Out for a spin.

[ew1usnr]

So..... where is Dennis in the 1st foto? Taking pic?

Hey, Gene.

Yea, I am being anonymous behind the view finder. Here are a few more shots that I took at our September club meet. The blue car is a 1960 Fordor sedan. The outside door handles have been removed and the driver opens the door with a key fob. It is a nice looking little car. The owner should have taken it to the car show:

Back yard.jpg

Here was a demonstration of how to use a tool to install a trunk torsion bar (notice the beer in hand). Prior to this demonstration it had never occurred to me that the torsion bars are adjustable. There are different notches to where you can adjust them stiffer or slacker.

Torsion Bar Instalation.jpg

Here is a guy giving a demonstration of how to disassemble an Autolite 2100 carburetor, I think (maybe a 4100?). Those carburetors are so simple, and yet what they do is so incredible.

Autilite Carburetor.jpg

Here is something that I read on the internet: "The 2100's, like the four-barrel 4100's, use annular discharge boosters that atomize the fuel. This results in performance and fuel efficiency more akin to a throttle body injection system than a carburetor. Ford patented this in 1957. Atomizing the fuel allows it to burn more evenly, creating more power with less fuel, and therefore, more efficiency. The engineering involved in the “Annular Fuel Discharge” design is tremendous. This technique of metering/distributing/mixing fuel into the air stream atomizes fuel closer to the vapor state than any other carburetor ever manufactured, and it is vapor that burns, not liquid. Because of the Annular Fuel Discharge principle - fuel economy is superior, throttle response increased, and overall performance is enhanced. The carburetor will run virtually forever until dirt enters it."

[SmithKid]

Neat fotos, Dennis. Looks like your group has "tech days" too. That's my favorite activity of our club here! The Rainier Falcons were very instrumental in getting my car on the road, and I have enjoyed helping others as much as I can. At least 2 of the members cars here, mine included, have had the door handles shaved and use fobs now.

[ew1usnr]

Check this out.

I typed in "Lake Mirror Classic 2014" and found this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA0Gzz7jAw4

About 3/4 of the way through the film at time 6:20 you can see the Sun Coast Falcons as we lined up to leave the show. My car is in the lead. Cool!

You can move the cursor at the bottom of the video to the right to fast-forward to get to time 6:20.

[Jeff W]

Dennis, I love your trip stories. With my young family duties, rough city traffic, and other obligations, I don't get my bird out very often. It's nice to see you doing it and with such passion and enjoyment.

You are the poster boy for the vintage car hobby... and my Hero.

[ew1usnr]

With my young family duties, rough city traffic, and other obligations, I don't get my bird out very often.

Hello, Jeff.

Every time I look at the photo of your car it reminds me of the Falcon wagon that I drove while I was in high school (1978-1979). Darn, I had fun with that car! I pulled out my old photo albums and took the following photo of a photo of that car. I was taking a photography class and had to develop a black and white photo as a class project. I developed this photo and pinned it to the classroom wall. My friends added embellishments:

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Here is a color photo that I took with a Kodak 126 Instamatic. Notice the Ford racing stripe and the CB radio antenna mounted on the roof. My CB handle was "Ramblin' Wreck". I was rolling double nickles on that super slab, good buddy!

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Here is my only known photo of the my 1963 Futura Sport Sedan that I had from 1984 to 1986. I was living in an apartment, going to a community college, and working nights as a security guard. I would have loved to have been able to keep it, but I didn't have the time or money or facilities to repair and maintain it. I sold it and bought a 1981 Plymouth Horizon (which I actually thought and still think was a nice car!).You can see my brother's gold 1984 Dodge Charger 2.2 in the background. He bought it new and it was a nice car. I've read on the internet where young guys are restoring those cars now and someone is selling reproduction graphic decals for them

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[Jeff W]

Looks like you put on a few pounds since then

What color was it?

I like the FORD stripes on the rocker.

[ew1usnr]

Looks like you put on a few pounds since then.
What color was it? I like the FORD stripes on the rocker.

Hello, Jeff.

My 1963 Falcon Fordor Wagon was a beige color and it had little cows heads molded into the upholstery. I bought the racing stripe decal from JC Whitney. My car had a 170 Special engine and a Fordomatic transmission. Gosh, that car was nice. I used to fold the back seat down and pretend that I was driving a two-seater. It was fun to drive with all with the windows and the tailgate window down. Open air all around!

