  A little bit of cleanup for a few small body sections then it's on to paint.  

[Slotto]

Super cool build. What are your thoughts on the color?

[Farmboy]

Hey Slotto. I'll be doing this in an antique white craft acrylic.  I've finished a few other builds using acrylics and I was really pleased with the results.  Hope my luck holds. We'll see what happens.

 

Edited March 28, 2023 by Farmboy

[Mopar2]

This is really cool.I can't wait to see it finished...

[Farmboy]

Lol, you and me both mopar2.  The vehicle is taking the time obviously, the engine should be pretty straight forward.  Thanks for the shout out.

[Slotto]

2 hours ago, Farmboy said:

Hey Slotto. I'll be doing this in an antique white craft acrylic.

I'm a fan of the acrylic craft paints too