New Member

[Mikeske]

Hello folks, I am the newest member of this forum and I thought I should introduce myself and provide a little bit of background on myself. I recently acquired a 1966 ford Falcon 2 door sedan with base level of equipment. I got the Falcon from Barnfind Classics in Mount Vernon. The car has a strong base, the floor pans have been replaced, it has a new windshield and for the most part just needs TLC. This car has the 200 CID 6 and 3 speed on the column standard transmission. My intentions on this Falcon is to keep it ORIGINAL and to only do modifications to improve safety of the car.

For for a bit history on myself, I work at a major aerospace company in Everett, Washington doing the interiors on aircraft and I have for the last 27 years. Before and during my time at work I was in the U.S. Air Force active duty for 12 years and then another 13 in the Air force Reserve. I originally trained in the Air Force as a vehicle mechanic and then retrained into aircraft after the first 3 years during my Air Force time.

[ew1usnr]

Hello, Michael.

Welcome, aboard! That's a sharp little car. I like the two-tone paint job and the original hubcaps.

Dennis.


4463

[redfalken]

Nice Falcon Mike! Welcome to the group. It's good to see the post-`65 birds getting some TLC. There's another guy, Curt, who works at Boeing and has a REALLY nice (and about as stock as you can get) `67. We caravaned to the Nationals one year and I see him at shows occasionally. He may have some good parts source connections if you ever need them.

[Mikeske]

I also work at Boeing. I kind of avoid mention to them. I have the hubcaps off to clean them, someone used brush paint on the wheels and left the hubcaps on the Falcon. I got all the paint off and now I am using a paint stick to restore the areas that were black after 48 and half years the black was missing in most areas. After I finish I goint to shot them with clear.

[doghows]

Looks like a great start for you. Welcome to the forum, it's nice to see another of the forgotten Falcons. Hope to see you at an event soon. [thumb]

[Mikeske]

Looks like a great start for you. Welcome to the forum, it's nice to see another of the forgotten Falcons. Hope to see you at an event soon. [thumb]I like it, I am going after the simple issues right now. Since I am off until Monday, I made a run down to the parts store and got a 14" positive battery cable (car had a 36" negative cable on the positive side), J-bolts for the battery hold down, 2 front universal seat belts.

I do have a issue with the carb, someone decided to hook up a manual choke to and now the choke is stuck open the cable is absolutely use less also the car tends to lean out and hesitates when ever I put a load on the engine as in start up from a stop. I goose the throttle a bit and slip the clutch and she finally takes off. I am going to drive the car much until I get the carb issues fixed as I do not want to burn out the clutch.

[dhbfaster]

Hi Mikeske!
Welcome to the forum. Nice looking falcon!...I'm not the most mechanical one in the group by any means, but my carb acted the same way when I first got my car- I thought the choke was broken, BUT, after some carb cleaner AND driving it with fresh gas for a few miles, the problem miraculously went away.

Good luck!

Jeff.....where are you? Do your thing on the brakes....

[Jeff W]

Jeff.....where are you? Do your thing on the brakes....

Surely anyone so well versed in aircraft maintenance, repair and redundant systems would have "conversion to dual master cylinder" toward the top of the list. I didn't think I would need to mention it...[thumb]

[Mikeske]

Surely anyone so well versed in aircraft maintenance, repair and redundant systems would have "conversion to dual master cylinder" toward the top of the list. I didn't think I would need to mention it...[thumb]I will be doing the conversion to dual master cylinder and possibly disc front rear drums and converting possibly to 14 inch wheels and tires. Just going to take time and resources. I first off have to get the car running properly first and then I will be the rest as the dollars needed will be later.

I am also hunting for a Autolite single barrel hot air carb. The issues are standard auto part places want from $220.00 to the sky for a rebuilt carb.

[BadBird]

Welcome Michael, Great to see your car and know about the issues. This is the right place to find any and all the help you need. I certainly am not a guru but there are several that know just about everything about a Falcon.

I retired from Boeing after 40 years and hope all is well at the company. All my grandsons and friends tell me I would not be able to handle it now. Probably right. Dinosaurs aren't welcome. Hope to see you and the car soon at a get together or show.

