). It's a 1973 Ford Ranchero 500 squire, with a 351 cleveland, C6 and 9 inch with detroit locker (the locker was removed by the previous owner), originally brought in to the uk in 1978.I bought it from a very good friend who, sadly, is no longer with us. Some of you from the Blackburn area may know of him, his name was Derek Hardy and he ran D&H Engineering in Blackburn.
The first pic shows how the truck looked about a year before I managed to pry the keys away from its then owner, it became mine in 1990. I drove it around pretty much as it was until October '94, then took it off the road to strip it and rebuild it. Until then I'd only read mags about such extensive work being carried out, the most I had done was a basic service on a Capri, I had played around with a Corsair for a while but nothing major. To this day, I've never built / rebuilt an engine although I have rebuilt things like carbs, axle's and brake calipers (I know, I know
). Then disaster struck, arguments with a neighbour involving letters from the local council etc, lack of money, no garage, to many cars and a divorce. The truck ended up spending about a year being stored wherever I could find space that was free (I'm sure it travelled further than I did during '96 / '97), I finally managed to bring it home in '97 when I bought my current house complete with garage that it actually fits in. Loss of interest and a complete lack of money still meant that no work got done though. 10 years on (where did those years go?) and I still own it and still have most of the parts for it. I did sell the engine and box that was in it originally due to lack of cash and have recently aquired a replacement for both, a 351 Windsor and FMX box. I'd rather have a Cleveland and C6 but beggars can't be choosers.
Work completed so far is, the entire cab floor has been removed and replaced with 16 gauge steel (real fun to cut when you only have an angle grinder and hacksaw
), the rear window panel had rotted beyond repair so was replaced by a slightly modified version (the original rear window glass stretches from pillar to pillar, my homemade panel has about 2 or 3 inch's of metal between the pillars and glass), I've also completed repairs to the roof, all the vinyl was rotten and there were holes everywhere, this will need repairing again though as I'm not happy with it.Theres still a mountain of work to do (as you can see) and I really really want to put it back on the road again. So, I though if I post all the details on here, it'll both encourage me to get on with it and serve as a hopefully interesting and informative thread. I still have no money but if I could afford to do it, it would be to easy
Oh, my original plan was to pro street it. This is still my plan, what I want when finished is for the engine (complete with blower) to be level with the roof. This is going to be so impracticle and OTT that I just can't resist doing it
I realise that some things I want might be impossible and I'm prepared to compromise, either way it should be an epic journey into my capability to do as much as possible on my own. I'll probably have numerous questions to post in the future and thanx in advance for the replies, even if it is an old Ford! 
Anyway, here's some pics..........
added when the original stuff rotted and split, it probably won't get replaced. Why do they insist on covering everything with fake wood 
over it on my way home from school everyday !
One of those things with one door bigger than the other , like the one in of Wayns world. 