1957 Ford Ranchero

I bought this car around 20 years ago when a friend and I were in the 57 Ranchero phase.   He sold his car some time ago and I am now ready to sell mine.   When I bought the car. from the owner's son in Hemet. CA. it was basically stock with a 292 ci engine and 3 speed with overdrive.   It was cream and tan with a brown interior.   I sold the engine/trans and replaced them with a 350 Chevy and a 700R4 trans.   I have since upgraded to a 383 Chevy that is the later one-piece rear seal and has roller lifters.   I changed the heads to AFR aluminum ones with stainless steel roller rockers. 1. 6 to 1 intake and 1. 5 to 1 exhaust.   I needed to get the 4 center bolt valve covers. that are higher to clear the rockers.   An aluminum dual plane manifold and 600 cfm Holley top off the engine.   It has a 100 amp single wire alternator.   I installed a Pertronix electronic kit in the stock Chevy distributor.

I bought an aluminum 4 row radiator to keep it cool as I added air conditioning.   I used the stock Chevy air compressor. but found an under dash evaporator.   The a/c works great with just the front seat to cool.

I installed disc brakes. spindle and all from a 1970 Mustang.   I had to have the spindle reamed out for the larger ball joints used on the 57 Ford.   A power brake adapter. booster. master cylinder and proportioning valve are from ABS brake supply in Orange. CA.   The car did not have power steering. so I installed power rack and pinion steering. as nothing other than the original slave cylinder type of power steering was available at the time.   It worked well. but really cut down on the turning radius.   A couple of years ago. Borgeson. began making a true power steering box set up for a 57 Ford.   I bought the unit and installed it a couple of years ago. giving me back the turning radius I had lost.   It was not a difficult install as I had already modified the stock steering column with the rack and pinion change.   I did loose the header on the driver's side as I could not find a tube header that would clear the Ford frame and steering.   A ram's horn Chevy exhaust manifold worked.   It has Flow Master mufflers and has a nice sound.

The original rear end. a 4. 11. was changed out for a rebuilt 3. 70 equalock unit.   When I had the pumpkin rebuilt. the builder changed the bearings. but could not guarantee the gears would not make noise as they were used.   There is a slight hum from the rear. but this is not critical.   It would have cost me another $200 for new gears.

The tan and cream paint was OK. but I just did not like it.   I had the car painted about 3 years ago. to Ford Wimbeldon white and Dodge Viper red.   When I did this. I changed something that always bothered me about 57 Fords. the headlights.   I never liked the bug-eye look of the headlights.   I found some 1954 Mercury headlight rings that have a stainless inner ring that allows the lights to be Frenched in about 2 inches.   I did this by building a new mounting surface for the bulbs behind the normal surface.   The Mercury headlight rings are the same size as the 57 Ford and fit well.   The bed was painted with bed coating.   The bolts are stainless button heads.   Another thing I changed was the side trim.   The Ranchero came in 2 versions. the standard and the custom.   The custom had stainless trim on the side. from just behind the headlights thru a check mark and all the way to just before the taillights.   The 57 Ford Custom 300 had this same trim. but had a second stainless trim with a gold anodized panel from the headlight to the check mark piece.   My friend and I found enough pieces for both of our cars. Mine are the original pieces. with the gold pieces having been re-anodized gold.

I had the interior painted the same Viper red as the exterior.   I then had the entire interior reupholstered in red. including the carpet. seat. door panels. headliner and kick panels.   Red seat belts finish off the interior.   I recently installed a new Custom Auto Sound AM/FM radio.   It has a dual speaker in the original dash position. plus 2 speakers behind the seat.   I bought all new door seals. window felts.  windshield and window seals.   I also installed power windows.  I built a metal platform on the trans tunnel for a Mustang floor shifter.  I installed a tach on the steering colums which is behind the Grant wood steering wheel.  I replaced the old accelerator pedal with a newer. aluminum one. and replaced the brake pedal with a matching aluminum pedal.

The wheels are original Ford Magnum 500s.   The front are 14x7 and the rear are 15x7.   I just had new tires installed as the old ones were over 20 years old and badly cracked.   It has 205/70/14 on the front and 225/70/15 on the rear.

I do not believe that I have put more than 2. 00 miles on the car since I bought it.   My friend bought the California personalized license plates of RANCERO for his car. but later changed to the year of manufacture yellow and black plates.   He signed over the RANCERO plates to me.   If the winning bidder is from CA. I will sign over the plates to them so they can keep them on the car.  

It has always started and never let me down.   It drives well on the freeway.   Please ask any questions you may have about the car.   I am retired and can deliver the car within a reasonable distance from So Cal for a charge.   Any such delivery amount would have to be agreed upon by both me and the bidder before the end of the auction.   Thanks for looking and good luck bidding.

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