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Opinions / guidance on best options for this barn find...

ekarlberg

New Member
Joined
May 15, 2018
Messages
25
Loc.
Denver, CO
Hello - I am a new member here and joined because I just acquired a 1974 Ranger. It was parked in a barn 9 years ago and supposedly ran at that time. For the last 2 years, it has been in the open and exposed to the elements on a lot in Granby, Colorado (snow and sun exposure). Here are some details on the condition:

- Spending it's life in Colorado, it does not have any rot problems.
- The frame is super solid as well as floors, firewall, and the body parts.
- However, there are numerous dents, dings, chips, etc that have all developed some surface rust.
- There are enough dents that seem major enough that body work of some sort would be required or would need replacement.
- The interior is also very rough and there is no back seat.
- It Chrome Yellow in color and is quite nice in it's original weathered patina look.
- The interior is rough and has the ginger houndstooth pattern.
- The interior door panels and quarter panels are still pretty good, though.
- The carpet is shot.
- The dash pad is badly cracked.
- The dash itself is quite nice and is only missing the washer knob and one radio knob.
- No rear drive shaft (for unknown reasons)
- 48,xxx on the original 302 which is dirty, but complete.
- Not currently running.

So, I was quite excited to find and purchase this, but now I don't know what to do. I liked it because it was original and uncut - no modifications. I would like to try to keep it as original as possible, but given I need to change / replace some things, I don't know if that will make it creep into doing everything -- all the way to new paint, etc. Since I don't want to do a full restoration to mint condition, I am not sure how to proceed.

I would love feedback, guidance, do's and don'ts, opinions, lessons learned etc.

Had trouble uploading pictures, so trying this link to my Google Photos album to help show the details. https://photos.app.goo.gl/j4iPyp8rfLQ9zV1AA - if that doesn't work, I will try to figure out how to load them here.

Thanks!
 

okie4570

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Jul 16, 2012
Messages
9,229
Loc.
NW OK
Welcome! I'm all about patina and original............I don't mind driving a dented truck around lol. Take care of brakes, fuel system and steering. Get it running driving and stopping. Clean it up and enjoy! That's a great find, Granby and Grand Lake some of my favorite areas of CO.
 

DirtDonk

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 3, 2003
Messages
47,355
Very cool find. And yeah, it's rough enough to need a little bit here, a lot over there, and maybe some more in another spot. Looks repainted, and has rust in at least two of the usual spots (rear corners of then engine compartment). It had all the bells-n-whistles too at one point it seems.
Pretty cool that it's unmolested for the most part (except by nature and a few blows below the belt that is!).

Is it a Ranger? Wasn't sure if I saw the badge on the glovebox door or not, but it's got the nice interior, the chrome body moldings, and regular Bronco badges. Stripe-delete maybe.
(edit: nevermind. You already said Ranger in your first post:-[)

Oh, and yet another one with a passenger side radio antenna! Just saw another one pop up here the other day.

I hear you on the desire to leave the paint as-is, but if it's not original, then you have more than enough reasons in the form of necessary body work to perhaps justify a full re-spray. It's not a requirement from the condition of the paint overall (which is pretty good still) but for the more major body requirements in the corners, it might just end up being a full re-spray anyway.

You might even tackle the rusty corners at the same time, but that's not necessarily a thing that has to be done at the same time either. Just nicer to do, if you decide to re-do the paint.
I wonder if it really does have just 48k miles on it? Hard to say, because back when these things were used pretty hard sometimes. So it's perfectly conceivable that all that damage happened in under 50k miles. But since the odometers turn back to zero at 100k miles, you can't know unless there is a good amount of record keeping that was done over the years.

Still and all, a pretty cool setup. Hope you got a good deal too, but those are harder and harder to come by these days.
Good luck in the decision process.

And welcome to classicbroncos too!

Paul
 
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BGBronco

Contributor
N A S H V I L L E
Joined
Jun 23, 2017
Messages
1,543
Loc.
Tennessee
I don't drive mine as far as many do here but I'm much less worried about being stuck on the side of the road than having something go wrong and end up dead in a ditch.

This has been my focus. Safety (steering, brakes, suspension, tires). Reliability (engine, transmission). Cosmetics.
 

AFLtCol

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Sep 10, 2012
Messages
1,069
Drive over to Castle Rock and visit with Melissa at Bronco Hut. She can help you our with the Ranger interior. Congrats on the eb!
 
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ekarlberg

New Member
Joined
May 15, 2018
Messages
25
Loc.
Denver, CO
Wow - thanks, everyone! Your responses exceeded my expectations and I really appreciate the candid feedback. Here are a couple of follow up questions / comments to your input:

- Yes - working first on making it safe by addressing fuel, steering, brakes, and some electrical issues. That is priority #1.
- Yes, I guess there is some rust to be addressed, but I have not found any bad rot and there is none on the frame, door pillars, rockers, etc. So, I hope that is a plus.
- I ordered the Marti report because I couldn't figure out what trim package it was either. It is indeed a Ranger, and it does have the "stripe delete" which explains the lack of the pin striping. I will see if I can post the actual report for review, too.
- I was wondering about the passenger side antenna - not sure if that is good or bad, but interesting none the less.
- I do think the paint is original, but I am not sure how to verify. It seems to be a fairly consistent color, amount of fade, etc and I can't see any overspray anywhere. Any thoughts on how I can be sure? That would be a big factor on what I do with this.
- I bought it from the cousin of the original owner. It had been on a ranch it's entire life and supposedly was only driven around locally. Evidently a pretty bad driver, though. Not sure how you can bump into so many things on so many parts of the vehicle. That part is disappointing to me. But, for those reasons, I lean towards the mileage being accurate at 48k. But, I will know more as I dig into the engine a bit further.
- Yes on the Bronco Hut visit. While the rig isn't drivable now, I will bring pictures and see what Melissa has to say.

