Features Doing Falcons Right

Here are the custom subframes formed and tucked nicely to the undercarriage of my 64 Falcon hardtop. Super solid and ready for some serious torque This included a 4 pt. roll cage, minitub and rear leaf relocation. BF/X theme build with a wild 331 stroker, 4 spd top loader and a narrowed nodular 9" inch.

 

WOW! Great work.

 

Here are the custom subframes formed to the undercarriage of my 64 Falcon hardtop. This included a 4 pt. roll cage, minitub and rear leaf relocation.

 

Nice work! I dig the tastefully done wheel tubs and the relocated spring eye pockets (and the Cal Track pivot).....

 

Cool little cars. A friend of mine just put his on the road with a 302 5 spd Granada spindles and disc brakes. Blast to drive and a real sleeper.

 

Just curious if anyone has weighed their V8 Falcon? Most information that I've found says 2300 lbs. I'm assuming that's dry with a 6 cyl. but even then, that sounds lite to me.

 

Hey Nuts, what size tire can you fit in there? What is the rear length?
Nice looking work!

 

The factory weights are typically 'shipping weights', which means dry; i.e. not oil, gear lube, coolant, fuel, etc.

I weighed a 61 Falcon 2dr wagon with a 289, iron case toploader 4spd with iron bellhousing, Versailles 9-inch rear with disc brakes, front disc brakes, subframe connectors, no headliner or carpet at 3,160 with a 1/2 tank of gas. Bear in mind, the disc brakes all around add a few pounds, the 9 inch adds a few pounds, the cast iron trans adds a few pounds, and being a wagon with the extra steel and glass adds several pounds.

 

Last year I had a buddy who's a Motor Carrier Safety cop (trucker fucker) come by and weigh my 63 2 door sedan:







Here's what we came up with:


3/4 tank (12 gallons) and I (175lb) was sittin' in the car.

RF 700
LF 850
RR 625
LR 675

At that time it had a 1980 Lincoln 5.0 V8.

 

Thanks to fellow VA HAMB'r DAGONITWIT, I got a set of 14X6 Magnum 500 wheels to check out to see if they'd work on the old Ford:



They seem to work with the Granada Disc brake set up, but the wheel center cap's attachment hardware wouldn't clear the bearing caps on the rotors:



Although I've become really attached to my dog dish caps, I might just give these a try:



The wheels have 185/70R14's. I have 195/70R14's on the car and they're 7 3/8" wide at the tire bulge (on 5" wide wheels), about the same width as the 185's that are on the 6" wide wheels now.

Next week I'll try a 195 tire mounted on one of the Magnum wheels and see if it will clear the left rear inner fender lip, where I only have 1 3/8" clearance with the current wheel/tire combo.

 

Burnt Out , Those look smart on there . Have you tried a 195/70 on the rear yet ?

It's been a backward ass week here ...

it feels a little bit like I've had to take two steps backward to get one forwards , but I got a decent result in the end .

On the few short runs we've done in the car over the last couple weeks It had felt very Harsh in the driveline . So I set the car on jack stands so that the suspension was "loaded" at ride height and checked U/J angles with my digital angle finder ... 3.5 degrees difference. I thought "that'll be it " , removed the lowering blocks and milled a Taper on them to correct the pinion angle .
Refitted blocks and drove again , noticeable improvement but still felt like It had a "Harmonic" vibration through the car , this road test was also the first decent blast on open highway and I realized the car felt very low geared .
Went home jacked up one rear wheel and checked rear end ratio ... 3.5:1 . Bugger!
Oh well , there is a 2.9:1 head in the Mustang 8" that is in the corner of the shop, destined for another project that will be running taller tyres ( Tires!).

I gave some thought to what else could be causing the Harmonic issue and then decided to do a little home work on engine balance , as in Front Balancer and external weights on Flex plate/flywheel .
Early Windsors use 28oz Weight on the flex plate/flywheel and late wiindsors use 50oz right ... Bugger!
At this point I figured if it was a balance issue I should be able to feel it when the car is stationary. So I ran the engine at approx 3000-3500 rpm and rested
my hand on a valve cover , yup it feels really harsh and is almost "pulsing" . Bugger!

