Amen to that - its an all or nothing process with the Falcon/Mustang setups sadly. Drive it till you feel unsafe (which isn't safe to begin with) and hopefully by then you've pooled enough money to replace it all in one shot of hell.

*sigh*

KingRoyale

MurileeMartin

How hellish was the Ranchero? I'm thinking of buying one down the road from our house next week. Bad rust on the bed, a 460 has been (inexpertly) installed at some point in the past, and a few other little glitches. But it's pretty cheap.

JayP71

how about a megasquirt FE? that would be an insane combo with a toploader or t5...

rusty68

B-town

I'll sell you my '67 Ranch if you want - I found the boo box split rear seat on eBay a few months back and know of a place in NC that has a 67 CS with the fiberglass 'wood trim' set to go...all YOULL need is the danged vinyl woodgrain and some baby blue paint. And a number of other things since mine's wheezing along with a 240/C4 combo, but that's neither here nor there.

Vavavavoooom:
[upload.wikimedia.org]

KingRoyale

danio3834

pauln

MurileeMartin

Falcons have lousy connotations for me too.

You're call though.

Seth L

FЯeeMan is slowly cЯawling out of the new commenting system

TurboBrick

Paul Newman also had a Buick turbo-V6 powered 700 series wagon.

TurboBrick

If I went for the "I roll", I'd drop in a 289; the Chev small block is just so common.
But hey, why not go all the way and drop a 16V turbo Volvo & 5 speed into the Falcon?
Not only "hell" but incest too...

3304HL

DrJeffie

how about 245 with chrysler 542 crate? anyone notice the irony?

Mrb00st

I think he'd get the wagon.

SexCpotatoes

42Fordtrucks

MurileeMartin

Though you may NOT want to fall into the same ranks that I succumbed to some 2 years ago, the fact remains that it's a wagon. It's classic Detroit Fe. It has a V8. And it's a wagon.

[Vader] *hissssss* *succcccck* *hisssss* *succcccck* Search your feelings...you knooooooow it to be true. [/end Vader]

KingRoyale

oyveh

@biminitwst: 'Never' handle as well as a pimped 65 Mustang? Not that it's much of a yardstick. And that they share the same chassis.. Probably the same reason Ol Shel initially declined the opportunity to have a go at the little pony.

Bad Juju

dohcspit

I don't know.

Shapeshifter

biminitwst

Get one of the early 70's wagons with the chrome bumpers.

lascauxcaveman

Paul Y. can't think of a better, shorter handle

west-coaster

koolykool44

Pete Gaines

ChuckyShamrok

Project car hell solved, I have the ultimate hell for you right here just waiting...

pres_has something cool after his name too.

dohcspit

As and aside, I saw a super rusty early 60s 2nd-gen Ranchero today, but I couldn't get my girlfriend to stop so I could take pictures. It made me immediately think of Jalopnik.

Paul Y. can't think of a better, shorter handle

Yes, photo shoot. Email me when you think of a good time.

MurileeMartin

Wagon - check
Bench seat - check
Manual trans conversion - check
Coolness factor - check
Rarity - check

I say it is a go! then again, I'd like to have a close neighbor with a XB Falcon so we can share hell (Lucas electrics are KILLING me right now!)

PS We still need to coordinate the photo shoot.

BrendanSF

Lacclolith

HDC

elwood

MurileeMartin

Volvos with V8s have been done before and are actually quite a well-known, if infrequent, modification in the Volvo performance community. I'd rather see righteous Buick Turbo power in a 245 than something as boring and commonplace (and boring!) as a Bow-tie 350.

detlef

milo_carrera--now with Corrected Politicality

Straighten the sheet metal (& patch where necessary) but at the same time keeping the patina intact as you possibly can.

Stuff in an FI'd 302/T5 combo, upgrade the steering and suspension, throw some brightly colored Mexican blankets over the seats and you'd have an awesome sleeper in my book.

JohnnyWagon

The advantage of that is that you could rent it out as a film car which could eventually pay for the project and fund the next one. Plus you would get a nice sleeper wagon.

Triborough

I'm with the crowd urging you not to prime it flat black though. I say it's beautiful the way it is, just clearcoat the patina if you don't want it to get any worse. You might have to weld a patch into the roof to keep it from leaking, but that too should be left bare or clearcoated once welded. Forget about turbo plumbing, plumb a beer keg into the cargo area with a tap mounted to the tailgate. Make it look less like a keg and more like a beer "tank" of some kind.

brandonvalentine

KatzManDu

hooligan

If you want to go the turbo route with this car you could always throw in a SVO Mustang turbo motor.

no_slushbox

But flat beige adds a little color while retaining the "I'm not going to spend my fortune/life on something that doesn't make my car go faster" message.

Bumblebee

As for the junk in the trunk, just get a cargo cover, like on the 4 door Blazer/Jimmy's. It retracts to one side when not in use, and then you just pull it out, and hook it on the other side to hide the contents.

Or, just go for broke, and buy a blanket and toss it over the stuff. More sleeperness!

TexanIdiot25 could use some of that bail out money

Akbar Biberkopf

Akbar Biberkopf

That said, station wagons rule, and I know the seller knew what he was doing when working on it. This is a tough one.

MurileeMartin

MurileeMartin

Tomsk the red-nosed reindeer

bobash

biminitwst

The Volvo project is just the opposite of the Ford: untried and innovative, so I voted for that.

Bumblebee

bobash

TexanIdiot25 could use some of that bail out money

MattP