Friends know each others names

[rman]

OK so here's my story:

I found a '65 Ranchero Deluxe biding its time out in Elma back around Halloween 2016 and she sat parked in front of my house for many months. It was stripped of all the trim and had Falcon tailights, but had been modded from the original C4 to a Dagenham 4 on the floor, which at the time seemed sexy. Plus I liked the idea of the 200cid gas mileage for tooling around town.

Then a few months ago I found ANOTHER '65 that is a complete pile of rust, but it has all the trim, including the afterburner tailights. Oh, and it's a 289/C4.

So I finally found a warm dry spot to park one of them and started tinkering on it. There are a bunch of falcon-ish sites on the interwebs and over the months I've been spreading thinner but being as how this is local I'll try to maybe do a project thread since I haven't done very much yet.

And my name is Rafael

[Luva65wagon]

We like saving Ranchero's around here. Mine was a "made 1 good one out of 2 bad one's" so... good luck to you Rafael...

[SmithKid]

Mine was also one of the "saved" category. It was found on Camano Island under some evergreens loaded with needles and the accompanying corrosion, with a "running on six" 289 that made it home under it's own power(?) and has since become a pretty nicely presentable runner (12+ years). I wish you the best on your project(s). It's worth it.

[Corbin]

Howdy,

After wanting a Falcon for years, it all came together for me a few weeks ago. We purchased a house with a shop down in Roy, so what better way to occupy the shop than a new project.

I was taking a very hard look at a car in PA and was considering flying out there to take a look. Then a local car popped up on craigslist, checked it out and drove it 2 hours to it's new home.

The folks that I purchased it from didn't seem to know much about the car however they have the contact info from who they bought it from. So I am anxious to have a chat with them.

The car is was painted recently. They changed the Guardsman Blue to red and put black interior in. The 260 is now a 302 that seems stock except for the longtubes. Someone along the way installed a Hurst Dual Gate along with the console.

There are some things done to the car that make me scratch my head and ask my self "why". For example, the Accel coil had gone out, so they installed another coil but left the Accel mounted to the fender well. That said, that is the fun part, putting your personal touches on the car and fixing it your way.

[Luva65wagon]

I've read your introduction thread too, but thought I'd reply here first. Looks like a great car to start with. Looking forward to watching your progress.

Also, since this thread was started as an instruction guide to help folks create signatures for their posts... is your name Corbin or is that just a handle?

[Corbin]

Roger,

Yes my name is Corbin. I don't really care for handle names. I will get my signature updated tonight.

It's been a fun car. Today my brother came over and we ripped out a rat's nest of wiring that previous owners have done. I now feel comfortable knowing that there is minimal risk of a wire fire.

[Luva65wagon]

Corbin, no worries. When and if is totally up to the user. Being a more local community of Falcon owners (with a few exceptions... and likely more to come) it's just nice to not reply to FalconPerson6365 that way forever.

And yes, ripping out all the wiring will drastically reduce the chance of it catching fire!

[dhbfaster]

Hi Chris, Welcome to the forum!
i completely restored my grandfathers 61, starting six years ago...and still small things to do. You came to the right place. Some of the best advice I got was to start my own thread under “show off my ride”. (Thread: saving granddads falcon) Before I did that, I started separate threads with questions...it would have been better to have it all in one place.
I couldn’t have done it without this club.
We love to see pictures...so we can participate in the success of your projects.
Do you live in the area?
Check for the next club meeting.

[Ilvmygt]

I started in December with the the removal of the engine and transmission. Then removed the front suspension and installed a Mustang 2 front suspension. That gives me modern suspension with power Rack and Pinon and disk brakes. The rear suspension was also removed to install a 4 link rear suspension with disk brakes. Changed the Master cylinder to a power dual master cylinder. I am changing the 6 cylinder to a 302 with an AOD. The suspension work is pretty much complete.

I ended up taking the interior apart to inspect and clean everything up and for work under the dash. Found minimal amount of surface rust so it all got treated with a rust conversion coating and epoxy primer. The dash was also taken apart to modify the brakes and steering so I will paint the dash before I put it all back together. While the dash is a part I did a little rewiring to move the fuse panel off the light switch. I was going to replace the wiring harness but found it to be in remarkably good condition but was having issues with some of the bullet connections coming apart. I plan to put heat shrink over the connects and that should prevent then from coming apart. Since the shock towers are gone I moved the wiring in the engine compartment to clean things up.

I am waiting on the engine and transmission to arrive. I will need to test fit the AOD once it arrives to see if any work on the tunnel will be needed. This is going to be my wife's car and she wants an automatic so that is what we are putting in.

When will it be done? This work will be done before we take to its first car show or cruise. This year is the drive train, next year is interior and paint the following year.

[Luva65wagon]

Sounds awesome! I think a lot of us would appreciate seeing some of what you just described. You should start a thread post some pics of this work. Sounds like you've got a lot done in a very short time.

[Ilvmygt]

I am new to Falcons. We purchased a Futura Convertible in early summer and used to in several local car shows. The car was originally a 6 cylinder with a 4 speed. The previous owner replaced the 4 speed with a C4. As I got to know the car better I realized there is something not quite right with the drive train and the car would vibrate even when not moving. Based on this we decided to move forward with updating the cars drive train and suspension. This has turned in to my winter project.

[Luva65wagon]

I am new to Falcons. We purchased a Futura Convertible in early summer and used to in several local car shows. The car was originally a 6 cylinder with a 4 speed. The previous owner replaced the 4 speed with a C4. As I got to know the car better I realized there is something not quite right with the drive train and the car would vibrate even when not moving. Based on this we decided to move forward with updating the cars drive train and suspension. This has turned in to my winter project.

So, what are you going to update it all to? Winter is just about over!