Bell's Speed Shop

09/02/2026

The Red Rocket has decided that it will not go into reverse. The toggle on the gear level will not move. So I moved the car into the work bay and see if I can figure it out.

The car would not start and the battery went dead. The battery is new and I had a trickle charger on it, but the charger may not have been plugged in, so the dead battery is on me.

And the exhaust stinks so I think that I am still running through some of the bad gas that was in the car. I have put several gallons of fresh gas with Sta-Bil in the tank, so if that is the issue, it should work itself out.

09/02/2026

I know that a lot of people use these oval air filters, and the Red Rocket has one. But they are so massive, they overwhelm the engine compartment. I went with a round chrome air cleaner on the Ranchero.

08/31/2026

I got the carpet shampooed on the passenger side, cleaned up the seat and put everything back together.

Although the old one were not too bad, I put new sill molding on the Ranchero.

08/28/2026

I have the AC in the Ranchero blowing cold air. Just kept pulling on the k***s and adding freon until the air got cold. The air felt pretty cold, especially with the car stationary in my 100* shop and the engine just idling. Of course, I was in the 100* shop as well and just about anything would feel cold.

The turn signals on the car were working, but not blinking. I suspected a bad flasher can. Working behind the dash in these Falcons with the seat in place is a pain unless you take out the instrument cluster, which I did not want to do. After taking out the driver's seat and a little torso origami, I got the flasher can replaced and the blinkers blink.

Taking out the seat also allowed me to give the carpet a good shampooing.

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08/27/2026

I put new spark plug wires on the Ranchero.

I seem to have a mental block when it comes to wires. I always seems to get at least one crossed. So I have started marking the cap before installation. So far, I am 2 for 2 with this method.

08/27/2026

I know that a lot of people use these cast aluminum valve covers, and I have sold several sets. But that dark grey just made the engine compartment so dark. So dour. The painted covers just brighten up everything. The Rustoleum paint is a close match to the factory color and is easy to use. Rustoleim actually puts some pigment in its paints, so it does not take 5 coats to cover. And I like the satin sheen better than gloss.

I have had a chrome air cleaner on back order with Scott Drake for about 2 months. When it gets here, I will switch it out with that huge oval thing.

08/25/2026

After the transmission delay and a quick trip to Kansas, I finally got the Magnums front and back.

08/21/2026

Ranchero is running again.

The "leak" in the transmission was actually fluid coming from the vent tube. New to me, but the torque converter can drain back through the pump and fill the pan if the car sits long enough. So the pan was already full before I tried to put any fluid in, causing the fluid that I was adding to flow out the vent tube.

I started the car a couple of times. Adding a little fluid between start-ups. Eventually, the tr**ny filled and does not leak. Shifts into and out of gear correctly.

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08/18/2026

The Ranchero is DOA. I dropped the transmission pan about a month ago to drain out the old fluid. I use silicone gasket maker to seal the pan when I put it back on. I like to let the silicone sit for a while, so I was in no hurry to fill it up. When I went to fill it today, it poured out on the floor as fast as I was pouring it in. The leak is above the pan. Not sure where it is coming from.

One thing is certain, whatever needs to be done to stop the leak, it does not need to be done when it is 106* outside.

08/18/2026

I got the old shocks off and the new air shocks on the Ranchero. The old shocks had helper springs that I could not compress to take the old shocks off, so I cut off the lower stem.