1959 Ranchwagon Rat Rod in Australia

[mqhoon]

Hi all thought i should start a thread on the buildup, have been workin on it for a while.
I was goin out to buy my wife a new fridge but on the way i found this in a paddock, $900 later its way cooler than any darn fridge!
The wife was not happy but she loves it.

The whole bottom 1 foot of the car and the firewall was rusty, so its taken a while.
Ive cut all the rust out and fixed it as good as possible.
There was no engine or diff in the car when i got it.

Heres some pics on how it started..........

 

[mqhoon]

the fridge...

Rust Rust Rust i hate rust...
New passenger floorpans, new sills, new front floors, new rear fueltank floorpan all handmade.

 

[mqhoon]

more pics

floor pans, done.

Now for the engine...

scored a 5.8 efi windsor from an F150 truck, new sump, custom engine mounts to get it to sit lower and hopefully shes in.

 

[mqhoon]

The engine

So, because i built my own rack and pinion with a collapsable column out of bits and pieces the starter will not fit, so i cut a starter motor mount from a 302 efi windsor TOD bellhousing and welded it into the c4 gearbox bellhousing as none is available in the c4 in a RHS starter.

works well, turns over now.

Will upload pics of that later.

 

[mqhoon]

inlet manifold....

so the big torque riser manifold on a 5.8 efi engine is way too high as the bonnet slopes down at the front, so im building a custom intake manifold oldschool style.

Im guessing im the only person in the world to do this so far as ive done lots of research trying to find ideas, so i came up with this.

 

[mqhoon]

the fridge wagon...

progress so far

fuel tank going in the rear from an xb fairlane, fitting it with an efi return line.

 

[mqhoon]

My other rat rod

Heres my other baby i built up that i drive around..

A 1942 ford jailbar, airbagged all round, series 2 Jaguar front crossmember and power steering, VN commodore diff, 302 windsor HO efi engine, AOD auto electronic gearbox wired up to run like a manual with b&m shifter in my custom shifter console with a hand grenade shifter, it sits on the running boards when drooped.

 

[Tripper]

Kool!!!

Kool!!! That is gonna make a killer cruiser & a great family ride! Please keep us posted!!!

Rust Rust Rust i hate rust...
New passenger floorpans, new sills, new front floors, new rear fueltank floorpan all handmade.

Dude... it's a Ford!!! I have a '57 Ranchero... same thing!!!

BoB

 

[falconvan]

Great job so far! Seeing that Ford wagon in right hand drive is really bizzare.

 

[Gregster]

cool stuff ! that's a neat build , hope those throttle bodies work well for you

 

[wendle]

Looks awesome so far. Gonna go well, that's a lot of motor

 

[cycledog]

Looks like its coming together nicely. Keep the pics comin'

 

[PA41]

Kool--I have something similar using the EFI lower half and a 2"x4" sq tube for a 'log' with a single 2bbl throttle body from a ford van..

Removing the big old phlenum may cause a lean run under acceleration unless you compensate with the computer.. They are usually full of atomitized fuel, and allow the motor to eat on a hard accelleration. I use a Megasquirt, and try to tune for it. A fancy wide band 02 sensor will work to adjust for it I think.

I like the look of those two big ole 2bbl T bodies, that will open the whole top of the motor up on WOT..!!

Looking good--I need a family ride too.

Keep us posted.

Hers the 5.0 I did with the EFI log setup. I had a twin turbo on it at first and used it as a turbo manifold, but smoked the motor with them, and went NA, and now use the intake normal. Angle Cut some driveshafts and gave it a stromberg look.

Works fine.
PA41

 

[Anarchy]

Were are yall putting the mas air at I would love to see it up close if possible.
I would love to do a efi build some day.


Wonderful old ford wagon too! And its going to be FORD powered too makes it even better.

 

[mqhoon]

Kool--I have something similar using the EFI lower half and a 2"x4" sq tube for a 'log' with a single 2bbl throttle body from a ford van..

Removing the big old phlenum may cause a lean run under acceleration unless you compensate with the computer.. They are usually full of atomitized fuel, and allow the motor to eat on a hard accelleration. I use a Megasquirt, and try to tune for it. A fancy wide band 02 sensor will work to adjust for it I think.

