Features Falcons done right?

Unfortunately the Mustang II rear is gonna end up about an 1 1/2" wider than the Falcon. Not much room to redrill the pattern in the axles with the huge access hole that Ford drilled in the face of the flange either. Been there, tried that. A fairly early small Ford ranger or small Bronco checks in at about 56", but would nessitate a redrill too.

 

Oh, made my template for the Shelby drop deal a year or two ago out of some stray 1/2" stock around here. Made a cool spring compressor too!

 

Made a template too, about a decade ago. Culled a pair of OEM splined bolts to go in it, too. Have now used it over 50 times!

 

Hey gimpy's, How does your car ride with the heavier springs in the front? I have to go back up just a hair on the front of the wagon and I have been contemplating going the same route you have. I just can't have it be so still it's uncomfortable for the girl and dogs like so many of the cars I build for just me.

 

It is stiffer than stock, by quite a bit. I like it. It handles well. I did a '64 a few years ago, with Grab-A-Track 620 springs, from Mustangsplus.com. That was too stiff for, for my liking, but the customer loved it. That is why I went with the Shelby GT-350 springs, from Mustangs Plus. They are a nice compromise. I would cut a full coil off of them, right out of the box, as they are in the nosebleed-stance category on an early Falcon, with a six, otherwise. I took out a second coil, and got this:
I am sure that it will settle a little more, but I am cool with that. The rear will be coming down to level, when I have the scratch to re-do it all back there. There is a 1" bar up front, too. I cut down a set of later strut-rod poly bushings, as the early Falcon's are different. These may be too stiff. I will swap these out for rubber, possibly this week, and see if that softens the cycle up a bit. I also pumped up the little radials to the max to dial out some of the softness when the worn, soft spring were still in there, and I keep forgetting to put it back to something less silly. I will post how that changes the ride.

 

Cool, much appreciated!

 

First time in 4 years that it drove and stopped on its own...

390/C6 - blocks in the back and bags in the front.

 

congrats on getting it running. nice stance.

 

I love those rare occasions I see FEs in Falcons. Way cool.

 

Do you have the template with measurements?


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I did the drop on my comet. Found a printable layout on one of the mustang sites. Glued that to a bit of aluminum, drilled big holes in the 'old' locations and holes just big enough for my center punch in the 'new' locations. Couldn't use it as a drill guide obviously but it's what I had laying around.

 

One inch down, and 1/8" back from the stock locations. I made the upper holes a tight slip fit for the stock upper holes, and made the lowers 1/4" then up drill them in several stages until I'm done.

 

I'm pretty sure I wore out my Unidrill going through the towers, lol. By the fourth hole I couldn't keep enough oil on it I stop it smoking. Can you sharpen those things?

 

Yes, you can recut the leading edge to get it sharp again, and sharpen the tip like any drill bit.

 

I got my new Hurst tires today for the Falcon, and got them on. Then did some test fitting of old Mercedes front fender lip to finish up the wheelwell radius.

 

Looking good, looks like you did away with the shock towers to squeeze that 390 in there.Any pictures of the bag set up on the front?

 

Some pics attached. Yes shock towers are gone.

I used a stock M2 cross member and Heights lower A-arms and their upper bag mount. I had to add an outboard upper shock mount to make it work. Standard Firestone 2500 bags. have since changed the front shocks to ones with integral bump stops - yellow.

 

Cool, good to see. If I won't sound like a total ass, I'd like to make one suggestion though. I see you went over to tube "strutless" lower arms. One of the best things you can do with that situation is to make a rear mount that captures the the lower inner pivot and ties to the frame. The strutless "A"type arms on Mustang IIs have a bad habit of tearing the rear wall of the crossmember out when that rear pivot is not mounted in double shear due to braking and suspension shock loads. By adding the bracket I'm speaking of, you remove that load from the cross member's rear wall and apply it back out to the frame rails where it went in the original Mustang II design with the strut rods. Member here ElPolacko wrote the most definitive Mustang II tech post ever many years ago and it is available with a simple search here on the H.A.M.B., and addresses this deal super easily.

I'm not meaning to criticize your work, but I have seen this deal happen time after time between doing my own shop stuff and helping ove at El Polacko's shop over the years.

 

Hey gang,
I hate to sound like the town librarian again, but it's time to remind everybody that we have a huge Falcon tech thread called "Doing Falcons Right" here on the H.A.M.B. as well. It kinda behooves us to keep all the tech stuff in one place so it doesn't get dilluted and will be around forever in one spot. the original intent of this thread "Falcons DONE Right" is to display finished cars for all to see... Sorry if this ruffles some feathers, but done right we can keep both threads viable and easy to use.

 

Great suggestion - I see lots of value in that idea.

Thanks

 

Thanks for posting I was just curious on how it all worked together.I have a 64 and wanted to bag it a while back but over the course of the last two years I changed my mind.Took off my lowering blocks on the rear and I am now trying to squeeze in the tallest piece of rubber I can fit into my rear wells.

Been hunting for another block to start building over the summer and into the winter with hopes of having it ready by early next spring.I didn't want to shoehorn a 351 in the small engine bay so as of now been looking for a 302 to build.

 

Totally. Even in my RAINMAN mind, I've always thought this was a big problem in the Strut Eliminator lower arms. I can SEE it twisting every single time it takes a bump in the road.

 

You have probably seen a good number of the cross members Steve has fixed over the years because of this deal. I have a few under my belt these days too. Just one of those deals I'm kinda picky about, and it probably comes from driving my cars as hard as I do.

 

On the topic of strut rod bushings, of the stock-style variety: I took out my custom polyurethane ones today, and replaced them with good old rubber. It was a VAST improvement in ride comfort. The suspension actually moves now.

Now, if I can just figure out why my brand-new, fully greased, passenger-side upper ball joint is squeaking, I will be a happy camper. I suppose that I might be pushing the limit of the balljoint travel running this low, but why just the right side? I will probably cut-and-weld my control arms to fix the balljoint angle. I can't see spending $300 on a pair of wedges, and a pair of balljoints.

EDIT: I found some wedges on that Internet auction site that shall not be named, for less than my time is worth to cut-and-weld my arms, so those will be installed as soon as they arrive. Might not be totally necessary, but, for my mental health, they are going in.

 

"searchin for beaches" my over painted 63 wagon...

 

Really liking the Econline headlight surrounds. Perfect!

 

Yeah, digging those!

 

This is my '63 Falcon. True story: I bought this last Fall (2012) from a retired school teacher. She received it 2nd hand as her college grad present in 1965. It had been in her garage since 1991 when she parked it for the winter and never drove it again.

 

Nice...........

 

More, please!