Zoom!

I guess before my project lists will make much sense, I need to specify this car's history.  This car left the factory as a 1970 Gold Ranchero Squire with a low performance 429 and C6.  The guy I bought it from put in a '71 CJ engine but left a non-CJ C6 behind it. and "restored" the car.  He had the engine and transmission professionally rebuilt to stock specs and that's the good news.  Almost all the brakes and suspension were replaced with new parts.  The car got the new paint you see along with a mix of new and reconditioned interior parts.  He didn't drive the car after that though, he just parked it along with a bunch of other Fords he had.  

When I got the car there were some minor problems that I had to fix: radiator hoses that wouldn't stay on, some bad plug wires, a broken fan clutch, a blown shock, and a sagging rear leaf spring all needed some TLC.

Please email me any comments or suggestions you have about my ideas.  And, if you're interested in these topics, you ought to be reading alt.hi-po.big-block-ford-mercury my favorite news group, and visiting The 385 Series Engine Forum and The 429 Cyclone & Torino Forum.

Completed Upgrades

• The higher stall made big, fat slicks and absolute necessity. 

• I added a 3000 RPM stall torque converter coming from Art Carr - not the real Art Carr, the company that bought him out.  And I added a TransGo shift kit too.  And, of course, the requisite transmission cooler too. Art Carr was also going to build me a custom governor for my C6 to move the WOT shifts up to near 6,000 RPM but they couldn't get it to work.  Turns out I didn't need it.  The slippy converter and higher line pressure moved the WOT shift points up to 5800 RPM.

• I replaced my points with a Pertronix magnetic sensor.  This should have been the first thing I did years ago.

• I added a slick looking bed cover from Gaylords.

• I've got an Edelbrock fuel-air ratio meter installed to confirm the engine was running rich.  I've calibrated the carb 2 stages lean for cruise and 2 stages lean for power and I'm still running a safe A/F ratio of 13:1.  Here are the excruciating details.

• I finally got around to correcting my speedometer.  I can't figure out why I waited to so long, ROFL.

• I've added a pair of South Side Machine lift bars, but my wheel hop isn't gone yet.

• I revisited the timing after seeing a post on setting timing on older cars.  I was able to pick up 3 - 4 more degrees of advance for a predicted additional 15 - 20 horsepower.

• I just replaced the rear axle seals and bearings.  The seals had leaked, probably because of the bad bearings and ruined the rear brakes.  Now my Ranchero almost stops without prematurely locking up the rear wheels.

• The initial timing was set so far wrong it was a joke.  Believe it or Not the initial advance was set to 10 degrees ATDC, not the 10 degrees BTDC called for by the shop manual.  20 minutes later I’ve got a nice white line on the damper at 10 BTDC and about 100 more HP, LOL.  The timing advance also cooled the engine down about 15°.

• I installed tan bucket seats out of a wrecked '97 Chrysler Sebring convertible.  Modern seats are great.  Click for pictures and details. 

• I got the transmission cooler installed in preparation for the new torque converter.

• I added American Racing Torq-Thrust II (17"x8" in front, 17"x9.5" on the rear) with Bridgestone RE730 Tires (245/45ZR17 in front, 285/40ZR17 on the rear.  The resulting traction is awesome.  Click for pictures and details.

• I replaced the 9" open rear end with a 9" Detroit Locker with 3.50 gears from Randy's Ring and Pinion.  I love the traction and can tolerate the locker on the street.  YMMV.

• A 19" Flex-a-lite fan and a home made radiator expansion tank tucked inside the front fender helped fix my overheating problems caused by a blown fan clutch.  To replace the clutch fan with the flex fan I need a 2" spacer. Flax-a-lite says I needed the 2" x 5/8" spacer part number 14556.  Don't you believe it: My 429CJ had a 3/4" shaft on the water pump and needed their part number 14538 spacer.  At the same time I madea radiator overflow tank and the cooling system has been perfect ever sense.

• I added an MSD 6AL ignition, coil and wires after the condenser quit with less than 1000 miles on it.  Have you ever heard a 429 CJ backfire through the carburetor?  My little dog Max was with me and is still afraid to ride in the car.  BTW, if got instructions here for making your own MSD RPM limit chips.

• The original 2½" open exhaust system was just too loud, VBG, so I installed a pair of DeltaFlow Series 40 Flowmasters.  FWIW, I'd pick a quieter Flowmaster next time.  Tech note: A 429CJ doesn't need any extra help to sound aggressive.

• I added a rear stabilizer bar and upgraded the front to a larger size from PST.  Can you spell F-L-A-T?

Work In Progress

• I've got an engine oil cooler in box just waiting to install.  My old 429 SCJ had one and I've always thought the extra couple of degrees you could drop the oil temperature were worth it.

• I've designed a cold air induction system to use the GT hood openings.  I've prototyped it in cardboard and just need a couple of weekends to do the sheet metal work.  The two tricks that took a while to figure out were how to direct rain water away from the air cleaner without cutting off the airflow, and how to mate the "hood scoop" to the air cleaner assembly.  It won't provide any "ram" effect because the opening are in the dead-air space above the hood.  But cool air is better than the 200 degree stuff in the engine compartment.

Planned Upgrades - Just waiting for enough time and money

• Once the bucket seats are in I'm going to build a custom console.  This will give me a place to put a B&M Hammer and all the gauges I need that there isn't any other place for.  I'd prefer rectangular analog gauges, but I haven't been able to find a source.

Oh!  Wouldn't this be nice if I could afford it?  Or, maybe this is a good idea, maybe not?

• I'm considering a "high performance upgrade" for the CJ engine.  Please take a look and send me your comments.

• I'd like to take advantage of all that extra space inside my 17" wheels and upgrade the front brakes to modern 13" disks.  Aerospace Components (727 545 4943) in Florida who says they will modify my spindles and include the calipers and disks for about $750.  This seems like a good price.

• And wouldn't modern power rack and pinion steering be nice?  There are plenty of how-to articles about doing this for early Mustangs here and here, and even complete kits.  But for my Ranchero I'm on my own.  This has become much less of a priority with the improvements that resulted from the 17" tires.

• And while were on the subject of modern, wouldn't closed loop fuel injection be nice?  Lots of people are doing them, like Force Fuel Injection and Rance Fuel Injection Service.  But $3000 to $4000 seems a bit step for this right now. LOL.  Or I could consider a throttle body injection system for 1/2 that much money.

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