Rocket Launchero Mad Max

The time has come to build a street legal meat plow...

This project doesn't need to be justified or explained... either you get why a supercharged tire smoking, rocket launching monument to the end of days NEEDS to roam the streets , or you don't.

Join me in this endeavor and together we can live the dream.... not to copy the interceptor.... that has been done... rather we will channel the wastes and create a new iron beast to plunder the roads whilst bellowing  "WITNESS ME!"

And its going to be built from a 74 Ford Ranchero GT

Critical parts highlights will be:

* Street legal!!! so we can ride around in it (key)

* Fully Functional supercharged 400 cubic inch engine sticking out of the hood


* Functional Katyusha style Rocket launchers, (yes they are legal if non explosive)

* Pneumatic heavy cannon mounted to roll bar that shoots pool balls semi auto

* PA system for "just walk away" moments and letting other motorists know about immanent road hazards.

* Custom fury road style push bumper (meat plow) ***YAY WE DID IT****

* roll bar with off road lights and pintell mount

* riot cages for windows

* Flame throwing exhaust system (for off road use only i pinky swear)

*Mad max XB style side pipes

* Detachable steering wheel.


Optional extras if we have the enough funds:

* Custom aluminum dash board with gauges from aircraft 

* Bomber style nose art with a 70's twist

* train or boat horn with compressor system

* Rear tow bumper with winch

* coil over rear suspension

* c6 transmission with quarter stick shift

* Re-gear 9 inch rear end and air locker

* thermadore style swamp cooler

* bench seat for bed transport of warboys

* Beer dispensing trailer (holds 10 kegs, a dirt bike and has a 'waterboarding setup' for wasteland weekend



FAQ:

Why a 74 Ranchero?

Well, because that was where the inspiration started, the 73 ford falcon XB has very similar structure to the rancher, but less burly components... for actually lighting tires, hauling hardware etc, the Ranchero has a 400 ci motor and a ford 9 inch rear end, plus the 74 had the horrible bumpers on it that have perfect mounts for a meat plow. Also the 400M motor in 74 was pretty much perfect for a roots supercharger... so instead of building it off of the 351 Cleveland that Max had in his, this comes factory with lower compression setup that has retarded timing that will keep it from blowing up on pump gas (there is no race fuel in the wastes)

Why pneumatic cannons instead of real guns?

She will be getting the mounts for real hardware, but it is critical that it be street legal and be able to not get impounded by those who do not appreciate such awesome.

Rocket launchers are really legal?

yep, basically it is just a rail that has a guide for the rocket, with a high powered rocket licence it is legal to get some pretty big rockets on her. (the ones we drive around with on a day to day basis will be empty housings for safety... I'd hate to accidentally shell a town) Rockets without an explosive payload are legal to play with.

What are you going to use the funds for?

supercharged motors are not cheap... and the raw materials involved in fabrication add up.  We aren't going to 'mock up' anything, and functional accessories, gauges, everything will be real.... 

What is status? Well, we are in acquisition mode getting parts togeather

We have the ranchero, It runs, sounds healthy.  but the wiring is all trashed.

we have a spare motor with initial speed parts (we will get it running around before we get the blown 

We have the c6 transmission

We have the detachable steering wheel

We have bucket seats (frames) to recover

We have a hurst quarter stick shifter

We have some pool balls ;)

We have the flamethrower kit

the rest of the parts are lined up as are the guys to do the parts that I can't do myself,  we just need more green stuff to light on fire. (also if you are around Cerritos CA and have skills/parts etc we can use them.)

I'll be making update videos as we go.






Update: 11/7/2018

Motor Build and Grill

Sooo... the motor has been fun, the motor that came with the ranchero turned out to be a 351c, wanting to use the c6 transmission that we scrounged up we tried to use the 400M motor that we picked up for the speed parts on it... unfortunately the spiffy oil pan did not have the correct oil pickup installed so it had trashed the botom end of the motor....

In an effort to try to throw this togeather to make an appearnce for wasteland weekend 2018 we scrounged up yet another 400M motor from a 77 ranchero, but the top end on that motor was shot.....  Frustrated we then went a little overboard..... tore a 400M motor all the way down, had the block honed, sent the heads out for new valves and springs (got rid of the valve rotators so we could use a more aggressive cam)

ARP head studs, rod bolts, and main bolts, a bit more aggressive cam (112 degree separation .51 or so lift) New straight up timing gear set and chain new rings, new bearings... all the fun stuff... we kept the stock pistons, rod, and crank to preserve the 8-1 compression ratio so when we eventaully get a blower on her we can under drive by 30% or so and wind up with 10-1 effective compression and still run on pump gas.

Next, We scrounged up a 671 blower from a guy in san diego who had one that needed some love.... original small rotor 671 gmc, we had it honed, had the rotors rebuilt, pinned and plugged, The guy helping us with that is Magnum over in Whittier (same guy who built the supercharger setup from the first fast and furious movie on the charger) All the other blower guys we talked to didn't understand that we wanted to keep the outside ugly and just have the inside machined for function...




While we were waiting on the machine work for the motor we went to Nash Motorcycles in Cerritos and worked with them to create a fully functional "Meat Plow" bumper for the ranchero.

this uses the factory bumper mounts (for the ugly 1974 low speed colision bumper) to mount a heavy duty nasty little toy made from a mix of 5/8 armor plate, 7 inch steel c channel and some tubing....  going to have to beef up the front suspension, this thing weights somewhere between 200 and 300 lbs.