In high school I had this 71 "White Sale Special" Ranchero, it was grabber yellow and the only one like it in town This is a picture of a factory brochure I found online that shows it better and lists the package I bought this Ranchero over a year ago to restore. My time is short so it will be a long term project. I have purchased a passenger door and fender and a tailgate, working on bodywork now. I also have a "built" 351W to replace the 250 6-banger. If I live long enough it will be finished out like the one I used to own, the one car I let get away that I wish I had back! As you can see there is a lot of bodywork in this Ranchero, but I have worked on worse in the past. The paint is original, so there are no surprises. The tailgate was trash, and the passenger door and fender were pretty bad. After months of work on the right rear and the door I decided I had made a mistake in NOT taking it to bare metal. It looked good in primer but when I would sand it the primer was softer than the original paint and would always sand off first, creating waves I couldnt live with So after a frustrating weekend of longblock sanding, I decided to do it right. I took out a fresh package of 120 grit for my DA sander and went all the way to bare metal. I also found places I should have pulled or hammered more before using filler, so I think I am on the right track.
The last car I restored was a 65 Mustang, it had 5 complete paint jobs on it, so bare metal was the only way to go. I miscalculated just how much ridge you get when you sand through original paint. It will take longer, but this is my dream ride, been wanting to do one for years!
Got off early today so I spent a couple hours out in the shop. I got out the stud welder and the dent puller and went to work.....lots of studs but they pulled the dents well so minimal filler will be necessary!
Great job sir! This site's starting to get highly populated with '70 - '71's... owners with good taste!!
I have had old friends from back in high school (1975) who found me on facebook ask me if I still have the yellow Ranchero. I traded it in college and have regretted it ever since. This one will be done with the original look in full,even the vinyl top, but with some modern touches. Thinking about powdercoating the bumpers in yellow, and it will have 17's or 18's on it, wanting some 18" Magnum 500s. I like the original look but updated!
First primer since starting over and doing the major filler work. I used a longboard sander to sand all the filler by hand, looks better than I expected, now for some blocking and wet sanding and getting extremely picky until its perfect!
Thanks guys, I bought a heater for my shop yesterday, about to go out there and get started on some sanding.
Looks awesome and thanks for the pics now I know what my bed sides should look like but will never look like again. When my brother was doing all the body mods he push the wheel arch out a little to get more tire.
Looking good, I do like the 70-71's but love my baby blue 72 next one will be a 67 I think, depends on the $$$funds Has to do all the things I need to do on my 72 first- Good luck to you, not that you need it, as it look likes, you know what you're doing-
Very nice work. I just went though what you are doing so i know how much work it take's. I had to take mine down to bare metal and start over' but i think it's best in the long run. It gives you a chance to really see what you've got to deal with. Anyway again nice job and good luck with it.
It looks like you are well on your way to having your car back. Looks great so far. Last year I purchased what I believe is the same car you once had?
sure is Joe, and yours is a GT as well! My original was a Ranchero 500 Whitesale. The one I am restoring is not an original Whitesale but I am creating a clone because I love it so much!
Actually, after decoding the VIN it appears my car is a 500 as well. I'm wondering what tells you it is a "GT"?
One sure tell sign is you will have GT symbols on your truck. GT was mainly a cosmetic pack, a 500 could have options on it that came on a GT. Looks like someone put a GT hood on your 500. Not sure about that.
Nice work, man! How I wish I could do that to my '71 right now. I have a pair of mustang buckets (70's) - they're identical to Ranchero/Torino except for the seat bun (bottom) being a little more narrow. Someday - new paint, better tailgate, new vinyl top, engine rebuild, buckets, carpet and door panels. I think people call that a "restoration" ??? Just takes money.
