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771 hits | 63.05 KB | Posted: 5/10/09
I replaced the A-arm bushings and lower control arm bushings with new polyurethane bushings from Energy Suspension.
(Posted in: Chassis)

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755 hits | 78.12 KB | Posted: 5/10/09
new lower ball joints and coil springs to be installed also.
(Posted in: Chassis)

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732 hits | 74.68 KB | Posted: 5/10/09
front coil spring installed.
(Posted in: Chassis)

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720 hits | 74.06 KB | Posted: 5/10/09
(Posted in: Chassis)

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732 hits | 49.3 KB | Posted: 5/10/09
on the left are "small block" coils {my NAPA dealer found me a brand new pair in stock; it took a week to ship them and cost me $165CAD but they are new};

on the right is a "big block" coil with 1.5 coils cut off; the car looked good, but rode po...
(Posted in: Chassis)

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709 hits | 60.27 KB | Posted: 5/10/09
spring compressor tool being used to install new front coil springs; this is a lot of work and DANGEROUS!
(Posted in: Chassis)

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710 hits | 59.99 KB | Posted: 5/10/09
this is the bushing in the lower control arm; this was the good one!
(Posted in: Chassis)

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720 hits | 60.77 KB | Posted: 5/10/09
front fender height is now about 27" with the new "small block" coils installed {uncut}
I will let these coils "take a set" before I cut them down, so not quite done yet.
(Posted in: Chassis)

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685 hits | 65.96 KB | Posted: 9/8/09
this is the stock Ford 10.7 cast iron rotor {before upgrade} with the stock ford single piston caliper.
(Posted in: Chassis)

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724 hits | 42.6 KB | Posted: 9/8/09
I've replaced the front coils again! now, they are the "small block" coils with 1/2 coil cut off; front fenders are about 25" off the ground and the car looks great and still rides well; no more spring changes-air bags next time!
(Posted in: Chassis)

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715 hits | 62.79 KB | Posted: 9/10/09
these are the new brake rotors I am installing, from I-Rotors {E-Bay}; they are the same diameter as stock, 10.7" {no one makes hi-perf rotors for this Ranchero-do they?}, but at least they are drilled and slotted and zinc plated.
(Posted in: Chassis)

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741 hits | 57.5 KB | Posted: 9/10/09
(Posted in: Chassis)

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721 hits | 59.15 KB | Posted: 9/10/09
(Posted in: Chassis)

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724 hits | 71.42 KB | Posted: 9/10/09
reaview with the stock rear coil springs installed; sits a little high, but rides nice!
(Posted in: Chassis)

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670 hits | 73.97 KB | Posted: 9/10/09
rearview with the "stock" coil springs installed in the rear and the stock "small block" coils in front. That's it-no more changes until air-bags get installed in the future.
(Posted in: Chassis)

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678 hits | 59.52 KB | Posted: 9/10/09
this is the rear fender height with the "stock" rear coil spings installed.
(Posted in: Chassis)

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777 hits | 41.32 KB | Posted: 11/21/09
new rotor
(Posted in: Chassis)

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785 hits | 53 KB | Posted: 11/21/09
oem Ford spindle and axle
(Posted in: Chassis)

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765 hits | 47.94 KB | Posted: 11/21/09
new rotor installed, along with the oem Ford single piston cast iron caliper
(Posted in: Chassis)

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788 hits | 55.73 KB | Posted: 11/21/09
new rotor installed
(Posted in: Chassis)

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794 hits | 68.1 KB | Posted: 11/21/09
wheel installed with new rotor
(Posted in: Chassis)

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847 hits | 49.08 KB | Posted: 11/21/09
(Posted in: Chassis)

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913 hits | 64.21 KB | Posted: 3/28/07
This was the car sitting on the lot in San Jose, California.

WOW is right! by time I got there, the price had gone up to $8,000!!! and it wasn't safe to even test drive!

