AMT 60 Ranchero non lump frame

[ManiacModeler]

Anyone know what kits have a full build frame that's stockish but not quite pro street or funny car that will fit under the 60 ranchero as a kit bash, maybe light trim on front or rear valences to fit. Not looking to scratch build or completely butcher a mustang frame to fit. A quick search didn't bring me much in the way of returns here, so I thought Id ask the masses.

[Bainford]

You say you don't want to butcher a Mustang frame, but I can't think of a better place to start. If I was building a Falcon Ranchero, the AMT 67 Mustang is the first place I would look for a donor chassis. I don't know how much fitting will be required, or if the wheelbase aligns. There will be some need to modify things, but the chassis is prototypically correct ( more or less) and has decent detail. 

[ManiacModeler]

Good note, I'm not a fan of doing up lump chassis, I really prefer to build up of actual scale springs and their looks, too much modifications and I loose interest in a mechanic by day, so working on more mods kinda just burns me out. Ill peek into one of those soon. Was looking to see if some falcon kits would work but I think 64 might be too long, I know the thunderbolt kit had that 9" spring setup out back

[Rodent]

The upcoming Moebius Maverick will probably work if you aren't in a hurry. 🙂

 

[Mark]

The Moebius Mercury Cyclone will be the closest thing out there.  Mustangs had a similar suspension design but the floor pan and trunk area are nowhere near to being correct.

Moebius cribbed the Cyclone chassis off of AMT's '66 Fairlane.  So it's not 100% accurate for the Cyclone, but still closer to it and the Falcon than anything else.

[Fat Brian]

And to add to Marks point, Moebius is coming out with a pro touring style 65 Comet that may have modern suspension pieces but won't be massively tubbed or anything.

[Fat Brian]

I paid a visit to the stash and the wheelbase of the Moebius 65 Comet matches exactly the 61 Ranchero. You would have to narrow the chassis plate about 1/8 of an inch to fit the Ranchero body. The Comet inner fenders are separate pieces so you won't have to cut them out of the body but the Comet hood is a bit wider so you might have to add strips it the top to narrow it to match the Ranchero body. The biggest issue is going to be deciding what to do about the bed. The easiest thing would be to cut the entire inner bed out of the body and use the tonneau cover in the kit. Trimming the Comet interior door panels to fit the Ranchero would be a huge improvement too. If you can wait until the new versions of the Comet kit come out you would get a modern chassis and engine parts to swap in.

[ManiacModeler]

Thanks for rounding out the list, much appreciated 👍🏼 🍔🍟

[Bainford]

3 hours ago, Mark said:

The Moebius Mercury Cyclone will be the closest thing out there.  Mustangs had a similar suspension design but the floor pan and trunk area are nowhere near to being correct.

Moebius cribbed the Cyclone chassis off of AMT's '66 Fairlane.  So it's not 100% accurate for the Cyclone, but still closer to it and the Falcon than anything else.

Excellent! I'm changing my answer to this.

[FoMoCo66]

If your going for a 60, a 1st gen mustang (64 1/2- 66) are based off of those cars.

[RancheroSteve]

12 hours ago, Bainford said:

Excellent! I'm changing my answer to this.

I dunno - certainty the Comet chassis will work, but I'd still argue that the '67 Mustang has better detail and is more accurate.  

[NOBLNG]

Here is a link to a 1:1 for sale with some good pics of the chassis.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1960-ford-ranchero/

[Fat Brian]

1 hour ago, RancheroSteve said:

I dunno - certainty the Comet chassis will work, but I'd still argue that the '67 Mustang has better detail and is more accurate.  

The best thing about the Comet chassis is it is exactly the right length, you can butt it right up again the inside of the tailgate and have the wheels almost perfectly where they need to be. The Mustang piece will take a bit of extending to completely fill the rear of the Ranchero body.

[Carmak]

The 67 Mustang chassis has an issue with the front track width. It is so wide the tires bulge out past the wheel lips. This is fixable but it's a pain.

Edited Tuesday at 06:25 PM by Carmak

[FoMoCo66]

2 minutes ago, Carmak said:

The 67 Mustang chassis has an issue with the front track width. It is so wide the tires bulge out past the wheel lips. This is fixable but it's a pain.

I know a lot of kits from that era have that problem, one that I can think of off the top of my head is the 66 fairlane.

[Carmak]

1 hour ago, FoMoCo66 said:

I know a lot of kits from that era have that problem, one that I can think of off the top of my head is the 66 fairlane.

Very true. The Mustang is even worse  

[ManiacModeler]

NOBLNG thanks for that 1:1, thats a clean car. Wish I had that one without the 140, I'd like that with a 312 and a top loader or a tremec in it

[ManiacModeler]

Fat Brian, when's that comet gonna be on the market, I'd build a 65 comet purely to have one in my collection,I'd buy two one to build one to bash and part out

[ManiacModeler]

FoMoCo66 I know the issues your talking about I remember the ones for those years I put together in the 90's and they always looked like the had wheel spacers in them

[ManiacModeler]

Mark, Rodent thanks also for the input, seems like the options are growing, anybody with a clean 312 without a rod through the oil pan I remember the one out of the I believe revell 56 Ford pickup from the mid 90's had one in it. Haven't seen one in a long time though so I don't remember the quality of the motor, those kits were fairly detailed skill 2 and 3 though if I remember right, I'm looking for one with a manual behind it since the ranchero interior tub has it a manual set up.

[ManiacModeler]

Found the trumpeter 65 kit, bet it's a lump too, and it's outta stock 😔 

[Justin Porter]

Not really. The Trumpeter kits were actually pretty nicely engineered. Some odd gaffes in terms of bodies (the '60 Pontiac hardtop being the most egregious example) but in terms of detail they were hard to argue with. 

[Can-Con]

40 minutes ago, ManiacModeler said:

Found the trumpeter 65 kit, bet it's a lump too, and it's outta stock 😔 

Trumpeter car kits are notoriously over-complicated but this one looks relativly normal.

Found this pic on the net.

[RancheroSteve]

Excuse my if I'm getting overly "rivet-county" - but if you're building a Ranchero, none of the available chassis are quite accurate in the gas tank area. Regular Falcons had the gas tank stick through a hole in the trunk floor, but the Ranchero's tank is suspended underneath on straps. I haven't seen a Trumpeter Ranchero, so I'm not sure if they addressed this, but I would tend to doubt it.

[Can-Con]

29 minutes ago, RancheroSteve said:

Excuse my if I'm getting overly "rivet-county" - but if you're building a Ranchero, none of the available chassis are quite accurate in the gas tank area. Regular Falcons had the gas tank stick through a hole in the trunk floor, but the Ranchero's tank is suspended underneath on straps. I haven't seen a Trumpeter Ranchero, so I'm not sure if they addressed this, but I would tend to doubt it.

Looking at the pic I posted above Steve, It looks like you are correct. I don't see any straps on that tank.