The Hooniverse 1962 Ford Ranchero LeMons team races as “Los Huevos Rancheros”. Our ’62 Ranchero started out as a not-quite-starting Craigslist find. We subsequently got it running, then replaced the floors, engine, transmission, rear axle and front suspension. Despite all that, it’s still terrible and slow.
We’re back, and we’ve brought *another* old Ford Ranchero. The 24 Hours of LeMons at Thunderhill is a crazy event. Mostly because it takes place over five miles of race circuit. This race runs the full configuration at Thunderhill. If something happens on the backside, it’s going to be awhile until the wrecker gets you […]
…as you can see from this very quick clip posted by Murilee Martin. There were some issues the team had to work through during the recent race. Still, it’s great to see a Hooniverse machine out there running again. Word is that new transmission is a massive upgrade and the engine makes good power, but […]
Starting this morning at around 10AM, the green flag will fly on the Lemons race here in Sonoma, California. Prior to the race start, we will begin broadcasting live on Racecast.me, where you can watch a live feed from a handful of Lemons race car onboards, including the Hooniverse Huevo Ranchero 2.0 (below). Even more […]
Remember that part of Truth in 24 where Jason Statham growls “It always rains at Le Mans?” In the 24 Hours of LeMons, that would be “It always rains at Sonoma.” Ok, not really, but LeMons’ spring and winter races at Sonoma regularly seem plagued by rainstorms that make the already-difficult track even more challenging. […]
In an effort to simplify transmission options and have a broader torque curve, we’re upgrading from a 200ci straight six to a 250ci unit. The basic engineering’s the same, but the 250 has a longer stroke and uses the same bellhousing as small block V8. There’s not a lot of love for the 250; for […]
Long ago, I emphasized the importance of finding a “runner” for a first project car. If it can’t move and function like a car should, it’s impossible to know what other systems need work without taking things apart. Case in point: Everything but the shafts and housing of our rear end was junk. Thankfully, Ford 8″ […]
The term “rolling shell” gets thrown around a lot these days. Ok, maybe it doesn’t. Point is, we’ve got the Ranchero about as stripped as it can get. Motor and transmission: Out! Interior: Out! Steering column and pedals: Out! Glass: Out! Wiring: Out! Front suspension: Out, but now back In! In our two previous LeMons builds, […]
To be quite honest, progress has been minimal. To date, the activity’s been mostly shopping and disassembly, with little to indicate progress towards this thing becoming a race car. I’m typing this on a plane on my way to a multi-week work trip overseas, which definitely isn’t helping things.
After our ’62 Ranchero became an object lesson for my dad’s physics class, a number of people approached us at the track offering to sell us Falcons or Rancheros. Most attractive among them was LeMons sometimes-staffer and generally awesome car guy Dick McClure‘s Ranchero (note the LeMons sticker on his Quail-attending car). The car inspected, a […]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3bo-NrOv0w[/youtube] “So, uh, I guess we’re done”. The first time I said that, it was an unnerving realization. A week before the race, we had the car running just fine and all the major items checked off the to-do list. The carb and header were in, the new ignition system was working great, the front […]