Features Anybody drive a Falcon everyday?

I'm lookin for a 60-65 Falcon to drive daily (it will replace a boring *** Civic). Got to be a 144,170 etc Six for economy. Anyone drive one of these everyday? Highway speeds, around town and 100-200 trips? Tell me about your experience with them. I know the 144 six is pretty slow, is the 170 that much better?

Interested in the Falcons because they are common, cheap, and simple. Galaxies and Fairlanes with sixes are also reasonable but when you venture to other economy rides like early Novas the price seems much higher. Would be open to anything 60's that gets good mileage and is cheap. Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks
Andy

 

I used to drive my hot rod Falcon everyday, but no longer own it.
Why not use a turbo-charged four out of a Thunderbird?
Five-speed and plenty of power for such a light car.
That's what I want to do...
r

 

I read about guys doing that on the TFFN site. It seems like a somewhat common thing to do. Only thing is dropping a late model motor (especially one with a Turbo) will make it more complicated than I want it to be. I'm not lookin for speed in this car. I have always really liked the Falcons/Comets for their simplicity and style and just want to make a decent little driver out of one.

The Turbo T-Bird motor would be cool and certainly different than the 260,289,302. Check out the TFFN site for links to the T-Bird swap if your interested.

 

I had one down here with an 80's aussie 6 (250+ 3 speed) in it on LPG was a great daily driver, cost less to run the the Auto 1.8 Subaru my dad had.

 

I have a '64 Ranchito with 170 and factory 4 speed. It has 3:50 gears which I don't like. I'll be adding a rear from a Mustang II with a taller ratio soon. The little six pulls good and likes to rev in a lusty way. Watch out for rust in these cars. If anyone knows who pops new floorpans, I'd like to know. I don't drive mine everyday anymore as my commute is really long and my "Driving Appliance" Focus gets great mileage. But the Ranchito is my parts getter and I like it. My grand daughter has decided that she likes it and if my son in law wants to help me get it right I will sell it to her. Cheap of course, but when you GIVE a car to a kid they won't take as good of care of it, IMO.

Good little car. I prefer the crisp styling of the '64 and up ones, but the round ones are pretty cool too. The six cars have 4 lug wheels and I had a hell of atime finding chromies for it. Sure looks neat with them though.

Phil

 

I drove this '62 comet daily for about a month and a half while it was for sale. I put a fresh 200 in it with a 2 speed. It did great around town, and was about 15-17 mpg on gas. I certainly did not get in any hurry off the line, and she was wrapped out pretty good on the highway. I would not have taken a 200 mile trip in it, without putting a c4 in it. The proper bellhousing to put the c4 behind the straight 6 will run you about $100 from what I found. There is a guy here in town that I talked to who has a super clean 64 falcon 4dr with a 260 in it that I know I could get for a grand. Let me know if you think you might be interested in it. with the 2bbl on it, it should not be to bad on gas. Its a one owner car with a repaint about 15 years ago. Its no show piece, but a great driver candidate.

 

I also have 65 mustang 200c.i.d. six, and ****** that came out of that car. Its up for the taking if anyone wants it. I would say its safe to ***ume it needs to be gone through.

 

i drive a 66 econoline supervan daily, with a 170 in it and can cruise at 70mph all day long. its getting there thats a little tough,, especially witha 3 on the tree... try not to pull out in front of trucks as much as possible.....its pretty scary when you realise your not in a honda hahha.

all in all i have no issues with the 170 in it, and keep up with traffic no problems and i live in a pretty busy part of central NJ with some major busy hiways

 

I drive my Fairlane a lot.
Will be more from now on...

Its got a 289 in it. 4v carb. headers...3 sp manual ******. 3:50 rear end.

I regularly get around 18mpg.


I figure some highway friendly gears and an overdrive ****** and I'd be getting over 20mpg easily.


I have an S-10 with a 2.5 liter engine in it that gets 20 mpg.


If I were you, I'd put a V8 in that Falcon and have more fun and get the same gas mileage.

 

I've been driving Falcons and Comets for dailys for 20 years now. They are the easiest thing in the automotive world to fix and keep on the road for cheap. The later 200's and drivetrains are a little easier for long trips and daily running. The earlier 144's have solid lifters and non'syncro'd 3 speeds or 2 speed automatics which barely keep up with traffic. I like the late 70's 3 speed overdrives that came in Fairmonts or the optional 4-speeds which I'm trying to find right now for a swap. The Ranchero's like Chili Phil's are fantastic dailys, haul like a little truck, ride like a car. Even the V-8's get decent mileage. My 65 Cyclone runs around 19 on average and the 65 Falcon wagon I recently sold got 22 mpg on a 2300 mile trip. They're very dependable and easy to get parts for.

