Projects '63 Falcon, and '39 Chev gassers

Got lucky yesterday and found a window regulator for my Falcon's driver door! Local CL ad for a regulator that had been sitting in a box sine the 70's! Older gentleman said it was leftover from his son's high school build, and his son is in his 50's now!
I put a bandaid fix on mine not long ago, and I've been afraid it will fail and drop the glass, so glad to get a nice solid replacement.

 

That is an incredibly lucky find!

 

Yep, and $20 was better than 4x that for a cheap import repro part!

 

Good deal on the window regulator. How has the cross-ram worked out? How's the performance compared to the tunnel-ram ?

 

Great find on the window regulator. Online selling may've had a negative effect on swap meets, but I'm sure it's also helped a few people buy things they may've otherwise not found.

 

The cross ram on the Austin has been a challenge to get tuned; at least the carb part has! But it's extremely close to perfect, and performance is much better than the tunnel ram and 450 carbs I took off. I had lots of issues with rich carbs all through the idle and mid range rpm's. It only began to lean out at high rpm's, and then when quickly backed off it loaded up and fouled plugs.
I finally found a fellow who has run one for 25 yrs., and he gave me several good pointers that helped get me straight on it. I jetted the carbs down 8 sizes from #66 to #58. They may actually be a bit lean now, but I wont change them until I get some miles and can check plug color. I also reduced the power valves from 6.5 to 3.5, which really cleaned up the rich idle. The newer Holley carbs seem to want to have the idle air screws really turned in! Old ones used to like to start around 1.5-2 turns, and adjust from there. The new carbs come set around 3/4 turn out, and they seem to want to run best at around 3/4-1 turn.
The cross ram idles well, and pulls hard right off idle. Haven't got many miles on the new engine yet, so haven't taken it much over 5,000 rpm, but it pulls much harder to that point than the tunnel ram did. I also can feel the difference when you just blip the throttle in gear, as it's very responsive. The route to this point has been frustrating at times, and I've had the carbs all apart at least 6-7 times, but it's been worth it now that they're running well and it is what I hoped it would be.

 

Yes, it's often tough for me to appreciate the online sales, when I love swap meets and see what they are. But I also still find a lot of folks hate online sales and still only sell at swap meets.
Nice thing about venues like CL are I can check every day in a few minutes, and if a hard to find part pops up I can get it without a lot of effort and searching.

 

Sounds like your REAL close to getting the cross ram where ya need it! Finding the regulator on CL had to be a GOOD FEELING DAY! I have found a couple things on CL but never anything for any Hot Rod!

 

Yeah, I was pretty excited, and tore the door open Easter afternoon and installed it. Nice to not worry about it failing and breaking the glass now! I also FINALLY got my roll cage cross brace welded in yesterday for my shoulder harness mount. I've had the shoulder straps hung from the main hoop for a year, and got tired of the belts chafing my neck. Pulled the back seat, and covered the front with my weld blanket, and got it welded in. Wasn't fun welding the bottom side with my head upside down, but I got it done.

 

Glad the cross ram is tuned,and sounds like it works really good! I just got mine tuned on the new 471 blower, plugs are now a great tan light brown, and the response on the go pedal is FRIGHTINING ! Crazy power!

 

Always fun when you've got enough power to get that permanent grin going! I considered a blower, and wish I'd held off awhile. I saw a great price on a nice used B&M at the swap meet right after I had everything done and was going through the tuning! But that's always my luck to make a find after I'm done!

 

I have the same luck, LOL. Also, on the mixture screws, I found that mine seem to like only turned out 1 turn and a hair more. At 1 1/2 to 2 the engine has some wild sounding surge/hunt. Sounds cool but to much of a hand full on the street. What amount of vacuum are you reading at idle?

 

My idle vacuum is around 11"-12" at idle in neutral.

I have some major surgery coming up on the Falcon! All last summer I fought running a bit hot, and at times scary hot when stuck in traffic. I have a 19"x24" radiator that is just too small for the 464 BBC. I'm replacing it with a 19"x31" triple pass, but the frame rails are only 25" wide up front. Height is also an issue, and I can't go on top of the frame without going 17" tall max. No triple or double pass radiators available in that height. So I'm going to notch the top of the frame rails down about 1.5" and weld in a box area that I can line with rubber to support the new radiator. Hopefully the 25% increase in volume and surface area will cure the heat, and make the car more of a worry free driver.

 

First time I loked at this thread , one cool Falcon. Always wanted on in my stable, just never got around too it. It got a great stance, and the cheater slicks looked just right in the fenderwells. As a teenagaer growing up there was a falcon gagger in the area, tunnel ram poking out with N50's on back. Man that thing was cool

 

Thanks abone1930! It's been a fun build, and still lots to do before it's finished! Keeping the Falcon and Austin moving forward is a challenge to time and money. And now my wife has ordered new kitchen cabinets, so it may become more challenging fitting the cars and a kitchen remodel all together!