[Mikeske]

Welcome Michael, Great to see your car and know about the issues. This is the right place to find any and all the help you need. I certainly am not a guru but there are several that know just about everything about a Falcon.

I retired from Boeing after 40 years and hope all is well at the company. All my grandsons and friends tell me I would not be able to handle it now. Probably right. Dinosaurs aren't welcome. Hope to see you and the car soon at a get together or show. Boeing is Boeing. I am one of the dinosaurs there (Michaelsarus rex) I have already decided that I will be retiring in early mid 2017.

I finally decided to just reject the carb on the Falcon. Who ever decided to drill thought the center of the hot air choke should have there head examined and have someone tell them they are nuts. I found a carb on line from Tomco, the only vendor I found. I have ordered a rebuilt and it should be in sometime in the next week or so (I HOPE)

The list of things needed for this car just keeps growing as I found things.

1. Carb (on order)
2. Correct battery hold down (temporarily using a piece of plastic dipped angle iron
3 spare 13" wheel
4 original bumper jack with base
5 J-bolt and wing nut for spare tire
6 glove box inside.
7 flasher switch
8 heater blower
9 heater resister
10 all the grommets for the firewall
11 reseal the back window
12 front and rear bumpers
13 more money
14 body work patching small places of rust, repairing dents and repaint
15 trunk and door seals
16 window seals
17 more time
18 4 shocks
19 complete front end rebuild
20 Clutch and brake pedal rubber pads (on order)
21 Owners guide (on order)
22 shop manual
23 Brake system upgrade

The basis of this car is in excellent condition for its age and I realize it. The engine has excellent compression and no cylinders are more the 4% away from any other. I did do a compression test and reset the dwell on the points as they were off slightly. I am excited with what I bought and I think that giving this car some time (alot of time) to get it into shape is going to be fun. This list is in no particular order just the stuff I do need to do the Falcon

[SmithKid]

Mike..... Welcome! Your car and you are lucky to have found each other. Let me underscore the previously stated praise for this group. They are a VERY helpful bunch. I have been the recipient of much of their knowledge and assistance. Hope to meet you and your car soon.

Yes, there are those of us that know where Sedro-Woolley is.

[Mikeske]

I have been going thru my shop looking for the stone age obsolete tools (dwell meter, multi meter and timing light) that I used years ago. I have found my dwell meter and it still works. I have been also looking for my timing light that I bought in 1979 from Sears. I can not remember where I put the ting as I have not needed it since 1994. I have 2 garages and both are a mess.

[Mikeske]

Here is a picture of the garages and house I live in. The search continues when I am doing something else and I will find the timing light or go to swap meets when I get the time to find parts and a timing light

[MacDee]

Welcome to the Forum, Mike!


I will be doing the conversion to dual master cylinder and possibly disc front rear drums and converting possibly to 14 inch wheels and tires.

I did the 4-lug disc brake conversion (well, Roger did most of it...) several years ago. I used a Scarebird kit.
https://scarebird.com/.
Definitely had to convert to 14-inch wheels....


There's another guy, Curt, who works at Boeing and has a REALLY nice (and about as stock as you can get) `67.

I, three, am an old-timer at Boeing. In fact, my desk is about twenty steps away from Curt's! He hasn't been participating in the Forum much. He's focused on restoring a Galaxie convertible these days. I keep telling him about the Club meetings, though.

[Luva65wagon]

Mike-

Sorry I missed this.

The 66 was a full departure from the 60-65 models, which had a lot in common under the skin. In a way the 66 has better potential being a slightly larger car under the hood. You can get a bigger motor in it, for instance, without hacking as much.

In general the biggest improvements didn't arrive for the car until '67 when all the cars got safety features, but the good thing is that most, if not all, were bolt-in improvements you could apply to the earlier models. Not sure if this is true for the 66 or not, but if the 67 had shoulder belts, the 66 may have been prepped for them - though Ford didn't install them until they had to. You might want to peek under the headliner for a hidden threaded hole.

The Scarebird disc-brake kit Gary did (as did I) on our Falcons (his a 63, mine a 65) may be a different kit for the '66, but I have little doubt a kit is available to do it. I liked it due to readily available and affordable replacement parts. It was all off-the-shelf parts; like, Nissan rotors, Caviler calipers, etc. Modifying the hubs was the biggest hurdle. Regardless, a dual master is a must and you might want to decide the brake type before and do it all at one instead of doing it twice, as the M/C is probably different drum front versus disc front.

