Hello there. I have a 1963 Ford Ranchero that came with a 170 I6. I'm wanting to swap a 351W and I need to know what would need to be done with the 4-lug I6 suspension and the easiest and most affordable way of replacing or beefing it up to hold and support the weight/torque of a lukewarm 351? I've heard many talk about a Mustang II/Pinto front end swap. Is it worth it and what would be needed from a donor car? I have both a mustang II and a pinto stationwagon available to me at a local picknpull. I'm just not crazy about cutting and hacking on my front end but I guess that may be necessary for this kind of setup.

Also, a local friend owns a couple of 61-67 Econoline pickups and I know they are built on the Falcon platform. Would their 5-lug suspension bolt under my Ranchero and hold the weight of a V8? Those are my options as far as I know. I'm open to any advice and opinions.
Thanks.

 

Welcome to FTE.

First, you will find the 351W a bit tight, enough to give your exhast manifold/header trouble. A 302 will fit right in, and would be the way I would go fwiw.

The Econoline pickups use a straight axle, right? In the day, straight axle swaps using an Econoline front axle were done. Pretty good swap if you are driving 1/4 mile at a time.

The rear axles on those might be 9", which would be great. However, they might be offset, which will not work. Check them out, and measure the width and compare it to your car. The Econoline used the Falcon name, but used precious few, if any, Falcon parts.

There is nothing wrong with the basic front suspension design, as long as it's fresh, upgraded to 5 lug, disc brakes preferrable, and reinforced in the way Ford did it for Falcon Rally cars and Shelby and other Hi Po Mustangs.

You can cut and reweld the spring towers if you simply must run the 351w. IMO, unless you are building a fire breather 351W, it is a waste of time and money to modify the car to fit one. Serious, don't put some stock weazer in there....

As for carving up a MII or Pinto, forget it. Mustang II suspensions are produced using the original design, not the original parts. Remember the had 4 lug wheels and smallish brakes.

Falcon conversions are a well know commodity. A simple search will get you tons of links and discussions, starting with:

6 Cylinder to V8 Steering Conversion - Falcon Enterprises

 

No Econoline shared the Falcon Ranchero's platform, both are completely different.

At one time, Ford put Falcon nameplates on some Econoline's, but they're no more a Falcon than an Lincoln is a Cadillac!

1961/67 Econoline's have a solid front axle, while Falcon's have independent front suspension.

 

351 would likely require re-work of the spring towers, like Ford did on the Fairlane Thunderbolt to accommodate the FE big block 427. Kinda nasty job.


I put a 430 Lincoln in a '63 Falcon by reworking as described. Used a 9-inch rear, front steering knuckles I seem to remember actually DID come from a Fairlane, but the ball joint sockets had to be bushed, as the studs on Falcon B.J. were smaller diameter. I substituted stiffer springs in front. Have no pics of that one, but next year bought a '64 Falcon, same eng. went into it, seen below. That time I did not re-work spring towers, but rather opened for header tube clearance. impish

 

Hhhm, wouldn't have thought about that 430. How did that run? Did you do anything to that motor? Did you race it?

Cool pics and story.

 

Thank you! I loved the MEL engines, the 430 in particular, with it's huge wide rods. A guy out my way ran one in "A" Gas, his clutch blew up at 7000! I never raced (officially), the eng. was stock, those things were rated 495 ft./lbs torque! A young snot with a 327 Chevy, about a 64, 65, challenged me to race. He power shifted like a demon, I had a B/W 4-speed, shifted normally, and wiped his ***. Illegally, yes. In northern Illinois. impish

 

It can be done because I have one in my driveway, unfortunately it was delivered to me inoperable after buying it on eBay motors. It was in Texas had great pictures the seller said that it ran great and they used it mostly on weekends. Yeah I even messaged him and asked if there was any rust and he assured me that there wasn't and pick a couple pictures of the undercarriage and everything looked great so I went ahead and won the auction. After it was delivered to my home in San Diego I immediately called eBay motors and told them that I would need a refund because the vehicle was not as it was posted. eBay said since it was over 30 years old there was nothing they could do so I asked about the title situation because the seller sent me a title that his name wasn't even on and get this has been signed in 2008 in Utah so Lord knows how many people had it before this guy did. It's been my place almost 3 months and I'm still trying to title it in my name because I can't really start doing any heavy work on it until I know I'm going to be the actual owner the seller in Texas says in Texas if the vehicle is not running you don't have to title it but I think the actual lie is if the vehicle is not running you don't have to register it because the law in Texas you have to title it into your name within 30 days of bringing it into Texas he's had at least 2 years. I was going through my research I've been doing and found out that I do believe the seller is actually a used car salesman he has his own used car lot which would make him a lot more reliable for any type of misinformation or deception about the car's condition which he definitely did. If I can get the title taken care of I'll put the extra money into it to get it going cuz it's a unicorn they sure won't be another one in the neighborhood I'll tell you that it's 4x4 351 Windsor in a 63 Falcon Ranchero how awesome is that these are the broke down pictures I'll send a couple of the pictures they had in the post on eBay and you'll see what I mean I had to buy it look at it. So it can be done like my daddy said with enough money enough time and a couple of well skilled people you can put anything into anything. Here's some pictures of what mine looks like under the hood it's a mess right now I know I've done as much as I can without throwing more money into it they try to prepare it for when the title shows up I just DMV this week and now I have to have verification of the vehicle identification number done by a police officer, I need to get a valid weight certificate issued by an authorized California weighmaster, and then I have to download any conversations I've had with eBay about this situation and the seller download it make copies of it then I have to make a statement of the facts and sign it stating how I got the vehicle. Then I got to mail it to the California DMV and keep my fingers crossed to see what happens right now I'm checking into a possible lawsuit because if the guy that sold it to me is a used car dealer he's held at a higher standard on how the car was advertised and sold so we'll see what happens there I'd like to keep it but I'd like some money back to work on it too so we'll see what happens good luck with yours here's the pictures and I'll try to get a couple of the good ones right now

 

Best and cheapest swap is to find an early Falcon, Mustang, Maverick, that is a V8 car . It will have everything you need to make the swap with minor corrections. I've never played with Mustang II or Pinto, so I don't know about those for a swap. If this is not going to be a race car any stock car that I mentioned is excellent for a daily driver/hotrod.