Ransom's 1963 Ford Ranchero

D'oh.

I originally ordered a later-style battery tray for the top-clamp type hold-down with J-bolts. Vendor said it was indefinitely backordered from Dynacorn, and offered me the original-style for use with battery-end ridge hold-down clip. I say "sure, just need to cancel the top-clamp hold down and add a clip type hold-down". A few days later, on Saturday, I get a package. It contains a top clamp type hold down and no battery tray at all. I call and point this out...

Today, I receive the clip-type tray and the correct clip, so the vendor is totally up to speed (they also gave me the top-clamp hold down rather than making me return it).

Now it's the P.O.'s turn to annoy me. Sure enough, as I'd feared, whatever radiator is in there is too wide and/or too offset to the passenger side to allow the new original-type tray to fit. There's also been some cutting to the radiator support, so some rejiggering will be needed to try to move it over, and I'm not sure that I can move it that far with these radiator hoses... I find myself wondering whether a more efficient (and compact) modern aluminum radiator may save me some grief. This radiator has a fair amount of verdigris, but I can't tell whether that was active leakage when it was parked, or just patina of use...

Need to finish the shop so I can tear into things instead of hoping to resolve anything with ten minutes here and there... That's rarely going to end in satisfaction.

ransom wrote: This radiator has a fair amount of verdigris, but I can't tell whether that was active leakage when it was parked, or just patina

Learned me a new word in this post.

ver·di·gris
/ˈvərdəˌgrēs/.
Noun.
A bright bluish-green encrustation or patina formed on copper or brass by atmospheric oxidation, consisting of basic copper carbonate.
Synonyms.
patina

It lives!

Ditchdigger and I pondered whether its recalcitrance was bad gas or clogged circuits. We may never know exactly, but after some spraying out with carb cleaner and air didn't quite get it going, pumping just a few more ounces of gas out of the lines and trying again fired it right up... "Both" is probably a good answer for any version of "what's wrong with it?"

Now to grab a radiator that leaves enough room for the new stock-style battery tray, replace belts and hoses, and I might even try to drive it around the block

A lot of fiddly bits that need care... Door handles are loose, driver's side window frame is loose, and it looks like they tried (and failed) to weld it to the door itself. I think it's supposed to be bolted near the top of the door, and then adjustably-bolted deeper in the door to set how hard it leans in against the weatherstripping. The lower hardware I've found, but I can't see or feel what's going on with the upper, and the web hasn't been able to help me yet. '64-'65s definitely have an upper bolt... I've got a CD copy of a period shop manual on its way.

Of course, I should probably stop and refocus on the shop for real now that I've established that it actually runs; Of all the work it needs, the quarter panels are the most glaring, and that's not happening in the driveway...

Any updates on this?

Sigh. Almost a year.

It's still sitting in line behind work on the garage so I'll have a place to do it. I got a few more sheets of drywall up this weekend, so there's progress after a fashion... Just not on the car itself. While not screaming along, a lot's gotten done out there.

Relevant to my last post, I did figure out that (I think unlike the '64-'65 cars), the window frame isn't an angle-adjustable two-bolt deal, but in fact just rosette-welded on the end panel above the latch.

I'm finally looking at what's left to do on the shop in terms of weeks instead of months or years, so hopefully a better update won't be so long in coming this time.

The ceremonial first sheet from a few days ago: (yes, I totally fouled the corner of the sheet wedging it into place)