“GT”1973 Ford Ranchero

The story

1973 Ranchero GT, VIN 3A48Q197113

I purchased this 1973 Ranchero GT in March 2007 to replace my '73 Ranchero 500 (which had been rear-ended while parked on the street and totally destroyed!)

I found it on the internet on a small used car lot in San Jose, CA. The dealer had bought it at an auction in Las Vegas; it was originally sold by Pacific Auto Sales in Long Beach, California.

It was quite a mess when I first saw it-not fit to drive; the brake booster was leaking, it wouldn't idle any more, it had orange cloth seats, duct tape arm rests, a tired old non-original 351 Cleveland 2 Bbl engine, old-school aluminum slotted mags and tires that didn't match; but it was orange and I like orange so I made a deal and bought it for less than the advertised price.

The car was originally 2B-bright red, not brown or green like so many cars those years; it is now Prophet Orange painted in Omni AU base/clear with gold pearl ghost flames on the hood and front fenders.

The interior is the stock bench seat recovered in black vinyl, with black 80/20 carpet and lot's of Dynamat insulation.

I don't have any of the original paperwork, but I did find the original build sheet under the carpet.

The original engine was a Q-code 351 Cleveland 4 barrel 248 HP, with a C6 automatic and a non-posi 9 inch rearend with 3.25:1 gears.

I swapped out the drivetrain, exhaust, wheels, interior and everything else I could unbolt from my destroyed Ranchero 500 during the summer of 2007, then built the 393 stroker in 2008; I changed heads in 2010, and put fresh bearings into the short block and a new camshaft in 2011.

Still a few more things to fix, like the A.C. system and an AOD tranny to build & install, and solid camshaft.

Thanks for looking. — jeff931