New Falcon in the house

[Obie 250]

Hello all,
Hopefully I am posting this in the right place, just wanted to introduce myself, Doug Oberst, I live in Tacoma, and have been lurking on this site for a little while as I was looking for a car, which I took possession of about a month ago. I have not owned a Falcon previously and have not had a car purely for fun in a long time and I am looking forward to getting back into this hobby.

I was looking for a Mustang for quite a while and for what I wanted, (convertible, 1st gen) in the condition I wanted, I was striking out based on the money they are bringing. While looking, I started noticing Falcons and began to understand the similarities to the Mustang and considered them more seriously. I eventually found a '63 Sprint Convertible that was mostly original here locally and got pretty excited about it, the price was great, and I went to look at it in person. It was definitely more of a project than I originally planned, the floor pan was pretty much rusted completely away from the rockers and there was some extensive bondo repair, the top was a complete loss, and someone had tried to paint (looked like with a brush) it white over the original Viking Blue. I actually considered it but decided I really didn't want that much of a project.

I think it was the next day I was looking at the adds and found this car online out of Pennsylvania and impulsively just called the seller. It has a '92 302 out of a Fox Body Mustang originally EFI but the owner changed to NA because "it didn't look right in the Falcon". The front end steering and spindles are from a '65 Mustang as is the 8" rear axle. It also has a C4 transmission and is overall in pretty decent shape. The seller, who I am still in contact with, is 78 yrs old, has owned over 200 cars and has rebuilt most of them. This was one of the few he has left, and he is selling everything off.

I have been generating quite a list of things I want to do to it but currently I will just be driving it for the summer and plan to do some projects over the winter. I have lots to learn about the car and will probably start a thread about what I am doing or hope to do, ask questions, and get advice. I gotta say I am much happier with the Falcon than a Mustang at this point and really looking forward to having some fun with it.

[Jeff W]

Very nice car. You will be glad you paid more up front and bought a solid runner. Congratulations

[Luva65wagon]

I like! It's a pretty clean car from what I see. Welcome to the Falcon family and I'm sure as you tinker on it you'll find it as rewarding, if not more, than a Mustang. For sure it's far more unique. Keep us abreast of your progress and hopefully, someday soon, we can all park these cars together somewhere.

[SmithKid]

Nice car. My car too, was a 'second' choice when purchased, but has turned out to be a very good choice.

[Obie 250]

It's definitely not perfect but a good solid platform. I want to get a little more performance out of it. The '92 302 is stock, other than the carb and intake, and they were rated around 240 hp when new I believe even though it was considered "high output". I think its lucky to be making 200 at this point. The C4 works but it hunts a little and is dripping so not in perfect condition but I will possibly put in a T5, we will see.

I polished it but the paint is not new, I guess the car was originally white. It was a decent paint job and looks good from a respectable social distance, ha. No clear coat and a couple of thin spots so not too many polishes in her future. There are a couple of small rust spots that need attention and most of the chrome is shiny but definitely failing in some spots. It came with spoke hub caps off of a Fairlane I think, which I didn't love, so I painted the wheels and found the dog dishes on ebay. Not sure about that yet.

The entire heat system needs a rebuild and the drivers side fresh air vent is rusting, need further investigation on that. The ignition is not original and the original plug for the switch has been bypassed and is hanging under the dash. That and some other questionable wiring for a tape deck that was in the glove box and some added gauges needs looking at.

All small stuff generally and I can certainly drive it and have fun with it while I plan out bigger improvements which will likely include engine performance, suspension upgrades, cosmetic issues and etc, etc.

[Luva65wagon]

Oh yeah... those small things. Those always lead to big things. Around here we call that the curse of "While I'm At It™." Be careful... be very careful.

:banana:

[beerbelly]

Or as Derek at Vice Grip Garage would say- "mahzzle", as in "mahzzle fix this while I'm right here anyway".

[Luva65wagon]

Beerbelly... Well I'll be dipped! I'm just going to pretend I didn't see this...