When I graduated high school I was 5' 8" and weighed 115 lbs. I joined the Navy and they told me that I was at the minimum weight for my height. The Navy fed me well and I gained 30 pounds by the time that I finished my hitch!

I sold my blue Futura sport sedan in 1986. I waited 26 years and in 2012 I saw my black Futura hardtop for sale and my mind snapped.

[ew1usnr]

Hello, Jeff. Every time I look at the photo of your car it reminds me of the Falcon wagon that I drove while I was in high school (1977-1979).

I found another photo of my first car. The hood is open a little because it was hooked to a battery charger. I like the tan color that the car was painted. It looks like it could have been in Rommel's Afrika Korps. I must have been sixteen when that photo was taken. That was a gloriously magnificent car. It was so roomy that I could have carried the Grand Canyon in the back. I did carry a large part of my high school water polo team to practice in it.
1963 Falcon Wagon.jpg

If I ever get another Falcon it will probably be a '63 four-door wagon.

My older brother had that car before me and he had rolled it while driving too fast around a curve. My brother was not hurt, but the roof was crushed in over the windshield. My father put a jack inside the car over the transmission hump and jacked the roof back up and hammered it back into shape. Then he had a junked abandoned Falcon towed home and put its windshield into the station wagon.

I look at the photo now and I am amazed at what a good job my father did. The roof looks smooth and straight. I took things like that for granted back then, but now I am astounded by his capabilities and accomplishments.

[ew1usnr]

I usually do not drive my Falcon on days where the chance of rain is greater than 30%, but we've had at least a 50% chance of rain every day for the last month. This coming week and a half looks to be more of the same with rain every day.

Screenshot (2).png

So, this past week I said to heck with it and drove the Falcon anyway. It rained at about 1:30 and the streets were still wet when I drove home from work. The skinny P175/80/R13 tires on wet pavement made clear that the Falcon does not have automatic traction control or an anti-lock braking system.

The car fishtailed back and forth maybe three times while I made an accelerating right turn from a red light. Yee haw!! A guy in a new Mustang evidently thought that I was peeling out while drag racing him and went zooming past me. I was really just trying to get the car back under control.

Then I made a gentle "power slide" while making a left turn through a green light. I had slowed down so it was not much of a slide, but it was enough for me to feel.

When I was further down the road, the rear wheels spun while I was starting out while from a red light while moving straight. I had to press and the ease off the gas pedal a couple of times and then very gently pressed it down before the car finally took off. The guy in the van behind me was probably wondering what I was doing.

You have to be really careful while driving this car on wet roads. Making a quick stop without sliding would be difficult. I will pay the extra money and get a set of the bigger P185/80/R13 tires whenever my present set wears out.

And for some general gripes about other drivers:

On a different day I was on my way to work and driving the Falcon and in the center lane. I need to move to the left and saw that there was plenty of room and the car behind me was a ways back. I turned on my left turn signal a courtesy and began to move over while watch the car behind me in my mirror. The instant my turn signal came on that turkey (driving a Mitsubishi) suddenly accelerated to close the gap and cut me off. I had already started moving over so I went ahead and completed the merge anyway rather than yank back into the center. He irritated me.

On another morning, I was driving the Falcon to work and a guy in a Mustang crossed in front of me from a center turn lane to go into a McDonalds. The guy saw me on top of him ... and he stopped! I was going maybe 40 mph and had to stand on brakes hard and came to a screeching, smoking stop. The guy in the Mustang gave me a startled expression and when my car came to a complete stop, THEN he moved and finished crossing the street to the McDonalds. If you pull in front of someone, don't just STOP and sit there!

And on another day, I was driving my Honda CRV home from work. The weather was nice with a 77 degree temperature and I had all my windows down. I was waiting at a red light under an overpass and a twerp in an Acura coup wearing a backwards ball cap was blasting some obnoxious "music" so loud that I couldn't hear my radio. Then the light turned green and this yahoo floored it and darted around the car in front of him. He had straight pipes (no mufflers) and the reverberating sound under that overpass was as loud as a bomb exploding. And my windows were down. He knew what he was doing. He sped forward and we stopped at the next light that was just one block further down. RRRRRRR!!! I was not thinking nice thoughts.

But, the idiots are offset by a lot of nice people. I liked the woman who was driving a Mercedes and honked and waved and gave me a big smile while I was driving my Falcon. She was driving a Mercedes and got excited about seeing a Falcon. What a nice person.