Thread: 1969 Rancher GT 428 Cobra Jet

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OK, Some one suggested a build thread for this... So here ya go.

just to get you up to date...

Bought the Car in July of 2012, after my Uncle passed away. I have stripped it down to the bare body, sand blasted, and primed, rebuilt the front suspension.

The body is currently at the body shop, for minor dings and repaint. The engine is being rebuilt, after having the block repaired for a thrown rod. How that happened is another story, but one that explains why it was sitting since 1979. But according to my Uncles version, he was 2 car lengths ahead of a Vette. The fact that he had removed the 428 off the hood scoop and replaced it them with 351, might have had something to do with it also!

Anyway, once I figure out how to post pic's I will include some. Enjoy! 1972.jpgBed.jpgDriver_Stripped2.jpg

So anyway, it was sitting in the back of his shop, and I drug it out.

Removing the 428 emblems was pretty common-------Especially if you had to park in the street like me, I put 390 emblems on mine at the dealership before I drove it home-----

Cool story and very nice! At least it isn't a rusted out shell!

Did have to replace both of the rear floor pans... but that was the only rust spots. We knew it was a special car, that's why my Uncle held on to it. But didn't realize how special until I got the Marti Report.

Per the Marti Report...

386,368 Fairlane-Torinos
2,385 were Ranchero GT's. Of them,
183 came with 428 Cobra Jet Ram Air engines
101 of those had C6 Automatic Transmissions
3 of them were painted Brittany Blue, of which
2 had Blue Vinyl Bench Seats, of those,
1 was equipped with Power Ventilation.

That is this Ranchero

So very excited to get it back on the road, and let it be in some shows.

I know of another Brittany Blue 69 Ranchero exists...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlmSc2NNl_I

A couple subtle differences between mine and the one in the video... Mine has a Tachometer located between the clock and the speedo, and came with 14x7 inch rims.

But still Pretty cool

That is very cool! Someday I might try to run a Marti report on my Dad's 68 GS400 convertible. His car has some rare options that could have been added at the dealer. Unfortunately, I haven't had any luck finding that info for it.

The Marti Reports are a good source of information. I did get the Deluxe report, was $200.

Unfortunately, it did not match what Ford Customer Service provided. So now I am waiting for them to provide a correction.

The Marti report is also manipulated a bit. For example, it says that 3 were painted Brittany Blue. Well that's 3 of the 101. There were actually 93 Rancheros painted that color. They try to make each car a 1 of 1.

But still good information for the documentation of the car.

Just an FYI, Kevin has the actual Ford data tapes (think 18" computer reels) where he pulls the information off of, where Ford is using a set of somewhat outdated material out of a secondary database.

The perfect example was a 1971 "J" Code (429CJ) Mach I I owned, Kevin showed it properly, the Ford 999 I called in for came back to me in writing as a 302 2V Mach I, even though it listed the proper "J" code in the VIN

See if Kevin has the original Window Sticker, as he bought out the estate of Lois Emmiger who had such records from 67 and up.

Bill S.

Originally Posted by 69RanchGT

The Marti Reports are a good source of information. I did get the Deluxe report, was $200.

Unfortunately, it did not match what Ford Customer Service provided. So now I am waiting for them to provide a correction.

The Marti report is also manipulated a bit. For example, it says that 3 were painted Brittany Blue. Well that's 3 of the 101. There were actually 93 Rancheros painted that color. They try to make each car a 1 of 1.

But still good information for the documentation of the car.

Originally Posted by mrmustang

Just an FYI, Kevin has the actual Ford data tapes (think 18" computer reels) where he pulls the information off of, where Ford is using a set of somewhat outdated material out of a secondary database.

The perfect example was a 1971 "J" Code (429CJ) Mach I I owned, Kevin showed it properly, the Ford 999 I called in for came back to me in writing as a 302 2V Mach I, even though it listed the proper "J" code in the VIN

See if Kevin has the original Window Sticker, as he bought out the estate of Lois Emmiger who had such records from 67 and up.

Bill S.

The Deluxe report includes the Window Sticker, as well as the metal door tag, and the order image. All good information. But the data is manipulated to try and make each car 1 of 1.

I am waiting for Ford to correct their information.

It was also quite common to yank the Cobra Jets out of the Ranchero's, and even Torino's in some cases, to put them in the Mustangs.