Features Falcons done right?

Ive got another "basic" question for you Falcon guys. Can any of you walk me through How to replace the control arm bushings in one of these?? Ive just been quoted $800 by the local tire place!!!!!!

 

Falcon Panels. Love em.

 

Hey u guys have not heard of me, but I am building a 62 Falcon Nostalgic Gasser, getting ready to order my front axle and of course I wrote down the stock hub to hub width measurement before ripping the suspension off, and of course I can't find it now that I have moved 2 times.

Question- Does anyone know what the stock hub to hub width is for a 62 Falcon front suspension

 

Which bushings? The lower inners simply press in and out, the upper inners are on a shaft assembly that can be ordered as a whole unit, with the end bushings screwing into the A arm and onto the shaft at the same time, and the ball joints are riveted in - you grind off the rivets and replace with nuts and bolts that come with the new ball joints. $800 will buy you most everything necessary to rebuild the whole front and/steering.

-KK

 

Not that I have noticed in the last 2 years or so....the shock tower cap (??) on the inside of the passenger side engine compartment broke loose at the 3 mounting points, but that was due to a bad part. The bolt holes were enlongated, even before I cut the coils, and when it broke it let the shock extend to the point of dimpling my hood from the underside . But, the driver's side is perfect; I welded some new steel on the stretched bolt holes of the bad pass side part, and it's working fine now.
Rob

 

All of em need to be replaced, This car sat for a looong time and is from reno so they are are really dry. Im just sick of the squeek it makes!!!! oh, Ive already replaced my upper ball joints (which were already in with bolts). I havent done the lowers because they still have some life in em.

 

You can buy whole new control arms for next to nothing. They are the same as Mustang ones and are plentiful.
Find a new garage...

 

It's not hard...I did both of mine. To be honest, I used a tech manual for a Mustang and a downloaded Mustang catalog from National Parts Depot to rebuild mine, so I don't remember exactly, but I remember it went together really easy.

http://www.npdlink.com/modules.php?name=Mustang_Catalog

Except for those goddamned strut rods.....
Rob

 

That would be hard to measure without taking the springs out, jacking the front suspension to ride height and measuring. But I can tell you that the rear end drum-to-drum measurement is 56 inches, and the front track width is quoted at 1/2" wider, so let's call it 56.5".

-KK

 

I dont even see just the bushings for sale in the npd catalog.... would you recommend replacing the whole arm??? And when you buy the control arms do they come with the bushings???

 

I have done this several times. I buy a complete front end kit from Kanter, the cheapest way to go. Aftermarket mustang control arms are made in China. Tear the whole front end apart. Use a torch to burn out the old control arm bushings for easy removal. Press the new ones in. Replace the tie rods, ball joints, and steering components as necessary. In a 40 year car, you will probably need everything replaced.

Bettter yet, get a plasma cutter and cut the shock towers out and weld in an aftermarket IFS. The only way to go IMHO......

Doug

 

Maltese, On my car I`m using a 46" axle with 37 style Ford spindles and everything fits fine. I hope this helps. Gasserman

 

Xx,
I did a lot of research before I replaced mine; believe it or not, I got my whole lower control arm set from a store on eBay a LOT cheaper than NPD or Kanter, and I used him because a lot of Falcon guys I know have bought his stuff; it looks great, and works perfectly.
Rob

 

65 - 66 XP falcon .... Last grill and Light surrounds I saw on Ebay sold for $20 ......

 

small pic update on my build

 

my little 61' street truck .

stock front suspension ( updated to use coil overs)
tubbed ,four link, bacially just made plain evil by the mad scientists
at southwest custom trucks .

 

Well now that is a nasty looking Ranchero! Nice!

 

need to see more pix of the ranchero j.d.

 

Man I hope project cars are cool to post.
The 64 with the red hood was my 1st car.
Pop paid $25.00 for it back in the mid 80's.We painted it in the garage and
I drove it for two years.I parked it in the grass for 20
after the trans quit.....
Was a total loss and I had to patch everything
from the floors to the roof but now I can at least "see" it getting done
in the near future.
The black 64 was just bought as a "parts car"(that's what I told the wife,hehe) but it's so nice I am going to go the gasser route with it. Both cars are mini tubbed.
JD

 

if the sun comes back up this weekend, i'll take some newer photos.

AndrewnTX, that is one clean ride .

 

I checked out autozone(GASP!) and they actually have the lower control arms for like $54 and they come with the lower ball-joint attached, but they dont sell the upper arm. It also has some sort of warranty.

 

here is a bad pic of mine. working on some steel rims and a narrowed axle so i can lower her and 1" or 2" without rubbing. (anyone want to buy some brand new 16" torque thrusts II's

poor old gal spent her first night getting snowed on since ive had her... had to move her out of doors to work on the 63 galaxie500 i just got.

broke my heart to see her covered in white stuff this morning. she's coming in tomorrow and the wifes car is on the street!

(no way thats going to happen, wife would kill me if she walked into the garage and there were Two 63 1/2 ford hardtops in there)

 

Hey Falconers, I showed ya'll my 1st '63 a few pages back (yellow w/suicide doors). That Falcon was 30 years ago. Nowadays my wifey and I are slowly building another '63, a simple Futura this time. These photos are from Summer '09. For fun, we screwed on a set of tail light lenses from a '63 Galaxy 500XL. Yep, the tag reads NXS as on my credit card balance ...

 

In more places than one!

 

Just did this a few weeks ago when I lowered mine. It's pretty simple if you have power tools. remove tires, remove inner fender plate (it has the bump stop atttached to the bottom of it) unbolt the shocks, unbolt the shock towers, Use a spring compresser (rent one for free at auto zone) till the spring is compress and then pull it out. Its pretty easy but a lot of work. that inner plate is a bitch to get off unless you have a friend holding a wrench on the other side to losen and tighten and the bottom two nuts on the shock are a pain to get too but all in all it just took time.

 

hey thanks solo, how many coils did you cut??? And do you have to put a "flat" spot in them after you cut 'em??? Ive obviously never cut coils before.

 

Np! I cut a 1 & 1/4 coils and it sits perfectly even with the back which has 3" blocks. I cut the coils off the bottom instead of the top because of the flat portion of the spring I didnt want to mess with that way it sat.

 

Noobie here with one that's not quite done, but I think it will be right when it is...

Man this thread has legs...

 

what motor is this? It looks a lot like a SBF but the front cover is throwing me off.

Rob

 

It's a SBF. Just a mock up for the sake of a picture with an early style timing cover, no water pump