I like the look of those two big ole 2bbl T bodies, that will open the whole top of the motor up on WOT..!!

Looking good--I need a family ride too.

Keep us posted.

Hers the 5.0 I did with the EFI log setup. I had a twin turbo on it at first and used it as a turbo manifold, but smoked the motor with them, and went NA, and now use the intake normal. Angle Cut some driveshafts and gave it a stromberg look.

Works fine.
PA41

Hey, that looks sick, thanks for the heads up, i wasnt sure how it was going to run without the plenum, i was thinkin of turboing my jailbar, as it has the 302 efi engine, what is the simlest way to do it?
can i just make up a turbo system and see if it will run? or do i have to go aftermarket injectors and computer?

 

[tw7256]

I remember seeing one of these wagons pushed off into the river to help stop it from eroding the bank just west of where I live. I think the river finally swallowed it up a few years ago. Nice looking project and you must have a really understanding wife.

 

[PA41]

Hey, that looks sick, thanks for the heads up, i wasnt sure how it was going to run without the plenum, i was thinkin of turboing my jailbar, as it has the 302 efi engine, what is the simlest way to do it?
can i just make up a turbo system and see if it will run? or do i have to go aftermarket injectors and computer?

Turbocharging is pretty deep--theres lotsa boards and websites covering it.

If you're anything like me--reading doesn't really do much for me untill I get my hands on it.(and usually tear something up) I'd advise you to rub on it alot, and blow something up and then figger out what went wrong and start from there..

I've got an old timey RayJay carbed turbo setup that was built for an SBC towtruck. It doesn't have an intercooler and has a weird drawthrough system that has some flapper/checkvalve things that let the carb run the motor till boost shuts the checks and the turbo pulls through and blows into the motor. Works better than it sounds, but only makes 4-5 lbs boost. It was my first project, and still runs. I run a 750 holley--way to big and smokey rich, so no lean problems. Heres a pic..

I didn't really learn much from that as it was a SUCCESS, So I went twin turbos from ford Turbo Coupes, blowing into the 5.0 without an intercooler, and no boost controll. I did have big injectors--42 lbs--blue.. and I did set the Megasquirt to richen up on boost. It did pretty good till I was reprogramming the Megasquirt, and forgot to save it, and it went back to default--327 NA SBC. with no richening on boost. Garbage in Garbage out.

I went for a test run--got it up in boost-7-8 lbs, It leaned out, started sounding harsh and a little ragged, and in about 3 seconds I had a real dramatic 'catastrophic failure'. It was really more dramatic than catastrophic as in the T you are looking right at the motor as you drive it, and it just blew both headgaskets and blew water and steam and smoke everywhere--covered the windshield and the car. The motor was still running, just barely, but with no real internal damage.. I just freshened up the stock motor and put good headgaskets and headstuds on it and have not got back to it. I did learn alot though. I do understand now, and believe I can go back and do it right.

My best advise is to go on a similar journey of your own.. And Take Pictures!!! and postem!!!

Life is good..

PA41

 

[rainman]

Great build please keep us posted. Love old wagons.

 

[PA41]

Were are yall putting the mas air at I would love to see it up close if possible.
I would love to do a efi build some day.


Wonderful old ford wagon too! And its going to be FORD powered too makes it even better.

The Megasquirt uses a speed density so it is a real simple vacume hose link right into the computer for that aspect. I really learned alot building it, and would recommend it to anyone. Ignorance is painful--or maybe --learning is painful?? Study up on their site--pretty cheep kit too-- Fun stuff--will run about any EFI motor.. I think they are working on a controller for the electronic trannies now.

For some reason the vast majority of old guys like me are clueless on EFI, so naturally as soon as I got a grasp of it a little, I'd talk it up big and make my buddies feel as stupid as I could make em feel -- being mean is fun ..

I've forgotton some of it now, so I'm nicer...

I don't have many meaningful pics--It was kinda pre digital for me then.

PA41

 

[mqhoon]

the wagon

Some more pics of the fuel tank area.

And the firewall that i replaced some sections, note the parts i welded in were almost as rusty as the bits i cut out! But being rare over here i didnt have a choice!