Thanks again, everyone, and I will be joining as a contributor!
 
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ekarlberg

New Member
Joined
May 15, 2018
Messages
25
Loc.
Denver, CO
OK, I just added the Marti Report to my Gallery. If you can't see it, or the quality is poor, I also added it to the Google Pictures gallery that I linked to in the original post.
 

TOOLMAN

Full Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2009
Messages
156
I think I may have looked at that one last year for a buddy up there. It was on a lot near Mountain Parks Electric. I thought it was a little rough for what he was apparently asking. Good luck and as Bob said, come visit us at coloradoclassicbroncos.com!
 
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ekarlberg

New Member
Joined
May 15, 2018
Messages
25
Loc.
Denver, CO
Yes, Toolman, it is probably the same one. It was on the lot just to the right of Grand County Medical Services building. In fact, if you go to Google Maps and drill down close, you can see it parked on the lot. I went through a lot of back and forth with the owner. He started out telling me he turned down offers at $7,500. We ended up getting it for $5k. In hindsight, I wonder if that is still too much, but what's done is done and I haven't been able to find anything else that met my needs. Hopefully it will be a good project and there will be enjoyment out of working on it and eventually riding around in it.
 

pipeline010

Sr. Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2017
Messages
618
5k isn't too much, especially if you've got the title and it matches. Like Paul said, you've got some good stuff in there.

Clean up the engine bay and interior so you can be a little clearer on what needs to go and what can stay.

Get the engine cranking up and see what you're working with there.

And send that old ratty radio to me, that thing is hideous. ;D
 
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ekarlberg

New Member
Joined
May 15, 2018
Messages
25
Loc.
Denver, CO
Thanks, pipeline010. I was able to confirm that the numbers match on the VIN plate in the glove box as well as the number stamped on the frame. I added these pics to my gallery, too. Will do on the engine bay cleanup and engine cranking. But, I think I will hold on to the radio :)
 

TOOLMAN

Full Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2009
Messages
156
Yes, Toolman, it is probably the same one. It was on the lot just to the right of Grand County Medical Services building. In fact, if you go to Google Maps and drill down close, you can see it parked on the lot. I went through a lot of back and forth with the owner. He started out telling me he turned down offers at $7,500. We ended up getting it for $5k. In hindsight, I wonder if that is still too much, but what's done is done and I haven't been able to find anything else that met my needs. Hopefully it will be a good project and there will be enjoyment out of working on it and eventually riding around in it.

Last I heard he wanted $8500 for it. I told my buddy to offer him $4k and told him not to pay more than $5K if he was going to go after it. I think what you paid was pretty fair...considering!;) Good luck!
 

Idahorocks

Jr. Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2018
Messages
69
Loc.
Spring, Texas
Not bad for $5k. Best wishes that it only needs a little help to get running. When I got my '74 Ranger a few months ago it suffered from a lot of maintenance neglect from sitting too long. Did a thorough tune up, replaced all of the fluids, rebuilt the carb and updated the brakes to disc. Replaced most rubber and shocks on the suspension. Just had to take my time and focus on one problem at a time. It runs and drives pretty well now. The finish is still mostly original and I'm happy to keep it that way. I think it would be cool if you kept what you can on the finish but it is hard to match repairs, like what you might do to the drivers rear quarter, with the rest of the original patina.
 
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ekarlberg

New Member
Joined
May 15, 2018
Messages
25
Loc.
Denver, CO
Not bad for $5k. Best wishes that it only needs a little help to get running. When I got my '74 Ranger a few months ago it suffered from a lot of maintenance neglect from sitting too long. Did a thorough tune up, replaced all of the fluids, rebuilt the carb and updated the brakes to disc. Replaced most rubber and shocks on the suspension. Just had to take my time and focus on one problem at a time. It runs and drives pretty well now. The finish is still mostly original and I'm happy to keep it that way. I think it would be cool if you kept what you can on the finish but it is hard to match repairs, like what you might do to the drivers rear quarter, with the rest of the original patina.

It sounds like I am having a similar experience as you. Definitely has issues from the neglect and sitting untouched for so long. The gas tank and sender is gummed up, fuel lines filled with gunk, fuel pump is no good, all the way up to the carb. Just rebuilt the carb and putting in a new oil sender unit next. When that's in, I can replace the oil filter, add new oil, and then should be ready to crank the engine over - that will be telling. Hopefully all sounds good. Compression is good on all cyls. Same as you with the shocks and rubber. Rubber is all there, but cracked and dry. Seems like one thing after another, but I guess I expected this would be the case.

Question for you: Is updating the brakes from drum to disc something that would be considered a "mod" and make it "less original"? What are your thoughts on that?
 

Mikesimp70

Full Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2017
Messages
341
Question for you: Is updating the brakes from drum to disc something that would be considered a "mod" and make it "less original"? What are your thoughts on that?

If you"re going to drive it then put disks on front. Im not a big fan of spending the $ on the rear but it is flat where I live! ;)
 

Idahorocks

Jr. Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2018
Messages
69
Loc.
Spring, Texas
Question for you: Is updating the brakes from drum to disc something that would be considered a "mod" and make it "less original"? What are your thoughts on that?

Personally, I don't think it is an issue unless you are going for some concours type restoration. I want to keep the spirit of a lot of the original elements of mine but I also want to enjoy driving it and feel safe. My power drums were awful, even after I rebuilt them. I would highly recommend the power disc upgrade.
 
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