What do you guys think about a 4 door falcon g***er i have been thinking about setting one up straight axle all that how do you think it will look? I have never seen one before. If you have one post pics please
Personally a Falcon is still easy enough to find in a 2 dr., and still cheap enough, that I'd never consider building a 4 dr. version. The build will cost the same once you buy the car, so the only difference is the price of the car. But once completed the value of the 2 dr. vs. 4 dr. will be a huge difference, and putting all the labor and money into a 4 dr. will be wasted.
Older guys like use grew up in a era that 4 doors were considered your mothers cars or parts cars, but the younger guys grew up with 5 doors and most likely their first car was a 4 door, they don't have a problrm eith the extra doors. Even I have owned a couple of 4 door Deuce and had you tried to tell me that 20 years ago I would have told you that you were nuts. I still am not sold on all 4 doors and have owned a 63 1/2 Falcon Sprint and a 64 Futura Falcon, both 2 doors. If you have a 4 door and want to turn it into a g***er, I say go for it!. HRP
It probably has something to do with available funds. Dare to be different, not what people usually do. Let er rip!!!
since you asked what people think... The g***er scene was winding down in the late 60's when that car would've only been a few years old, they were plenty. I doubt there would have been many folks resorting to the heavier 4 door cars as they would have been competing in a weight per cubic inch cl***. 2 door sedans were and still are abundant and cheap. The hardtops are harder to find and more expensive but still not pricey. My opinion, IF you build a g***er, make it legit. The poser street g***er with 10 spoke wheels and whitewalls is tacky. Don't make it sit stupid high (like a street freak), and on a falcon you will need to radius the rear wheel openings to get a meaty tire in there (tubs are not g***er). I'm tired of hearing the "build what you've got" story about g***ers, seen too many S10 "g***ers", PT cruiser "g***ers", etc. Do it right or do something different. A g***er is a defined genre with emphasis on compe***ion. If you want "anything goes", make it a custom.
I think the concept of "g***er" has changed a lot over the years...and the new version doesn't do much for me.
Care to elaborate? I would dare say if you think the g***er scene is a fad, you could be looking in the wrong places. I hope the poser g***er and street freak style "g***er" is fading away. Real g***ers are still around and being faithfully re-created regularly. That's why I said if the OP does it, he needs to do it right.
My opinion is only worth what you paid for it. A true G***er the engine was usually a small block or smaller engine, so it was moved back 10% through the firewall & then the front was raised to transfer the weight to the rear wheels ... since the smaller engine did not have the torque to transfer the weight itself. Everything was done to get a better ET on the track, not to make it look "cool" I have heard of many 4 door car shells being used to build a G***er in the day. They may not have made it into Hot Rod magazine, but they were out there. I think they do look cool, people have been imitating them for decades to get the look. A true G***er might be a Tri 5 Chevy with a 327/4 spd. Engine pushed back through the firewall, interior gutted and made to work with the changed steering wheel, shifter position. The straight axle front end to get the weight on the rear tires for a better take off from the line. Everything was done for a reason. Others can explain it better then I. People have been building imitation G***er since the early days. Imitation is the best form of flattery ... we all love to see a good looking G***er.
About 2 years ago I almost pulled the trigger on a 4 door 65 or 66 Falcon to make a hot rod out of, wasn’t going to go the g***er route, but figured it would be cheap fun. Reality set it when I looked down my driveway and wondered where the heck I was going to put it. I say if you have the car, or have access to one on the cheap, get it, do it and have some fun. I had a buddy in HS with a 4 door Buick SW, don’t recall the year, OT for the HAMB but had those longish narrow windows/gl*** above the doors. His folks gave him the car and he worked at NAPA when NAPA had a real machine shop and built a pretty stout engine and put in a M21. He had fun and used what he had.
