Projects My first attempt at a Gasser

I like your build. The car is looking really cool. Watch out on used parts and sellers, but keep the faith and keep on! All the best, Mikey.

 

While I was off helping my Mom get ready for Easter Family time, my guys at Marc's Auto Creations got busy and took out the stock front end and mocked up the new 48" axle with the Wilwood disc brakes and my lil wheels and tires... Sweet!

 

I and a buddy are going to take the "limited slip" gears from the 67 fairline axle apart and see if there is anything to salvage there, then he is going to show me how to rebuild the whole setup and install the posi unit and the 3.80 ring and pinion.

 

Perfect positioning on the front axle! The front wheel combo sits just right in the opening!

 

Looking dead cool

 

We are hoping that the front won't come down more than an 1" or so once we put the motor and trans back in, its a 289 with tunnelram, so not super heavy, just have to wait and see. The width is wider than I thought it would be, gotta decide if I need to go to a 46" axle instead of the 48" before we weld in the shock mounts and lock in the spring perches. But I agree the wheel is right where I thought it should be in the opening.

 

I think the width looks perfect also! I really hate the tucked in look some cars have with an axle that's too narrow. Those tires sit perfect in width as far as I'm concerned. I really would like to get some narrower front wheels for my Falcon, as they sit out even farther than yours. But it's tough to find them in a matching wheel that's 15"x4" like I need. Mine are 14"x5.5" or 6", and just hang out a bit far.

 

I ended up going with the Summitt Pulsar rims because they were 4" wide and they were cheap! And the 135 Firestones ended up fitting just right. I assume that my steering will be somewhat scary since the tire contact patch is really small compared to the back, but i guess we will have to wait and see. I do think the axle and tire combo worked out just right on the front.

 

I didn't even know they made a tire that narrow still in a 15" rim! I thought a 155 was the smallest made, and my car has 185 on it because of the wider wheels. I've got a pair of 155-15 on my Austin, but it's pretty small and light. Steering feels just fine, and handling is good. If I find the right wheel I will probably go 165 on the Falcon, just because of the big Chevy's weight.

 

Val,
The black car I'm getting together runs 135's up front,and it's only a 2700lb car,but those little tires just don't have enough load bearing capacity for anything but an aluminum headed,fiberglass front clipped,lightened to the max type car.
Mine still has iron heads,but no heater,radio,power steering or brakes,or a/c,and the tires are just overwhelmed.
Even at max inflation,they are just squashed by the weight of the car.
I'm gonna try some 165's on it,as they have way more load bearing capacity,and their taller height will probably get the car sitting a little more level (which is the look I'm after).

Basically,I'm just saying that through personal experience,I wouldn't recommend the 135's for anything but an absolutely featherweight car.
Just my 2 cents worth...

Scott


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Yeah Scott, my BBC has aluminum heads, but with full steel front metal, plus all the frame mods adding weight to handle the BBC, it's just too heavy for anything smaller than 165.

 

I will let you guys know how it goes, we might have to change the tires, we should know by the first part of next week. I ordered the posi unit and a set of 3.55 gears, the ywill be here on Friday, I'll rebuild the 3rd member over the weekend and we should be done with the rear by the end of next week. Going to start the front end final mockup on Wednesday and Thursday, hopefully we'll have pics of the car on the new shoes on the ground by Friday of this week.

 

The body fabricator is just about finished with the rear radius and flair of the wheelwells in the rear. The plan is to have the car off the frame machine by the end of the week to see how she sits, then the final welding, bracing and putting the motor back in so I can get her running and driving in time for the Cocoa Beach Blast Car show on May 17th

 

These firestone tires are speed rated "P" and have an individual load rating of 780 lbs. each, I think I might be cutting it close, but I don't thin the front of my Falcon ways close to 1500lbs, but I guess I"ll have to wait and see how the car sits with the motor and trans back in.

 

Loving the build. I recently bought a 60 falcon and am following your build closer for inspiration and advice. It has saved me a lot of question asking here.

 

The car is looking GREAT. You must be very excited!

 

Looking good, keep the pics coming!

 

Nice work on the fender flairs! They look factory!

 

wait till you see the finished flair, they are looking really good. I'll post pics Friday night.

 

Here is the "finished" rear wheelwell flair. It will stay in primer for awhile until my budget gets built back up for the paint job.

 

That looks great!
Just grab a pint of white and paint it yourself.You can do that shit man!

And besides,if you eff it all up just sand it down and have somebody else paint it like you were gonna do

Scott


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True!, but I don't think I'll be more than a month or so before I get it painted the Matte Blue that I want. The 3.55 gears and posi unit with the rebuild kit came in today, it looks to be very complete and it even came with clear instructions, very nice Quick Performance!! Excellant customer Service!

 

The 8" is a pretty tough little rear end,you should be pretty happy with it unless
You step up the power drastically...the 67-68 Mustang housing is beefier,and not real expensive to pick up.Just an option for later if you tweak the stock one and want to upgrade,but are on a tight budget.

I'm really looking forward to seeing the car with the new paint

Keep up the good work,you're really flying along on the project!

Scott



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Nice build.
64 falcon sprint had the narrowest 9" made by Ford.
If you are going solid lifter on the SBF put a bunch of effort into the valve train. Screw in studs, hardened pushrods, guide plates a must, never and I mean never use the rail type rocker arms. It took me many years and $$ back in the day to get a package to hold together.
I agree with others on the front tires, especially if you plan on lifting the front end at all.

jim
64 falcon sprint (not a gasser, just a bad ass stop light car, back in the day.)

 

Hard to tell from the photo but those look like HYPO 289 badges on the fender?

 

Unless this chart is wrong, there were others with narrower 9" axles, and also others with equally narrow 9" axles:
http://www.carnut.com/specs/rear.html

 

The only hipo Falcons ever built were built by Ford of Canada for use as B/FX cars.....one of them ended up with a 427 SOHC as the Rankin Ford "Wild Child".
Another went to Eastgate Ford in Hamilton,and Donny Havers got one as well.

Scott


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Saw this car at the fruit cove church car show, in its "before" state. Can't wait to see it on the road.

 

Just got back from GoodGuys in Orlando, picked up a scoop and saw my good buddy Randy Irwin and found out I'm already in a Ford vs. Chevy Contest, he's building a Chevy II gasser, Damn!

 

Just plain ol badges from a mustang I think, the car was a plain jane 6 cyl, automatic car