Anyway, good to have you around and hopefully we can help where needed.

[Mikeske]

The first of the stuff I did order for the Falcon came in. The owner's manual came in yesterday. I am still waiting for the carb, brake and clutch pedal pads, the service manual. I am going to hit the Mustang restoration shops in the area over the next couple months and see if they have any 200 CID straight six that they yank out of a Mustang (that I can pick up cheap). I want a rebuildable straight six. It sounds kind of funny but that way I have a available rebuilt engine if I ever need to rebuild my engine (I might even mod it for more power)

[Luva65wagon]

Sedro-Woolley... Isn't that in Alaska somewhere?

:BEER:

[Mikeske]

The Carb, service manual arrived today. It took a while to get my mac computer to allow me to use the cd of the service manual. I finally figured it all out and downloaded Abode acrobat reader for mac and then I just put the manual in the files for the pdf reader and all is good. My god the manual was 707 pages but I have it all on my computer. Now all I have to do is print out the pages I need.

Oreily's sent me the new carb and I do not know but I have some missing parts on my Falcon. The carb sent by O'reily's is a Carter and I have a Autolite 1100. The one thing I have missing is the hot air tube. I can not locate where the tube starts but on the car this tube is not installed and I have to find the tube and where it goes on the engine. If anything one I find where the tube goes, I can then get the fittings and fab a new tube. I figure the tube goes down by the exhaust manifold. This is where I need someones help on the forum if they can provide me pictures or if they have the spare parts it would be appreciated. I can easily fab the tube as I have a tubing bender/flaring tool so I can do that by getting raw tubing and then bending and flaring it where I need to. I kind of think that the hot air tube is located near the exhaust manifold

After a little Internet search I found a bit info on the tube and I can get for $25 or just make my own with a copper tube a flare less nut and compression fitting and place one end if the tube down at the exhaust pipe ( wrapping around the exhaust manifold and then the other end at the hot air inlet on the choke.

[BillP 98201]

Welcome to the forum. There are a great bunch of folks here. Looks like you found a nice ride!
I do have a timing light and a older Craftsman analyzer if you need to borrow one. I'm in Marysville on your way home

[Luva65wagon]

There should be a 1/4" hole in the top of the exhaust manifold for the tube. And HELP! makes a kit with tube, insulator material, fittings - as well as a cup to clamp the exhaust pipe to add it to a car someone added headers to - for not too much money.

http://www.amazon.com/Dorman-HELP-03840-Choke-Stove/dp/B000COB3W8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1420743453&sr=8-3&keywords=Help%21+choke+tube

[Mikeske]

The new carb is on and I rigged up the hot air tube using a piece of copper tubing that I had. I had to buy a compression fitting and gently bend the tubing into place. I flushed the gasoline line and used a small amount of gasoline feed down the carb and it started and the choke worked properly. [yay]

I did have a issue that stumped me for a little while. The replacement carb is a Carter YB and I had a Autolite 1100. It seems the new carb stands taller and when I put the air filter on I could not close the hood. Off to NAPA and I got a chrome cover air filter housing that is about 6" in diameter.

I am jazzed that to get the car running properly and now onto doing the tune up. I found a replacement timing light for $5.00 from a old guy down the road. I will be replacing the points with a electronic and new wires and plugs , cap and rotor.

[BPVan]

Welcome to the Forum, looks like you are well underway with your new ride. :shift:

[Mikeske]

Welcome to the Forum, looks like you are well underway with your new ride. :shift:Thank you so much for the welcome and this new ride is a nice hobby. I trained when I first went in the Air Force as a forklift mechanic and later retrained as a aircraft mechanic. I intend to get this thing fixed so it can be a driver and be safe doing it then later get the paint body done.

[JRWASH64]

Welcome Mike, My parents bought a new 66 sport coupe 289 A/T, I wish they would have hung onto that!! I spent 4 years in the Air Force as a Nuclear weapons specialist and I currently work at The big Aluminum tube factory in Everett, cant wait to get out of hear, Sept 2017 if all goes well. It used to be a great place to work. And Sedro is just 20 minutes North of me, They have a great clothing store and nice restaurant there on the main drag.
Lot of good guy's in this club to help out.

