1955 Ranch Wagon Cruiser

Rat Rods Rule

Help Support Rat Rods Rule:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Torchie said:
There are 2 1955 Ranch wagons on e-bay right now. The green one shows a good shot of the rear area and it appears that the floor is metal. The light blue one shows a shot of the back seat and it would appear that the thick edge of the seat bottom is at the front of the seat.
I saw an image that was puportedly a 55 that looked like it had a wooden floor in back, but for the most all seemed to be metal. Metal vs Wood could also be a matter of trim level.
For years Ford would change things with no rhyme or reason and most restorers would jokingly say that the reason for the change was that they ran out of the old style part. So who knows.
Were the different style back seats all from 2 dr wagons? As the 4 dr might have a different configuration.
Torchie.
Click to expand...

I'll check out the ones on Ebay

Metal vs wood might indeed be a trim level, I hadn't thought of that. My new seat came from a 4 door and that might be the difference. At least one of the 2 doors I saw had a totally different configuration - three sections tied together with piano hinges. Now that I think about it, maybe the first seat I have isn't from my car.

As I'm thinking about the situation, I guess what's important is that the drive shaft doesn't hit the tunnel. After that I can modify the seat and/or the brackets. I can live with it if it doesn't fold flat.

Thanks for the help.
 
Here's one that's on Ebay. (It's even the right color.) I saw one of these piano hinged covers sitting behind a 1955 Ranch Wagon.
406006A-39.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]'

Some good reference photos. Just realized that I'm missing the center section. Thanks for the tip Torchie

406006A-40.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

406006A-36.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
 
Last edited:
DJ3100 said:
I'll check out the ones on Ebay

Metal vs wood might indeed be a trim level, I hadn't thought of that. My new seat came from a 4 door and that might be the difference. At least one of the 2 doors I saw had a totally different configuration - three sections tied together with piano hinges. Now that I think about it, maybe the first seat I have isn't from my car.

As I'm thinking about the situation, I guess what's important is that the drive shaft doesn't hit the tunnel. After that I can modify the seat and/or the brackets. I can live with it if it doesn't fold flat.

Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...

Your welcome.:)
The 3 piece cover you saw may??? have come from one with the 3rd seat. I believe that this was an option as well. The floor kind of bifolds back to reveal the seatback which faces the front of the car.
Those were most likely 4 door ones and had a split back seat and bottom to allow for access to the 3rd seat.
And given your level of expertise I don't see you having much problem getting the seat to fold flat. I don't know how much height you are adding to the tunnel but based on the pic of the stock one it looks like you have some clearence to work with.
Torchie. [P [P
 
Just thinking out loud, but I think you will have to raise the bottom hinge the same amount as you raise the tunnel to get it to work. The back rest might have to be raised that same amount, too. There will be a step there, the height that you raise the tunnel, between the seat back and the rear floor unless you raise the floor, too. Ain't it funny how one thing snowballs into another? :rolleyes:
 
Bamamav said:
Just thinking out loud, but I think you will have to raise the bottom hinge the same amount as you raise the tunnel to get it to work. The back rest might have to be raised that same amount, too. There will be a step there, the height that you raise the tunnel, between the seat back and the rear floor unless you raise the floor, too. Ain't it funny how one thing snowballs into another? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's what I am thinking. But maybe that won't matter, I can't see needing or wanting to put the seat down.

I think the next step is to dig out a drive shaft or tube and figure out how much room it needs. I'm concerned that the 9" is a lot bigger than whatever is in there and the pinion is offset to the right. On the other hand, the pinion might be closer to the ground.
 
Seat and tunnel

Took all the measurements for the diff and drive shaft and decided to go big. Too many variables with ride height and I don't want the drive shaft hitting the tunnel. So the rear seat will have to go up or be modified.

The original floor pan didn't have a support that went over the drive shaft in this position (just had the 3 front ones), but since I'm going to cut the floor from here back I'll feel better about having another one.