 

I had a 65 Falcon Ranchero in the 80's too. I drove the piss out of that thing. It had a 170 with a three on the tree. I don't care what anyone says that motor could scoot. I used to catch tropical fish for a living so the Ranchero was my daily driver/tow truck/salt water hauler. I treated it like **** and it loved me for it. Everyone loved that car. Then I got stupid and swapped in a 302 and C4 from a 68 Couger. Swapped the front end out from a V8 Falcon and a 9in from a Mustang. Started to worry about the rust and sweat the details. The Ranchero totally lost its charm. I shoulda left well enough alone. I have great memories of the 170 and three on the tree. Watching young kids try and figure out the shifter on the rare occasion that I had to have it valet parked was always fun. Thanks for the post dude you brought back sweet memories!!!
Later,
rustfarmer

 

I bought mine for your exact reasons. I love them and this 63.5 is my second. My first was a 63 Ranchero. I'm still second guessing whether I should have gotten another one of those, it was a blast. Both mine had the straight six; ran like a work horse and never let me down. Off the shelf parts anywhere and cheap. Now with fordsixparts, you can really hop them up. Guys at fordsix.com are running turbos, triplee carbs and blowers.
Have fun and keep us posted.

 

I bought mine for your exact reasons. I love them and this 63.5 is my second. My first was a 63 Ranchero. I'm still second guessing whether I should have gotten another one of those, it was a blast. Both mine had the straight six; ran like a work horse and never let me down. Off the shelf parts anywhere and cheap. Now with fordsixparts, you can really hop them up. Guys at fordsix.com are running turbos, triplee carbs and blowers.
Have fun and keep us posted.

 

I had a '62 wagon with the 170 and a 2 speed automatic. The motor was a good little motor but avoid the 2 speed autos. That thing could get out of its own way. It'd do 70 no problem but you could grow a beard waiting for it to get up to speed.

 

Amazing how opinions change. I remember the 1st time I saw a Falcon, some family friends had 3. 1 60-63 Ranchero, 1 61 2 door, and 1 62 2 door. The 2 doors were Robins Egg Blue w/ white tops. I was like 16 and thought nothing of them (especially the color) and now I dream of having a 60-63 2 door like the ones my friends had (even the same Robin's Egg Blue).

A 260 or 289 might be an option in the future and I may not be so opposed to buying a car with one in it for economy sake. I guess dealing with a Cadillac 429 has made me biased V8 = Poor MPG.

I would be interested in a Fairlane but they seem harder to come by and more expensive.

 

Oh yeah - on transmissions, I really like the 3 in the tree. Was 1960 the only year with the non-synchro ******? I had a Willys 3 speed with a non-synchro and it was kind of a pain to drive in town (fun though).

I've looked at several of them around Iowa and most were rust buckets - to be expeceted. The floor pans dont bother me so much but 2 of the ones I wanted to buy had nothing left of the rear frame rails. Since this is a unibody car should I care about rust in the floor pans? I've replaced some floor pans on body-on-frame cars but never a frame section. It seems pans would be a hell-of-alot easier than a piece of frame.

 

I believe first gear was not syncronized until 67. My 65 and earlier Falcons and Comets had to come to a complete stop before they'd go into first. Rusty floors can be replaced by aftermarket ones. The last floor job on my Cyclone was a full floor from Auto Crafters if I recall correctly. Rust in shock towers, frame rails, and torque boxes is much harder to fix. The worst is the cowl vent which rains on your feet every time it gets wet.

 

I know about the Cowl Vent. A friend had a really nice 69 Torino but the cowl was rusted and leaked some water in. The expensive fix was to remove most of the dash, windshield etc and replace the rusty pieces. The cheap fix was some caps that went under the vents and kept water out.

Amazing how much hell those leaking cowls cause. Water leaks and settles on the floors, rusts through the pan and eventually starts rusting the front frame rails. If the waters a trickle it will often run down the front of the floor pan and under the carpet so you don't even know it.

 

I used to drive my '61 Futura daily. It was no problem.

I could easily cruise at 65 and push it to 80 mph (measured) but it felt like the engine wanted to explode at that speed. Regardless, I drove it from Phila to Connecticut a few times -- 150 miles, and to Pittsburgh and back once -- 700 miles.