[Obie 250]

So here is a current question. The rear end is a 2.79, not exactly exciting but I found a 3rd member while I was in Portland for a work thing, a 3.25. My intent was to rebuild it and make sure bearings are good etc. but mostly wanted to install a limited slip too. However, after checking it out it is in really good shape so I could just swap it out and rebuild later if I do some suspension upgrades when I will have to drop the rear end anyway. So rebuild now and install later when doing suspension or install now, rebuild later when I have to take the axel out?

[Luva65wagon]

Install it. If it's a limited slip, be sure to add the friction modifier. You can get a tube of prussian blue or other ring gear marking compound and make sure it's setup OK, as well as just feeling things out by hand. It will tell you if you need to rebuild it, but doubtful it will explode without giving you some indication of issue from a visual inspection. No matter what, you can do new axle bearing and seals now, While You're At It™, and they'll still be fine when, and if, you decide to pull it later, or sooner, for a rebuild.

[Obie 250]

The new gear set does not have a limited slip, I was going to add that while rebuilding. If I install now its easy, no rebuild, but I would still need to rebuild later to add the limited slip. Right now its looking like I might start doing any major projects next Fall so I will probably take my time rebuilding and install the limited slip and swap it out in the fall. I might need to narrow the rear end too so we will see. Still trying to decide how far to take things

[gtaroger]

Welcome to the bird watchers club. Nice looking bird.

[Gitanesteel]

Welcome - glad we have corresponded via email. Great looking car! Hope to see your Falcon at the PNW mini-regional in Ellensburg on Sept 18th

[Obie 250]

The project has started!

Well after enjoying the car last spring and summer I have begun the winter rebuild. I spent quite a bit of time planning and deciding what I want to do, its still a bit of a moving target, but I have started the first step which is the rear suspension and axel. Let's hope I can get it back on the road by next spring.

I originally planned to use the TCI 4 link system but turns out it doesn't really work with convertibles. There is a slight difference in the trunk pan and the floor, as it turns up behind the back seat to accommodate the roof when retracted. As I am finding out, there are a number of subtle differences with the convertible that does not allow certain parts and mods to fit. I ended up going with the Ride Tech rear 4 link and so far, so good. The main cradle fits in the frame great.

I have removed everything from the rear end including the drive line and am currently removing the old undercoating. I have never seen undercoating this thick on a car and I have to basically unbury any nuts or bolts to get at them. I am hoping to not find any significant rust and haven't yet. Heat gun and a scraper along with some mineral spirits has been the best method so far but it's a slow process.

The front bolts of the leaf springs were a major PITA. I don't think they have ever been touched since the car was built. I finally got one to turn but it was basically welded to the bushing and just spinning the whole thing inside the rubber, finally decided to cut them. Sawzall didn't work, no room for the blade, and my 4 1/2" angle grinder would not fit in the small space so I then used an arbor to mount the cut off wheel to my drill. The drill spins too fast though and would basically spin out the center of the wheel.

So I bought a 6" cutoff wheel and put it on the grinder to get more reach and it did the trick in just a couple of minutes. Kind of sketchy to hold the grinder with that big wheel and fortunately had my gloves on ��.

Now anyone know what to do with the old springs? They are up for grabs if anyone wants them.

I will keep adding to this thread as I go but it may be slow, I only have weekends and some of those are not always available.
Not sure if I should start a new thread or if mods want to move this to a more appropriate category but just let me know.
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[BadBird]

Glad your gloves protected you. I know the pain of having to remove all that undercoating. My last Falcon took forever to get it all off. The Falcon I am working on now is a California car and doesn't have the undercoating. Keep it going, and it's looking great. Larry

[Luva65wagon]

Now anyone know what to do with the old springs? They are up for grabs if anyone wants them.


Take up knife making. [thumb]

Looking good! Going to be a fun project to see happen... for you and us. Looking forward to it.

[Obie 250]

So I spent several hours today attacking the undercoating, its slow going and gotta say, not loving it. The best technique I have come up with is to warm it up with the heat gun, scrape it off, hit it with some mineral oil, more scraping and a wire brushing with the drill. Repeat as necessary.

