Hi All, My name is Jack and I am the proud new owner of my first vintage car. I am 26 and am not entirely new to cars - my dad and I built up a 1968 Mustang convertible and I helped my buddy restore his 1967 Camaro. However, this is personally my first resto so I am excited to dig into it and learn along the way. The goal for the build is to make a super strong driver, with the driveline sorted and cosmetics left alone (not that my wallet would let me in the first place haha). About the car -- it's nothing special. It's a 1970 Ranchero with a 302 2bbl, automatic and an 8 inch rear end. I am working on a shoe string budget so I wanted something cool, solid and all-there. My buddy gave me a good price on this one and it checked the boxes so I picked it up in June and now have time to dig into it. I got it running out of a can so that's start. Work to follow includes brakes first, then cooling/fuel system, transmission and finally suspension if I can get to it in time. Anyway, I am excited to start the build and learn from all the collective knowledge here. I know all posts are useless without pics, so have at it below haha. Thanks, Jack
70: best year. A solid start. Will look forward to your progress. I have a good bench seat, black, if you are looking.
Thanks Garbageman! Not sure if the direction of the interior yet, but will take you up on that offer if I need it! Gotta get it running and driving first
Welcome... Nice start! I have to disagree with garbageman though... 69 was the best year. This was also my first restoration. I also started out on a shoe string budget! It certainly didn't take long to realize that I was going to blow through that. In fact I went through what was budgeted before I even got to paint... But that being said, I still came out on the positive side of the cars value, if I don't count the labor. Just have to be willing to do most of the work yourself. I was glad to have the help of people I had access to in the Car Club. Priceless advice and help. Another one to watch morph from a catapiller...
Welcome to the site,great to see a young guy into classics!im personally partial to the 67 chero but that’s just me,at a store last week and a young guy about your Age looked over my chero and said with all the cars out there why would you want an old car?Some guys don’t understand the allure,keep us in the loop as your build progresses!
Welcome Jack, Garbageman is right, the '70 is the best year. Looks like it has good bones so dig in, ask questions and have fun.
Nope not just you! I to am partial to the 67. But that looks like a great start there. Keep at it and itll happen. These guys are nutz here, so watch out, you too could become the brunt, lol. Welcome and rancheros for life.
Thanks everyone for the warm welcome. Only a few days in and its very encouraging to see all the advice and support already! And thanks handy_andy_cv64 for the offer. I might have a lead on one locally but will definitely take you up on it if this falls through. Excited to start digging into it!
Great find ! One word of caution, carefully take that grill and headlight surrounds off and hide them in a very secure place while you are working on that Ranchero. When everything else is done on your restoration, then put the grill back. Find and price a replacement grill and you will understand my logic.
HB is correct. That is a very desirable grill there. Fits Torino Cobra's. You can probably sell it for more than you paid for the car if it's in good condition. If you have any questions, I've torn apart three of these to build one, so ask away. This site is fun, and we only discuss Ranchero's (cough), but if you need parts and stuff, you need to expand outward. Facebook groups are pretty large and have tons of resources. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1557046894621309 https://www.facebook.com/groups/322565704895498 And don't forget, when searching for stuff, it's mostly a Torino you have there.
Thanks Hillbilly and TestDummy. Those look like great resources and I will definitely join them. Great point on the grill....the previous owner mentioned something similar, so I am treating the grill (and all trim for that matter) like glass! I should have a build thread up pretty soon.
Spray the back side of all the screws holding the grill on with PB Blaster for a few days before trying to remove them. A lot of these grills are ruined when trying to take them off. '
Also, Rancheros and wagons were siblings, most sheet metal, wiring, rear setups, etc., are more or less the same there too.