Here's the support with the seat in place. I turned the seat cushion around and put it on the metal platform that I got with the car.

reartunnelwseat.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

Here's the parts for the support. The 3/16 x 3/4 hoops were hot bent when I did the other 3. The flat stock is 13 ga.
reartunnel001.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

Low tech bending - get it close .
reartunnel004.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

Clamp and tack
reartunnelsupport003.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

Tigged it hot and fast, so it's not that pretty.

reartunnel007.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

Bent the tunnel with a rubber band on the English wheel. Welded it in. Ready for the next section.

reartunnel012.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
 
Weld through primer

The HF punch and flange tool works great, but the weld through primer I am using really screws with the welds. I have used the mil spec version in the past with much better results.

The 3/16" end mill in the drill takes about 3 revolutions to remove the coating the metal beneath the holes. Then it welds great.

reartunnel011.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
 
+2 on the weld table platen...They had on on CL up here. 5'x5' $4600 used :eek:
 
Platens

Last time I checked the 4' x 4' Acorn platens were just under $2000 + freight. The freight was also about $2000 to AZ.

I just looked at Weldsale, theirs are $4100 + freight. - Wow big price jump!

I bought 5 4 x 4 Acorns at an auction and kept the 2 that are under the car. They cost me about $400 each and I built the stands to be adjustable in height something like 22" to 36". They also have leveling bolts.

The other 2 5 x 5's I got used as well. One of them was a floor plate at a ship yard in San Pedro. Is has half the holes and is 5" thick (the Acorns and Weldsales are thinner in the center than on the edges) and weighs over 4000 pounds. Most of it thinks it is a shelf - the rest is an anvil.

They are nice because they stay flat, and you can dog (clamp) stuff down. The drawbacks are: Anything small - pencils, markers, spacers, hardware - ends up on the floor (we call the area under them the shop bilge). They are terrible to draw on. You really need to have a forklift to deal with them.
 
Rear floor and tunnel

Here's the hole for the enlarged tunnel and the piece that was cut out.

hole1.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

The new tunnel.

tunnel1.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

Self tapping screws hold the tunnel to the floor.

techscrews.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

The 3/16 end mill cleaning off the weld through primer.
endmill2.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

The view from the back - my camera couldn't focus in any of the other views.
rearfloor016.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

The view from underneath - The tunnel should be plenty big.

Still have some stuff to finish from the bottom. That will have to wait until the body comes off the frame.

rearfloor014.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
 
Killy_Killerton said:
I love this guy and his honey baby
some of the best people on TV
does his own banjer music for his videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvumhHgVX40
Click to expand...

I first saw this 55 Ford wagon last March. Looks like he reloaded a lot of videos this week. He took a different approach than I did. Somehow I never end up with a survivor - I'm always working with vehicles that should have been put out of their misery long ago.

Actually, when I think about it, I'm really only interested in building something unique, not rebuilding an original.

Thanks for the link.
 
Wipers

The under dash real estate is at a premium because of the monster evaporator and ac ducting. I'm wanting to get the throttle by wire box mounted without interfering with anything else - like the wiper motor and transmission arms.

I have compared my collection of wiper motors with the original vacuum motor on three separate occasions. I still couldn't figure out how to get either one to work. Annoying since I built the whole wiper system for the F2stang.

wipermotors.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

Last week I decided I had put way too much energy in a project I wasn't going to figure out and ordered a new wiper motor designed for the 1955 Ford. I have used Newport Engineering's stuff before and liked it.

Mac's shows 4 different wiper arm lengths for the '55 Ford, they carry 3 and give no indication which one goes with a Ranch Wagon. Newport Engineering had adjustable length wiper arms that cover the entire range of '55 Ford arms. The angle is also adjustable. Priced less than any of the Ford specific repops. They also carry blades and said most '55 Ford people order the 12". They showed up yesterday. Nice stuff.

wipers.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
 
yep

as much as hate to admit 'cause l like to fab a lot of my stuff, the aftermarket can be simpler and/or cheaper with a ton of time saving advantages and sometimes better stuff than we coulda made and faster in the long run.

big advantage have mega dollars of tools and tech at your'e disposal and a R&D team to make sure it works the way it should.

l look at the aftermarket like a tool, if you have it, might as well use it.

Later :cool:
 
Yep, gotta succumb every now and then.
The fella, I was building the 51 Chevy pickup for, bought one from LMC Trucks and it was a breeze to install.
 
I used a Newport wiper system on the 50 GMC panel that I built. Worked very well..Did you go with an intermittent system? They didn't make that back when I did mine.
Torchie.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top