72 Ranchero ZAV

Well, tired of the sludgebox so some plans are in the works.

See if you can guess...

ZF F250 2WD small block manual trans, uses hydraulic throwout.

F250 pedal box

Ooh. How many speeds?

5, overdrive will help the MPG and cruising

Big, strong and bulky, rated for over 400 hp, not anything like a close ratio box.

Nice, like where this story is going.

Pulled the C4 out, as of now I am going to go through that again and reinstall.

Too many others underway to start something bigger for now.

that is gonna be a real bear to get tucked in, you may end up modding the trans tunnel, on a large scale. but if you do make it fit it will be totally worth it!!

OK quick fix, installing an AOD 4th gear gives me overdrive and it will be mobile quicker, too many projects so no manual swap for now.

Anybody got a 3.55 LSD 9" pig?

Driveshaft and AOD shift adapter sourced, we should have this up and running again this week.

Stay tuned

I'm looking forward to hearing what mpg you'll get with the new trans. and a light foot.

Graefin10 wrote: I'm looking forward to hearing what mpg you'll get with the new trans.

FTFY... It's Aussie, so the last part of your post did not compute.

grafmiata wrote:

Graefin10 wrote: I'm looking forward to hearing what mpg you'll get with the new trans.

FTFY... It's Aussie, so the last part of your post did not compute.

I was wondering what 11 inches had to do with economy of the Ranchero

aussiesmg wrote:

grafmiata wrote:

Graefin10 wrote: I'm looking forward to hearing what mpg you'll get with the new trans.

FTFY... It's Aussie, so the last part of your post did not compute.

I was wondering what 11 inches had to do with economy of the Ranchero

Uh, wait... What??? I thought we were talking about a right foot...

Otherwise, that would be a REALLY uncomfortable driving-position, unless, ah, never mind...

No he clearly was talking about a Light foot

aussiesmg wrote: No he clearly was talking about a Light foot

What does some guy named Gordon have to do with this???

OK, I will try again:

I am looking forward to hearing how many miles per gallon your car will get with the new transmission. Please let us know.

There, how is that?

Graefin10 wrote: OK, I will try again: I am looking forward to hearing how many miles per gallon your car will get with the new transmission. Please let us know. There, how is that?

I manged to pull down 17-18mpg with some highway runs in my Fairlane with 3.89 gears. The overdrive helps a lot.

The AOD is installed, the exhaust tweaked to fit, the new cable linkage is go and we think adjusted correctly.

Now to dig the damned 100 yard, 3 foot deep snow drift to get it to the street. Berk snow.

Alive, at last... that took longer than expected

Overdrive is fantastic, at 70 mph now it is 800 rpm lower at approx 2200 rpm.

My "Free" Ranchero now has a new engine, AOD trans, springs, shocks, interior and brakes.

I give this one a thumbs up high five

This Ranchero is like a Subaru Brat that grew up to be a man.

Ford needs to see this and build a new one with a Coyote 5.0

The Zombiechero and I have been out stomping on snow

I betting there weren't many "ute in the snow" photos ops back down under....

aussiesmg wrote:

It always blows my mind how much engine bay room is in front of the engine on these old barges, so much room for activities

A tune up brightened up the responsiveness, plugs, oil change, timing, and fixed a vacuum leak.

Still can't outrun the 2008 6.4 diesel though

Just a little bump to show the Zombiechero does get to do some real work sometimes.

We fitted a decent stereo system, but hid the components and left the OEM AM radio in the dash, so we can enjoy some sounds without ruining the dash

300 trouble free miles yesterday, we did find a couple of things to improve, I need a better rear ratio, the Zombiechero wouldn't go into 4th gear until 80 mph and shifted down again at 60.

Ordered a 3.7 ring and pinion to replace the OEM 3.0 as I had already planned on installing a mini spool.

The ugly beast runs down the road like a new car though, seriously

This has made the cut as well