What i am finding is some of it softens up and comes off fairly easily and the remaining bits dissolve quite a lot with the mineral oil, especially while it is still warm from the heat gun. Other areas that do not seem to be so thick are like concrete and it is hard to get much off at all. I am wondering if there was two different applications of this stuff?

I have been focusing on the areas that the new suspension cradle will attach and so far basically finding zero rust which is great news. Some of the areas strip down to bare metal and others, like the frame rails, have white paint on them. This was originally a white car but I was not expecting the underside to have been painted.

My original plan was to paint first with rusty primer and then an appropriate finish undercoat but since I am not really finding rust I am thinking I should use a different primer, like a self etching primer on the bare metal. Not sure if that works over the painted areas, any advice is welcome.

When I look at the acres of undercoat yet to go, and given I am finding things in great shape, I am tempted to just do the front and rear areas where the new suspension is going. I can always do the rest at a later date, or not, and just treat with Fluid Film or something like that. Due to limited time to work on this I am just looking for efficiency and frankly want to work on other things then scraping :)

[Obie 250]

Ok so its been forever since posting anything and I hate to say not as much progress as I would have hoped by now. I see the last post was back in November and well, life happens. After both my wife and I getting quite sick during the holidays (not Covid), my wife having two eye surgeries, and me with my bad back flaring up didn't get a lot done.

What I have done is get the rear 4 link cradle in which was tricky doing it myself. I am extremely pleased with the Ride Tech kit I went with, fits like it was made to [thumb]. I was originally going to go with the TCI kit but I was warned that it doesn't play nice with convertibles. I guess the trunk pan is slightly different than the hardtops. I spent a bit of time on the phone with Ride Tech and they assured me theirs would fit. Actually what he said was " I don't have any notes in the system that says it doesn't" so on that assurance I went for it. They also said I could return it if it didn't work but as you can see, no problems.

I then have spent way too much time figuring out the back axle width and tire wheel size. I am trying to max it out without tubbing. In Ride Tech's literature they say their system can accommodate 225 width tires. I actually have 225 wide tires on my wife's Subaru so I borrowed those as a practice fit but the backspacing on the wheels was all wrong. I eventually went to the used tire store and bought some old rims and tires to mock it up which was a smart $75.

I wasted a lot of time trying to make the original 8" rear end, which was actually out of a '65 Mustang work, bought a narrower 8" off Craigslist, and got a 9" housing from a friend which we thought we could narrow but it was not in trustworthy condition. I started working with Quick Performance who is a great company and am now getting a correct width housing from them. They coached me through all the measuring and I am waiting to receive it in a couple more weeks. They are backed up like everybody else.

While going through all the measuring I went ahead and drew up a diagram in AutoCAD where I could test wheel sizes and dial in the width. lots of measuring on the car to get it right. QP wants wheel mounting face to wheel mounting face so I used that to test wheel and tire combos. I ended up with a 225/60-15 on a wheel with 3.75" backspacing. Leaves about 5/8" to 3/4" clearance at the fender and frame. I will likely move the bump stops as they encroach a little.

The other issue was the diameter so I mocked up where the axle will be at ride height using the bracket and link and all looks good. I will get everything installed and mount my test wheel before buying the real thing just to be sure. I sold all the other axle stuff except I still have a 3.25 differential for an 8" if anyone is interested.

So while I wait for the rear end stuff I pulled the transmission which is labeled like it came out of a '65 Fairlane. It needs work as it started leaking and since I won't be using it I haven't bothered to figure out the problem. I did drain it, its a C4 so any one interested let me know. I am also getting ready to pull the engine this Saturday, my son has promised to help. I will be using TCI's Mustang II suspension up front.

Lots and lots of stuff to do, we will see if I can get it back on the road this summer. And I will try to post some more stuff.