So yesterday , Out came the Motor and trans , I swapped out the Flex plate for the correct one , and also fitted a sandwich plate between the motor and trans. I had purchased the motor and box as an assembled unit and it did not have a sandwich plate fitted . I had just finished up refitting motor and trans when
Wifey came home from work ( late afternoon ) . She saw that I had the motor and back in and all buttoned up and says "So have you swapped out the Diff head too ?" I replied ," no that's tomorrow morning's job" .
Well she looks at me with a cheeky grin and says she will help if we can do it NOW . So I'm back under the car and she is passing me tools and diff heads
while removing wheels and brake drums . Didn't take long with the two of us on it .

So today we have a '60 Tudor with a happy SMOOTH running 289 that goes down the Highway with no nasty vibrations and is not screaming it's lungs out at 70 mph . Bring on the weekend , I need a rest !



.

 

Damn, four six, you're makin' us all look lazy....I'd rather have my ass kicked than pull my engine/trans combo, again.

And it would take an act of the United States Congress to get my Missus to help me change the third member. She hates the smell of friction modifier n' hypoid oil.

I tried the 195's on the rear- gotta' get the fender lips rolled.


My insane painter/body man will do it as soon as he runs out of dope and needs more cash....He was pissing and moaning about the double lip and thick old steel and twenty year old lacquer paint the whole time we were talkin' 'bout it.

I'm in the midst of repainting the wheels now. I'm gonna' lose the chome trim rings and paint the wheel rims/depressions satin black and the spokes argent.



BTW, the spiffy wheel mask kit I bought isn't even close...I used fine line masking tape.







Or I might change my mind and paint them completely black...

 

I'm digging that bumper! Nice and tight, great detail!

Sent from my ADR6410LVW using H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Might look into subframe connectors for the same year Mustang. Often Mustang and Falcon used similar setups, with just length being different. On my '63 I found a NOS pair for an early Mustang and they bolted up perfectly in the rear, but didn't reach to the front frame rails, so I cut them and fabbed a new front mount to make up the difference. Then I fabbed tubing to tie them into the stock body supports and rockers. They were cheap, and easy to modify, and really tightened everything up well!

 

I would like to see someone mass produce just the ends for the subframe connectors, let the consumer source their own tubing.

It would make shipping easier and simplify dealing with Falcon/Comet/Mustang/Etc... differences.

 

The ends are usually such a simple affair, that I can't imagine anyone with a welder couldn't build their own easily. If I hadn't stumbled across a NOS pair I'd have built mine from scratch cheaper than what most places sell them for.

 

That wagon is sweet! Proportions looked great.

Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

Don't know if you got an answer, but, yes, the stud just rests on top of the tunnel and screws up/down to adjust. (At least it does on my 63 ht)

Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

Hood lookin' good!

Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

Could someone please help a guy out and show me the shelby drop setup?

Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

The template or a pic of the moved arm? If you google Shelby drop template you should be able to find a printable one that can be transferred to steel.

I didn't think to take any pictures while I had my front end apart.

 

Thanks guys.

Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

Hey guys,need some info on my f/end,i've got a 63 futura with a 289 and p/steer,q/s is will the mustang parts,tie rods,ball joints p/s ram etc fit my car,thanks Gaz!

 

For a US model, the short answer is no. Mustang center link (or drag link)is wider. Depending on the Mustang's model year, the ram and ram mounting are different. I'm pretty sure power steering pitman arm on the steering box won't interchange either. Inner tie rod ends are also different.

Some pretty good info here:

http://www.stangerssite.com/centerlinks.html

http://www.stangerssite.com/controlvalvepics.html

http://www.stangerssite.com/PC_IDchart.html

Click on the topics at the top of the page for additional info.

I went the other way and ditched the sketchy Ford power assist system for the later V-8 manual set up....

 

The radiator is finished. Now time for the cowl and to smooth out the dash

 

Upper Ball joints are the same
Lower Ball joints and control are are the same
Outer tie rod ends are the same
6 cylinder Idler is the same

V8 idler is different
Pitman arms are different - Falcon is 1 1/8" shaft, Mustang is 1"
center drag link is different
Inner tie rods are different

 

Thanks guy's,now I can get on with it,after I do the suspension and steering,i''ll move on to the interior,can you recommend a company who does a quality repop,i need seat covers,door panels and dash pad for a 63 futura conv with split bench .

 

Do all the Fomoco cars that have that basic front end [I beleive it ended 77' os so with the Mav/Comet] can use the Shelby drop or does it change some by make/model/year? I ask because I think I read some wheres that some of the drop was factory done in later years..

 

Falconizer, you do excellent work! Each time I log on I check to see if you've had an update. Thanks for sharing!