As a former Falcon owner..........ditch the more door or at least get some longer 2-door doors and make them work! You gonna be doing body work anyhow! I like the straight axle idea but NOT the sky high look of some guyz cars. Nice tube axle and have the front sit down so it sits nearly level. (We discovered in the 60's that nose high cars DO NOT help weight transfer after all. Soooo anybody doing it is not doing their homework.) I was there........I read it in Hot Rod....so it's gotta be true! 6sally6
You are correct ... if it worked would still be in use today ... But they tried! I wonder if it was about this era they figured out that a altered wheel base was less work and more bang for the buck? I am not saying that it was correct. But at the time this is what people were trying. And it looked good on paper .... obvious it was not correct, or todays 2021 camaro would have a straight axle under it. Our Grandparents learned in the 50's this did not work as well as it should. They kept looking for new ways to go fast. We evolved. Yet 70 years later we still imitate the look of a G***er. They just had cool looks .... I remember in the 70's a tri 5 running around town called the high chaparral. Root beer brown with white 2 tone paint, gold lettering down the side. No idea if it ever raced, just a grocery getter as far as I know. But it was cool! So @6sally6 I agree with you. Same time someone above asked to at least build it period correct. I think by the late 60's, early 70's The true G***er on the strip were all imitation copies of the cars built in the 50's. Just a fad that keeps on giving ... even though we know they are not the fastest ... they are fun. So for the original poster @63futurafalcon ... do what you want. Please yourself.
Altered wheelbase sure works....although it was not allowed in any cl***es by NHRA that I know of. Very good for run what you brung match races, though. That's what I copied, and it'll run a 10.0 with the front tires just off the ground, on 7" of rubber, with a mid 60s 12" torque converter and streetable rear gears. But my car isn't a g***er, no matter what most folks think. It's an altered wheelbase match race car. But it's not really that either, since it's street legal.
I think at the end of the day you are building a car for YOU, not anyone else. Do what you want! Haters will always be around.
Had a 62 Falcon in my college days. Always wanted to turn it into a FWD, never got around to it. Sold it for more than I paid for it which wasn't much. Probably the only car I ever made money on.
To everyone who said I’m not going to do it right and I’m building the 4 door because I got an awesome deal on it a trade for my third gen trans am and I got a small block Chevy i was gonna throw in it and push back a straight axle nothing crazy high and a 4 speed and Ford nine inch and stripped interior I don’t want to buy a whole new falcon just for a 2 door I’ll work with what i got im sure im not the first person ever to do it when I get picks of the car I’ll post them
It always amuses me that people seem to think a g***er automatically has to have a straight axle. The original ones did not necessarily.
I couldn’t source a photo of a four door Falcon but found this one of a Fairlane. The G***er revival never caught on here, I can count on one hand the number of Willys G***ers I have seen and even less for tri five Chevs. The only Four Door g***ers that look right are The Willys, Anglia’s and Prefects, they were light enough to get away with it. If you have a four door Falcon you could convert it to a two door quite easily. It’s just a matter of drilling out the welds on the B Pillars and moving them back six inches or so depending on the stock two door lengths and welding them back in place. With the supply of affordable tri five two doors finally starting to run out, this is becoming a very popular conversion. Google 55 Chev four door to two door conversion. I actually did this conversion on a four door Falcon about six years ago, on the p***enger side, it was an Aussie late model version similar looking to a 84 to 90 T Bird. I moved the b pillar back and cut and shut the p***enger door, using a donor door to lengthen it. It opened and closed, I still have the wreck in my yard.
There is a 4 door Falcon (what do I call a raised in front, tube axle car, I dunno) whatever type car, in Michigan that I have seen. It is cool, but as cool as a 2 door? no... Now if I had that car all done as it is I would love it and drive it and defend it from people who don't like the 4 door part of it. But I wouldn't build one as a g***er. (ooops I said it). I would make a cool 4 door cruiser, mostly stock. Well you asked for our opinions, but as stated it's your car to do as you want. Have fun! We'll follow along.
My point is you'll spend the same money for a 4dr. as a 2dr. to build it. But if you ever sell it, the market for 4dr. g***ers will hurt the resale value. When I sold my 2dr. '63 Falcon g***er it was on Craigslist for 3 hrs. before it sold. Doubt if I'd done the same car build on a 4dr. it would have sold as quick, or for the same money. If you plan to keep it, or don't care about resale values; then build the 4dr. g***er.
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