Features Doing Falcons Right

That would be a lot of fun.....

 

Now that, I like!

I am going for the same feel, but more finished and as period correct as I can get....down to the tags in the engine bay, to the special "assembly line marks" on the underside. Mine will echo the Ford "factory lightweights" and the Thunderbolts in a big way.

It will be a "what if" car...as if Ford had produced such a factory option for the Falcon in 1965.

Hell yes it would be.....you could get into lots of trouble in that car

 

Back in the early 70's I had 2 '65s. One was a Futura, similar blue, flat black bubble hood, 2 gallon moon tank hanging off the front, Cragar 4" on the front, plain white rims on the back with 7" slicks, and one very NASTY 289, from an original AC (Shelby) Cobra with a 2x4 crossram manifold. It was gutted of everything it didn't need to be legal or get it down the street.

The "tow" Falcon was a Sprint, that I bought sans engine and trans. It was a former NHRA record holder. I dropped a 302 and C4 in it and painted it black with metal flake and the obligatory Cragars. They were both great cars, but I enjoyed tearin' up the streets with the blue one.

Good luck on yours.

 

j. r., yeah, that hood is a good idea, so you don't have it done?? Ha, ha!! Love these Falcons, my beater '64 wagon is coming right along!!

 

Got a 75 Granada 200 ignition set up from Rock Auto for my 62 motor. Will this work out?


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If it's an actual '62 block, I think the distributor hole is too small. Your only option to get away from the LOM on those engines is a DUI or maybe a vintage Mallory.

 

The bore size for the oil pump drive portion is smaller and the oil pump drive shaft on your 62 is 1/4" vs 5/16" for the 75. The change was made in 64.

 

I have a 200 block from a early 70 ford... I was hoping to not switch but it looks like I'll have too.


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Got a couple of projects on the go or just finished on the convertible.

First up is getting rid of the Toyota 8 inch a rear axle with 4.11 gears that the previous owner had fitted and replacing it with a 3.00 ratio 8 inch......



......and I also picked up the seat console I have been building from the upholstery shop.

 

If you have a 200 from the year you say, the Granada electronic distributor should fit. I had one from a '75 Maverick in a 200 from a '67 Mustang IRRC..

 

Ford "Did" the Falcon right, and I'm doing it as close to the way they did it as I can.

This is the way we got "Buttercup". No cancer, almost totally original everything, including paint.


And this is what she looks like now.




I did do a $5 resto under the hood...

Then:






During:




















Now:








I still have to get the correct decal pack for under the hood. Then it's on to the other things.

More pics here: http://s185.photobucket.com/albums/x247/Rotorranch/1964 Ford Falcon Futura/?start=all

Rotor

 

And that Dura spark II is one of the best mods you can do to your engine in my humble opinion! I hid my ignition box in plain sight just behind the valave cover on the firewall, and built a custom harness with a Weatherpack type connector out to the distributor. I't amazed me how many folks have missed seeing it altogther.

 

how come your FALCON's license plate says MAVERICK?

 

Easy for a guy with a V8 '64 to say. Tell that to a fella trying to DD a '60 with a 144/FM2!

 

It could be worse Bigcheese327... you could have a Smart Car!!!

Rotor

 

Because that's what I am. I belong to a group of car guys & girls called the Mavericks.

 

Ahhhhh

Wonder how many folks see that and think " Geez, that dumb ass doesn't even know what kind of car he has "

 

Ya don't have to step too far to get to comfortable daily status though, I've been driving the wheels off the wagon for the last three month now with it's 200/C4 combo. The only thing it's not completely comfortable with yet is our notoriously fast local freeway speeds around town. I think I might just have an overdrive/auto deal worked out for it though.

 

I drove my 62 Ranchero with the 200/C4 combo and 15" wheels as a daily for about 3 years! In So cal traffic and 75 + freeway speeds no less.

 

Hey Rotor whats up! underhood looks good.

 

Have to agree.....the Falcon was one of the best looking cars Ford ever produced.....timeless IMHO. That is why I have been a Falcon fan since I was 5 years old.

Sent from Mr. ModelT's DROID device using the TJJ mobile app

 

Hey Don, do you remember what the rear axle gear ratio was in you Ranchero? If I can't get this overdrive worked out before Lone Star Round Up time I might just throw a tall geared rear in it but I'm a little worried 'cause acceleration isn't what I could call blistering with the 3.50s in it now. More like tollerable, ya know?

 

I am out of my comfort zone on the freeway with my 200/c4 and 3.20 gear combo. just too many rpms me..... gets to 60 quickley but without O/D I make my freeway trips as short as possible. I will keep the c/4 but at one time i was planning a t5 swap to be able to roll 70 or 75 mph at a reasonable engine speed.

 

it had a 3.50 gear. I drove it home from Arizona with the 13" tires, cruising around 65. It was So Much Happier with the 15"

 

Damn! My 14" wheels and 3.50 gears have me wanting to shoot myself at anything over 65. I had a set of 2.79s in my '62 sedan years ago with a 200 C/4 combo and all was happy at freeway speeds, but an eldery nun on roller skates could beat it out of the lights everytime.

I am kinda saddled with the C/4 in our wagon at this point, because it is obstensibly has been built for my girlfriends use and she refuses to learn to drive a real trans. Probably best for all sharing the road with her as I see it! I have measured, figured, checked and looked at adaptable overdrive trans units until I'm blue in the face and haven't really found what I'm looking for. At this point a machinest friend and I are in the begining stages of adapting a Laycock-Volvo over drive unit to an extra tailshaft I have for one of my C/4s... We'll see how practical and repetable it turns out to be.

 

Yeah, they probably do.......

 

On the subject of diff gearing. When we purchased the convertible it had the Toyota diff with 4.11 gearing. Even with the 15 inch wheels the revs were way too high at highway speeds. This is running a 250 six and Borg Warner automatic.

I have just fitted a 3.00 ratio 8 inch Ford diff. Just a couple of small jobs to do and it should be back on the road this weekend. As long as it cruises nicely down the road I am not really worried about performance all that much as it is just a cruiser anyway that I want to be an easy driver for the wife and daughter.

 

Hi back at ya 64falconsix!

I'm in the same boat here... 3.25 gear with the F-O-M is good for 60-65 max from the sound of the motor. 65 MPH on the downtown connector through Atlanta is asking to get run over!

I've thought about a taller rear gear, but I worry that with the 2 speed trans it would hurt the performance from a standing start too much. I really don't want to change the driveline, since the car is so original.

One day I'll hook up a tach and see what revs it's actually turning.

Rotor

 

My mom bought a 61 comet wagon NEW in 61. It had a 144 and the aircooled two speed auto. It was her daily for about 5 years and she and my dad would drive it everywhere with us kids int he back. In those days So Cal traffic pretty much cruised at 65 and they had no trouble keeping up with traffic at that speed. I think we have become so used to overdrive transmissions and low RPM that we forget how it used to be.
It's the same thing with my current daily - a '66 VW Bug with a 4.37 ring and pinion. At 65 I am doing 3200 RPM and at 70 its about 3500, sounds like it's going to come apart any minute now ~ has for the last 125,000 miles in fact

 

I hope the dents are aftermarket and not really original - or someone should have taken it back to the dealer when new