Ranchero teardown

Well, it seems as if my plan too replace the 200ci 6 with a 289 and C4 trans has now become a full fledged restoration. After pulling the motor/trans, front fenders (I had heard that was a good candidate for rust damage), gas tank (I was going to go ahead and undercoat it while I was at it), and pulling the seat and carpet (hey, might as well put new carpet in while I'm at it). I took a good look at how far I had come, and the rust damage I had found, and made the decision to go ahead and finish stripping it down, have it soda blasted and do it right. I have also decided that a rotisserie is in order, as I am just too far past 20 to be crawling around under a car. I am looking at purchasing an Auto-twirler, more so because of the 3 companies I e-mailed for a quote, they were the only ones to send a reply by a real human, and not a system generated reply. However, this is not set in stone (purchasing from auto-twirler, the rotisserie is set) and I am open to any suggestions.
Some of the questions/concerns I have right now:
How do I remove the bezels for the lights/ignition/etc so i can finish remove the wiring harness?
What are my options as far as a steering column goes? I would like to get rid of the self impaler that's in there now.
Well, that's all I can come up with for now. But I am sure I will have more as this progresses.
I am down here in PDX, but if anyone wants to come down for a Saturday and have some fun, just send me an e-mail.

Thanks and I will see y'all at the next chapter meeting!

The bezels are all slightly different, but most of the knobs have set screws except the headlight switch which you have to reach up and find the little spring-loaded button on the side of the switch opposite the wire harness and push it while pulling out the knob and shaft. To pull the ignition switch you have to pull the the key portion out, which to do you have to put the key in, take a paper clip diameter wire in the hole, push it in and turn the key to the left past the acc position and it'll come out when it's gone past that point.

As for the steering column, if you really want something that collapses in an accident, you'll have to do a lot of work. There's not much room even if you had one of the new racks that a few are using to get much crush space. So don't get into an accident and you'll be fine. [thumb]

Oh... and one more thing. Four of the most dangerous words in the English language are "while I'm at it." They'll get you every time.

Yeah, those four words are giving me a hard time right now. But I still think they beat "I should have" :doh:
Anyway, I will be in the shop tomorrow and will try what you suggested to get the bezels removed. I will let you know how it works out. That and the headliner and the interior will be completely stripped.

I built a rotisserie and used it when I sandblasted/sanded my 64 Futura. It worked great. I then sold it to Al who made a lot of upgrades to it (he didn't like my wooden supports LOL) It sure made life a lot easier sandblasting and working the whole car. Dirtiest job I've ever done. But I bought a huge compressor, a welder, all the sandblasting equipment and made the rotisserie for less than they wanted to blast the inside and outside of the car. I had to cut out and weld small areas in the floor pans and at 60 I am too old to lay under a car for days at a time. Sprayed zero rust to the bottom of the car and undercoating on it's side. Go with a rotisserie it will save you a lot of hours and hard work.

Need rotisserie plans ? Here ya go:

http://tffn.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=15986

Just so you know in case you don't you will have to take the windshield and back glass out to do the headliner right .

Ranchero 65,
I had gleaned that info from some other posts (either on here or the Ford forums, can't recall which). But my windshield already has 2 or 3 chip repairs on it, so replacing was just a matter of time, and the rubber on the rear is so dry and cracked that it needs replacement as well. But I appreciate the heads up.

Just so ya know, the plans in the link up above for a Falcon, will also work for your Ranchero.

Thanks 68FalconSC for the link to those plans. Got most of the metal purchased and spent the past 2 nights cutting and welding. Should have the majority of it completed by the weekend. Will post pics when she is done. My goal is to have the 'chero up on the rotisserie by next weekend. The only possible hold up is that the left rear bumper hanger is about 40% rusted away (pics below). The guy helping me with the welding and body work and I have come up with a plan to fix it and should be able to have it done by next week no problem [thumb].

As you can see from the photos, the forward portion has completely rusted out. The bolt tube is gone as well. When I tried to remove that bolt, it just snapped in half, it had rusted down to about half its original diameter.

I'm glad that the plans are of use to you. They were drawn up by a fella from San Diego {George} who is doing a full resto on his Falcon.