Rear End Housing.

The replacement rear end, compliments of the donor 90-94 Ford Explorer. This will provide better brakes, 5 lug wheels, and a modern rear pumpkin that was easier to get parts for. It is an 8.8, but behind that little 200ci it should be more than sufficient. Later, if the engine is changed out, upgrade parts are available. '95 to mid 2000 are disc brake, but we wanted the drum brakes.

The rear end had to be narrowed to fit the Ranchero and still accept two of the shorter passenger side axle shafts from the Explorer. The axle tube shortened and the weld was deliberatly placed within the brace for durability.

The marks show where the spring perch was to be remounted. The weld indicates where the 2 7/8" segment was removed to shorten the tube. A coworker helped with this as he had much more experience than our son in this area. We had never tried this before.

Our son custom bent the brake lines, one of his favorite tasks. Go figure.

The sway bar is the rear kit for the '61, but it did not fit as well with the Explorer axle. We had to remake the brackets to fit. This may still not fit well and have to be changed out.

Finally under the car as we checked fit and aligned the tire into the wheel well.

Closeup of the driver side spring perch area.

And now the passenger side spring perch. Can you tell which is the modified area?

A donor rim was used in place of the original 4 lug to set the spacing in the wheel arch prior to final assembly of mounting brackets to the frame for the rear end. Due to larger (from 13x5 bias ply tire to 215-70R14 radial) size tire and rim, we had to move the wheels back 1".

Steering and Front Suspension.

The original suspension was replaced by 65 Mustang V8 suspension for the front. Rather than put the spring in at this time, a bar holds the correct height. The centerlink from a '65 Falcon completes the front steering.

The new coil over adjustable front shocks. Now we can return the stance to original instead of the gasser look.

Much better stance, at least in our opinions. Some people like the gasser look and that's fine too. The rear should still drop some as the springs settle.

A better picture of the coil over shocks, as the body goes onto the rotisserie for a second time during the final body work stage.

The original hubs were replaced with front hubs for a '65 Mustang.

This is the stock mount for the lower control arm. However, there is a camber problem with the front wheels. The control arms had no shims, so there was no adjustment left.

This is the added slotted plate to allow for camber adjustment. This is based off a 67 Mustang. These are better than the factory setup as they will not slip adjustment like the stock setup.

These plates work with the slotted plate to provide the camber adjustment.

The reconditioned original steering box.

However, there is a clearance problem with the new '65 Mustang GT 350 quick steer steering setup with the factory under engine cross member.

When steering to the left, there is plenty of clearance.

However, when steering to the right, they rub (as shown). We will be fixing this, but the running debate is which way. For now, the stock Mustang steering will be installed and the quick steer removed.

The tape shows how much of the bar will be removed and flipped to provide the clearance to handle the '65 Mustang GT 350 quick steer setup.

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The new Wheel Vintiques 15"rim with the original hubcap just set into place. The rims will need to be modified to retain the hubcap. The rims will be painted body color.

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