 

Yea I was there four years ago with my remodel of the house, A whole year, 7 days a week working on it. IM glad it over. When I think it over is when the wife springs a new one on me I save a ton on my model a , it took me alot of bargin shopping etc. to finish it. I id all the work includeing paint. You gonna paint yours yourself?

 

I don't have the place to paint a vehicle! Both my cars were built in the backyard in a canopy, but if I ever finish the house the wife has said I can build the shop afterwards! We'll see if I live long enough to finish the house and build my shop! I had a friend paint the Austin after I did the body work, and shot epoxy sealer on it.

 

Something I've been meaning to ask you.... What headers did you use for the Falcon, and did you have to modify them any to get them to fit right ??

 

Those are Patriot BBC for '55-'57 Chevys. No mods needed, but I did set engine placement based on the headers bolted to my wooden mockup engine. Had to cut the firewall and move the engine back far enough to set the headers properly.
There is one problem with these headers that is common to every set I've seen. The passenger side collector sits @1.5" farther out than driver's side! I know two other guys who have used them on various cars and saw the same thing on their installation. I had to trim my pass. side wheelwell opening a little to clear the collector, but driver's side had no problem clearing.

 

Hmm... Ok.... I was just wondering, remember I'm the guy that's building the other 63 Falcon Futura "gasser" for lack of a better word... But I'm running a 428 FE engine... So I would have to cut the flange off and could correct the inch and a half out part then.... But, I'm not recessing my engine, so I don't know if it would be better to try to adapt them, or just build my own from scratch...

Anyway, thanks for the answer ol Buddy, preciate it...

 

I found the length of the BBC engine, and collector placement both determined the engine needed to go back farther on my car. "The Complete Book of Engine Swaps" shows your 428 to be 1.5" longer OAL, so wonder if it will all clear without setting the firewall back?

 

NICE! I can't believe you built it in a tent, that is awesome! I have a 3 car garage and still haven't finished my car enough to drive it.

 

Yeah, this is the second car I've built in the tent. We do have fairly mild winters here, and when it gets too cold I run a propane space heater to get it toasty. We laid down gravel on the ground before setting the tent up, and covered that with plywood so I can lay under a car or work with a smooth surface to work off.

 

Boy I hope so.. lol... I really hate to open that can of worms, but guess I will if I have to..... I going to yank the 289 and C4 out soon as I can find the extra time.... And throw the 428 block and 4 speed in it to see what I need to do...

 

There have been a lot of interferences to getting back on the Falcon! Spent the last month remodeling my wife's kitchen. The Austin's new engine was also taking a backseat to the remodel, and had been giving me headaches. Finally got the kitchen to near finished, and have a 2 week break while we wait for granite counter tops to be fabricated.
Got back on the Austin's 355 SBC and got the bugs worked out, so she's purring like a kitten finally. So this last weekend I got back on the Falcon. Started addressing some issues with it running hot in hot weather. Swapped out the old stock cast iron water pump for an aluminum high flow pump, which after a test drive netted me a 10-20 degree change in temps during traffic jambs. Then hit the wrecking yard and picked up a late 90's T-Bird electric fan assembly to adapt to it. Need to do some reworking to gain clearance, as the T-Bird fan is 5.5" thick, and I have 4.5" to work with. I may cut the 1.5" lip off the shroud and see if I can rework the mounting. The fan is a brutish 2 speed, and on high it sounds like a jet engine taking off! Hopefully it will make the difference in more cooling during heavy traffic if I can fit it in!
If the fan doesn't keep the engine below 200* I've got a large 31" wide triple pass radiator to replace the 24". But it will take some frame notching, and reworking of the tilt frontend's tubing to clear and fit in.

 

Your a very busy man! I can't let my wife see what all you get done in a timely manner! Plus you post it all on the HAMB!

 

There's a real pot of gold at the end of the remodel rainbow! Wife said I can't build a shop out back until she got a new kitchen. I'm getting too old to keep building in that canopy, so hopefully within a year I'll have a decent small shop to build in!

 

Oh you sly dog! You go son get that kitchen all prettied up!

 

Not sure how sly I am! The kitchen was 1948 vintage, so it required stripping it right down to the studs and even removing the underlayment! All new walls, underlayment, granite tile floors, new cabinets, appliances, paint, etc. I could have built another car a lot cheaper! Not to mention the shop savings went down the tube! Gonna be saving awhile just to get enough socked away for shop materials!

 

So it's been 3 years since I got the Falcon on the road, and since I've been enjoying it, I also haven't done any paint work planned! Still the same old original paint. I did do a little more body work, which included removing the fuel filler from the tail panel, and welding the hole up. Sold the 14" Torq Thrust wheels up front, and changed to 15x4" TT wheels and 165-80-15 tires. Pulled the rear wheels, and painted all 4 centers to a dark graphite, which I like better than the polished center I had previously.
Removed the battered '63 grille, and swapped in an earlier, better grille. So made up some brackets and moved the Moon tank to low center, to avoid cutting up the new grille.
Other than that, just been driving it, and pumping lots of gas! That BBC only gets about 5 mpg, so the 16 gallon tank empties quickly! Tried driving it easier, but that just wasn't much fun!