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[Obie 250]

Today was another step. My son came down and we got the engine pulled. Pretty noneventful but gets us ready to start the front suspension install. So now I need to sequence rear suspension, engine upgrades and front suspension in some order. I am thinking I may want a roller when I put the engine back. I would like to install the clutch and attach the transmission to the engine while out of the car and then install together. I might need to get it down on the wheels to accomplish that, we will see, plenty of work to do.
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[Falcongek]

nice car. nice writeups.
keep the inspiration comming.

good luck

[Luva65wagon]

Doug,

Nice work. I like the setup you're installing too. Seems well thought out. Question: Does it allow for any fore/aft adjustment? When I did my rear flare it moved the axle location rearward about a couple inches (longer wheelbase). I need to have custom springs made, but 4-link is an option if it allows some adjustment.

Looking forward to more updates as you push through life. I doubt anyone here hasn't faced similar life hurdles when all you want to do is work on your projects! Man, I can attest to that! Keep on keeping on and we'll watch from afar (some further than others).

[thumb]

[dhbfaster]

Enjoying the story Obie. I can definitely relate to all the endless scraping of the coating.

[Obie 250]

Roger,
The Ride Tech kit comes two ways which I did not realize when I bought it. The lower links on the version I bought are fixed and the uppers are adjustable. I think the only thing it might effect would be pinion angle. It came with a jig to set the upper links so you can weld the brackets in the right place but I am not there yet.

The other version has adjustable links all the way around. I would think you could adjust the fore and aft placement of the axel with them but I do not know how much adjustment they have. I kind of wish I would have that version as I think the axel would be better an inch or so back from where it currently will land.

I would suggest talking to Ride Tech if you are interested, they are very helpful.

[Obie 250]

Everything happening at once now

No rear end parts yet so I am moving on to the front. Got to spend most of the weekend on it and made some progress. Lots of cutting and grinding and I have to say cutting into the shock towers gives a slight pause, there is no going back. I also made good use of a spot weld cutter and then used an air chisel and the pieces came off pretty easy. Still have to grind some more but I am 80% there.

I have a pile of parts I am not sure what to do with. I think the only thing of value might be the spindles (I think V8 types) or the drum brakes, they're in good shape. I believe all the tie rods etc. are from a Mustang, the upper and lower A arms look like stock Falcon. Probably need ball joints. If anyone is interested let me know and you can have them if you want to come and get them.

Not sure when I will have a good weekend to do the front suspension install and if my rear end parts show up if I will finish that up first but hopefully I can keep some momentum.

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[Obie 250]

One last note for today, I just wanted to mention how this forum has really helped me. I read almost all of the posts and have discovered many sources for parts, advice from others that have gone before, and ideas and approaches I might not have otherwise thought of.

Early on when I found this site about a year ago I saw a post by Ilvmygt, otherwise known as Frank, who also has a '63 Falcon convertible and has already done many of the modifications I am doing. I took a chance and contacted him and since he lives not to far from me I asked him if I might come by and see what he has done. Frank was very accommodating and I spent a couple hours at his place learning about what he has done with his car.

Frank also introduced me to the Gig Harbor Cruisers, a local car club I have since joined and have really enjoyed. I also went back to Frank's while I was doing all the rear end figuring and he let me measure his car (he did some similar narrowing of a 9 inch) and that was extremely helpful. And just recently Frank came by this past Saturday and helped me remove the front fenders, remove the steering column, and shared his solution to the steering situation with the new rack and pinion that comes with the suspension kit. I will be definitely applying those strategies and not sure what I would have attempted to do without his help.

All this to say, we never know where all these posts might lead and who they might be helping or what connections might result. I will continue sharing and just wanted to let everyone know your posts definitely matter, and big thanks to Frank!

[Obie 250]

Front suspension parts


Tried to post this in the Parts for Sale or Trade section but for some reason it never showed up. Just want to give anyone a chance for these parts, just need to come pick them up if you want anything. I don't have anywhere to store them and it seems a shame to just throw them away.

The spindles, drum brakes, shocks, springs and steering linkage are "65 Mustang I believe and were installed with the V8 conversion. If you want more pictures of anything just let me know.

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