I personally like the styling of the early Falcons. In any case, the drivetrain is cheap and reliable, so if you want to do it, go for it.

 

I drive a stock '63 Wagon as a "Daily car" during the decent weather months. It is a 170/2.77/3.50. The Wagon gets good mileage and can haul most anything I need. I don't use it a a Commuter car as I drive @ 10 miles each way to work. For longer distances the low gearing is a definite concern. I don't think you would have a ny trouble at 55-65MPH but sustained modrn hiway speeds of 75mph would make short work of the drivetrain.

The other suggestions about later drivetrains is a good one. The late 60's Falcons and the Mavericks in the 70's had 8" rears with higher gearing. I have a '61 Comet with the drivetrain from a '71 Maverick and that is much better suited to hiway driving. Take avisit to the afore-mentioned TFFN and FordSixPerformance sights and you can find others with the same concerns.

http://fordsix.com/forum/

http://tffn.net/phpBB2/index.php?sid=bf3c19f29630e8b24928b4991df83f21

 

Drive my '60 every day, 144ci not a powerhouse but you should know that. Cruises along nicely at 65mph, all stock, good mileage. Thinking about swapping in a 200ci, which I hear is the best one to swap in with no modifications... and they sell ****loads of speedparts for those

 

I drove a 63 ragtop for 4 years year around roughly 1973-77; 144 engine and 3 spd. Certainly not fast but absolutely dependable.
After that it was a 64 HT, originally a 260, put in a 302/4spd. Another great little car especially the 8" limited slip rear. Drove it from Boston to NH right thru the Blizzard of 78, had a drunk T Bone me 1/2 mile from home!

 

use mustang floor pans from the same year they are supposed to be exactly the same Ford based the early mustang to66 on the falcon platform .All the mustang bottom panels are supposed to fit the Falcon sedan including frame rails etc.Ford also introduced the 4 speed to the public in the 62 falcon Furura Sprint they used the trans from the English Ford Cortina made in Dahgenham England.I can tell you from expierience that this trans can not take even minor abuse.It was intended for a 1300cc mill. Still have a rebuild manual around here someplace for this trans Futura Sprints came with a factory 2 inch top chop in the late 70s windshields were impossible to find around here

 

I sealed my cowl vent up... no more leaking. Now if I want fresh air, I just open a wing window. My commute is 60miles/day. The bird is fine for that trip. I now have an 8" rear end with a 3:00. That's nicer for the freeway, but I'm still runnning the 2 speed. As long as it works, I'll use it. Then I'll swap in a C4.
Like someone else said, parts are cheap and abundant. You can upgrade master cylinders, engines, rear ends, ******, etc with Mustang, Maverick, Fairmont, Granada, Comet, etc. Everything just bolts right in for the most part.

 

[
Like someone else said, parts are cheap and abundant. You can upgrade master cylinders, engines, rear ends, ******, etc with Mustang, Maverick, Fairmont, Granada, Comet, etc. Everything just bolts right in for the most part.[/QUOTE]


and the V-8 guys practically give the 6 banger stuff away.

keith

 

I drive a '64 Falcon wagon as my daily, 170, 2 speed. I have also owned a '62 Comet 144, 3 on the tree. Both were/are great cars, but I would also suggest staying away from the 2 speed Ford-o-matic, the wagon tops out at about 65, but the Comet would do 80 all day long. I love the simplicity, and economy of these cars, and I think they make great dailys. If I ever sell my wagon I'm sure I'll just end up with a Ranchero, or maybe an early round body 2 door sedan.

 

Interesting about the cowl problems, its not something I have noticed on the local ones, I know my Holden has a little pipe that runs from the bottom of the vent to the inner guard, when these things give out (or clog up)they drop water in the car.
My last one must have had a bad rear window seal as for a pretty rust free car the parcel tray was bad !! either that or it missed paint somewhere along the line.

 

I've definately noticed that when someone wants to upgrade to a V8 in a Falcon the Six and ****** are usually given away or sold very very cheaply. It also amazes me how many people who don't even own Falcons anymore still have the original motors laying around.

I'd heard the Mustang and Falcon were based on the same platform and that info about the pans and rails is very useful. I've also heard alot about the 200 swap which seems very common and relatively easy.

 

When I bought ranchero in 86, I drove it every day. It was a 302/2bbl with a four speed. of course I couldn't leave it that way for long but I still drove it everywhere. It had a ****py set of pinto buckets and no radio. It was off the road from late 87 till 01. Now I drive it less but I still like it alot. Still has no radio, no heat, manual steering and drum brakes, cool.