I got a better deal than that after I showed them everything wrong, lik...
(Posted in: Pre-purchase Pictures)

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715 hits | 70.19 KB | Posted: 3/27/09
another shot of the homemade grill and the GT emblem.
(Posted in: Pre-purchase Pictures)

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772 hits | 59.74 KB | Posted: 3/28/09
(Posted in: Pre-purchase Pictures)

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770 hits | 89.55 KB | Posted: 3/28/09
The car had a tired old 351 Cleveland 2Bbl, 1971 vintage (not original); but thats the original air cleaner (with the wrong filter installed); AC is still installed, but doesn't work.
(Posted in: Pre-purchase Pictures)

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743 hits | 61.77 KB | Posted: 3/28/09
driver's door panel, with deluxe duct-tape armrest.
(Posted in: Pre-purchase Pictures)

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705 hits | 60.83 KB | Posted: 3/28/09
this was the awesome AM/FM cassette stereo unit!
(Posted in: Pre-purchase Pictures)

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749 hits | 25.52 KB | Posted: 3/28/09
(Posted in: Pre-purchase Pictures)

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718 hits | 78.33 KB | Posted: 3/28/09
the 'homemade' grill! I don't know where the honeycomb came from, or the center bar, but that is the original GT emblem. The signal lites were two tiny little LEDs at the ends of the center bar-not quite legal
(Posted in: Pre-purchase Pictures)

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762 hits | 25.73 KB | Posted: 3/28/09
(Posted in: Pre-purchase Pictures)

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766 hits | 23.94 KB | Posted: 3/28/09
(Posted in: Pre-purchase Pictures)

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577 hits | 57.54 KB | Posted: 2/7/10
We sprayed out six different paint samples, to see what it might really look like on the car:

orange base coat with clear,
orange base coat with silver pearl midcoat and clear,
orange base coat with white pearl midcoat and clear, ...
(Posted in: Re-paint)

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584 hits | 51.04 KB | Posted: 2/7/10
This was the best one:

its a base/clear combo:
Omni AU "prophet orange" base coat, then a thin coat of PPG DBC500 binder with a little Omni M147 gold pearl in it, and finally covered with two coats of Shopline 620 clear.
we plan to lay out very...
(Posted in: Re-paint)

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590 hits | 61.79 KB | Posted: 2/7/10
the black rub rail that ran down the length of the car got peeled off, we aren't going to re-install it when we are done, then the holes that were hidden behind it were welded closed.
(Posted in: Re-paint)

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775 hits | 51.33 KB | Posted: 2/7/10
Both doors had rust holes in the lower rear corners, so we cut out the rust and welded in new steel.
(Posted in: Re-paint)

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634 hits | 46.47 KB | Posted: 2/7/10
Here is the patch we welded into the passenger door outer skin.
(Posted in: Re-paint)

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554 hits | 54.49 KB | Posted: 2/7/10
lousy picture, but the right rear quarter had been poorly repaired previously; it looks like they probably backed into something. Instead of banging out the dents, they just punched a bunch of holes and filled it with about 3/8" of bondo; we fixed it...
(Posted in: Re-paint)

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636 hits | 47.95 KB | Posted: 2/7/10
I got rear-ended last summer, so there was a dent in the tailgate; there was already a bunch of bondo and a dozen holes in this skin too; we knocked all the bondo out, welded up the holes, and straightened out the panel before a little skim coat of b...
(Posted in: Re-paint)

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636 hits | 82.77 KB | Posted: 2/7/10
I removed the front valance, grill, and both light buckets, since most of it wasn't aligned correctly and there was a lot of wax and chipped paint in the gaps.

(Posted in: Re-paint)

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639 hits | 75.77 KB | Posted: 2/7/10
Day 2: the block sanding will start now, and the holes we welded up got ground flat and a spot of bondo.
(Posted in: Re-paint)

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654 hits | 63.43 KB | Posted: 2/7/10
the first skim coat of kitty hair bondo has been applied and already sanded flat.
(Posted in: Re-paint)

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699 hits | 70.56 KB | Posted: 2/7/10
the grill has been removed; next wil be the upper valance and the light buckets.
(Posted in: Re-paint)

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668 hits | 79.81 KB | Posted: 2/7/10
Front valance has been removed; it had a dent in it and more holes and bondo, so I am going to replace it with a spare valance I have.
(Posted in: Re-paint)

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656 hits | 61.37 KB | Posted: 2/7/10
a second thin coat of bondo got applied on the tailgate and the rear quarter panel.
(Posted in: Re-paint)