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The Shop Truck - March 31, 2002
"Rita," like any good fiery Latina woman,
has a real temper. She is probably my greatest love, yet I neglect
her and spend money on the other girls in my stable much more than
I do I her. Believe me, I have paid dearly for it. For instance,
when I took the money I had to restore her and bought my '62 Grand
Prix, she promptly broke her motor mounts and threw her fan through
her freshly rebuilt radiator. She has a real charm about her though.
When she's running fine, she puts the greatest smile on my face.
I love my shop truck.
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I bought Rita close to three years ago.
She is tied with one other as the best car I have ever
owned, and I bet when she is completed, she'll win hands
down. I have done relatively little work to her in the
time that I have owned her, but it is time that I focus
my attention on her. If you have read any of my Dodge
chronicles, you'll know where my attention has been, but
recently, I've had a
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As She Stands Today
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change
of heart. This of course has been due to Rita's persuasive
temper. Okay, here's her story.
When I acquired her, she had been sitting
for years in an outdoor storage yard. She had (I still have
it) a cool, in a funky sort of way, galvanized shell over
her bed. This, in turn, protected her bed (bonus!) and kept
water from pooling in the floor wells below the bed. See,
the Ranchero uses the same unitized body construction as the
2 door Falcon wagon, which has a back seat and passenger foot
wells. These wells are covered by a panel which makes up the
forward most third |
As She Goes Today
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of the bed in a Ranchero. Water will collect down there
and rot out the floor. Unfortunately, her floor pans in
the cab weren't so lucky. It seems that the windshield and
door seals leak and the floors rusted severely while she
sat neglected for years. The passenger's side was so bad,
that you could have climbed out of the car through the hole.
She had also had all of her emblems
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stolen, except for the steerhead on the tailgate. Her grill
was a little crumpled and she was missing her hub caps.
The seat was real bad, but the door panels looked OK and
everything was there, except for most of the floor! Otherwise
her body was real straight and she looked good for her condition.
Best of all she had a factory four on the floor.
Not too long after I bought her, I enlisted
the help of a friend to help me replace the right side floor
pan, which was a real mess. I could live with the left side
for awhile. I didn't know how to weld then, so I needed
my buddy's help. I wanted to save the left side for me to
do on my own, once I had acquired the skills. I also, over
the course of the last couple of years, have replaced the
following: radiator (twice, thanks Rita), water pump, heater
core, rebuilt/restored the heater/ventilation plenum &
fan, fuel line from tank to pump, fuel pump, fuel line from
pump to carburetor, carburetor, exhaust system, exhaust
manifold, master cylinder, ignition switch and door locks,
fuel gauge sender, shocks, tires, head gasket, motor mounts,
transmission mount, u-joints and I'm sure a few lesser things.
I found some nice hub caps, a year or
so ago, on Ebay for a steal and she's been wearing them
ever since. I took the shell off (I couldn't take looking
like an Ozark fisherman) and have basically enjoyed her
as she stands. A year ago, my other half backed into her
and bent the front bumper and left front fender. A US Postal
Service semi rolled back into her and lightly dented the
tip of her hood.
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biggest issue with her has been the fact that the
wrong engine is in her. She originally came from
the factory with a 170ci engine, but it currently
has a 1960 144ci engine. I've been trying desperately
to find an original 1963 170 engine, but it's been
a real bear. I had purchased one from someone a
few months back, but upon teardown, it turned out
to be a 144. You can't tell them apart |
170
Special Six
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visually
(thanks Ford) as they shared the same engine block. The
big problem is she really needs a rebuild, but I'm not
going to waste my time and money on the wrong engine,
and until I find the right one, I'm driving her on borrowed
time.
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