[Mikeske]

My Falcon now has electronic ignition, I replaced the points and the condenser, rotor, coil, wires and spark plugs today. Petronic unit went in fairly easy and I hit the air gap perfect when I installed the unit.

Replacing the wires, cap, rotor and plugs was straight forward and really very easy on the 200 CID straight six. When I pulled the plugs I surprised that the spark plugs were fairly clean with just a slight amount of black which tells me that the engine was running slightly rich. I cranked her up and it started much easier then I expected. I did get a little concerned when I first tryed to start as I forgot to tap the gas pedal but once I did that and set the choke the car came to life on the 3rd rotation.

Now that the car has had a major tuneup it will be on to vehicle safety and that is the brake system. Current plan is to upgrade the master cylinder and 4 wheel brake service with new wheel bearings, drums, shoes, wheel cylinders and springs.

[Mikeske]

So I have 2 areas of concern on the body and it looks like it may not be to bad, I have a couple small areas of rust thru. On the right front fender and just in front of the right rear wheel also has a little of rust thru.

I am thinking that the right front fender might be easier to simply replace if I can get a new old stock fender and the right rear area maybe the best to patch it.

Interior wise I am on the hunt for a drivers side arm rest in parchment. This car is not in to bad of shape and with the tuneup I got her running pretty sweet. I notice some really interesting jury rigging. Just today I noticed that the heater hose is running and in contact with the linkage for the carburetor. I am going to need to pick up some heater hose and a hok to relocate the heater to firewall away from the linkage. The heater hose apparently has been running a long time against the linkage as it has a groove worn in the hose.

[Mikeske]

Today was a perfect day to install more parts on the Falcon, 63 degrees in the garage and so I did not get cold. The new parts on the Falcon were all cooling system related.

New water pump
New thermostat
New upper and lower radiator hoses
New heater hoses
Install a coolant recovery bottle (Yeah I know not original but I wanted it on)
New fan belt
New radiator cap
New bolts for the water pump and thermostat

The radiator is new from the prior owner so I just finished the half project that they did. I always replace everything in the cooling system when a new radiator is installed as it is better to have a fresh starting point on the system. Getting everything apart was easy and I got very lucky as several of the bolts were at the end of their life's as some had corrosion and were done to 2/3ths the normal size.

I always hate it when the ace mechanics get hold of these cars and use a bunch of sealant on the gaskets for the water pump and the thermostat. It just takes so much time to get the gasket bosses cleaned when they use that stuff. I generally never use that stuff and if I do a very thin coat only on the housing and pump itself and never on the block. Another trick I use is get some spray silicon and lightly spray on a rag and wipe it on the clean bosses. It makes it so easy to to remove the gaskets in the future.

[doghows]

Nice work Mike. I agree with your thoughts. Do it right the first time and you'll have no worries driving down the road.
Hope to see you and your 66 at an event someday. [AGREE]

[Mikeske]

The original issue I had was the heater hoses were in contact with the accelerator linkage. By rerouting the hoses and using slightly lower heater hoses I now have the required clearance. As soon as I can get this really road worthy I hope to go to a event this summer after I get issues of age related components (worn out) repaired.

The next thing I want to do is the valve cover gasket and get the four layers of paint cleaned off the valve cover. Maybe if I can locate a gasket I do that next weekend.

[doghows]

Any parts house will have your gasket. If you were closer to Sequim id say bring it over. I have three different blast areas and then we could powder coat it. Bang done forever.
Anyway keep at it our mini regional is coming up so make sure it's ready by then!!

[Mikeske]

Any parts house will have your gasket. If you were closer to Sequim id say bring it over. I have three different blast areas and then we could powder coat it. Bang done forever.
Anyway keep at it our mini regional is coming up so make sure it's ready by then!!
I got a buddy that has a bead blaster who is going to do it for me. I am hoping to get it off by either by Tuesday or Thursday for me to drop it off with him at work on either Wednesday or Friday.

Yeah I have been watching the announcements on the mini regional and I am working on it to try and have ready by then. I just hope that I have the title by then.