Questions and Answers

Ford Ranch Wagon Restoration Q. Vincent: I have a 1958 Ford two door Ranch Wagon that I am going to do a mild street rod conversion job on. I am going to use it as my shop vehicle when it is done. I will do some towing with it but not very often. I would like to know what the best Ford donor vehicle would be to get for the drive train. I will probably use the suspension also so that it can have disc brakes etc.

Cost and ease of acquisition are also important. I want fuel injection, auto transmission with overdrive, and a V-8 or even a V-10. I would like the best of all worlds of course, power, fuel economy and reliability so the newer the better. I have considered Mustang 5.0 because there are so many and parts are easy to get, but I think it may be to light weight for use the suspension in the wagon.

Also looked at Explorer's but don't want four wheel drive. I would love the Lincoln LS drive train but is still very expensive. Any ideas or places that I can go to get some info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Bob

A. Yes, for what you are wanting to do with this Ford I would go to a Ford F100, F150 or F250. I think the F100 or the F150 would match up to the 1958 Wagon very nicely. If it were me I would use the F150 frame and running gear and attach the wagon to the truck frame. The F100 and F150 use 15" wheels so this would look better with the wagon and you could section the frame just behind the truck cab mounts. You can stretch or reduce it as this is a good frame to work with.

And there are 2WD Ford Explorers you can use also.