Build project - 1962 wagon deluxe

[Gitanesteel]

A couple of years ago I got a call from the daughter of a local guy who had passed away. Seems he had a lot of Falcons, Falcon parts, engines, transmissions, etc. I agreed to stop by and check it out and so did Roger. What we found was shocking to say the least. Cars that had been outside for a very long time, some sinking into the ground, and three garages absolutely full of crap almost to the rafters and you could barely walk in them. We were able to give her some advice and myself and a couple of brothers spent quite a bit of time helping her get the cars out (she found buyers for the most part or traded labor for a car). On one day my brother Cory and I probably moved (organized) 10 engines and a dozen transmissions in one of the garages.

The first day I showed up and I'm told "I found another one". I asked "another what?". The reply was another Falcon. Sure enough it was in a shed and all you could see was the front end. The rest of it was covered with old tires as was the rest of the shed. Eventually with all the tires out it revealed other car parts (like late 50's Chevrolet pickup hood) and probably a dozen rear axle assemblies in the back of the shed.

My brother, Lee, came to look at the cars one day and ended up buying the tire buried 63 door sedan and the 62 4 door wagon deluxe. It took some effort getting them ready to load on a trailer but both cars saw all four wheels rotate and not be locked up.

Fast forward to now and my dad (who got us into Falcons and Ford) has been somewhat itching to get involved in a project. He's had some health issues and proposed that he and I take over the wagon project as a father - son deal. I couldn't pass that up. As a teen when he was working on the 65 Sprint as well as other cars I had very little interest in being in the garage and helping. I just wanted to drive them. Now, I wish I had paid attention and helped because I know next to nothing about working on these. But, it's time to learn. So, father - son project here I come.

I'll start with some photos of what we're working with. Surprisingly the car, with the exception of the drivers floor is really solid. Roof rails, bottom of the doors and tailgate look really good. The fuel tank is out and the rear floor and bottom of the quarter panels are surprisingly in good shape.

The initial plan right now is to go through the suspension and brakes, dual master cylinder conversion, new fuel tank and sending unit, decide how bad, if at all, the electrical is and paint. My brother has a 200 6 cyl and C4 transmission from a 79 or 80 Mustang that will go in it. He's had some work done on the head and put a 2 barrel Weber carburetor on. The interior is really nice - no cracks in the dashboard and the original upholstery has no tears. It doesn't hurt that the dash and seats were covered with newspaper and then filled with stuff so sunlight never hit those parts even with the eastern Washington summer heat. We know that most of the window and door seals, etc. will need to be replaced. And it will need a new windshield. Since the hope is to control costs a little to help keep my wife and my mom happy, we will keep this a 4 lug car and I'm hoping for slot mags or another set of wheels for it. I've located some 15" that will work - just waiting to hear back from the seller.

For paint, I am leaning toward the metallic black that is on my daughter's 2015 Ford Fusion. It really pops when the sun is shining on it directly. If we go black the car will be named Dad's Toy 3. My dad's first project - 1961 Ford Starliner - was black and we had Dad's Toy painted on the trunklid. The 65 Sprint was painted black and received Dad's Toy 2. It's really only appropriate if the wagon ends up in black that it be named Dad's Toy 3.

Now comes the steady flow of photos for what we're working with. A portion of the driver's floor will be replaced and then we'll clean up the rest and treat it.

As found:

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My brother did some initial clean up of the seats and it was stunning what the results showed:

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[Gitanesteel]

More photos of the starting point:

Drivers floor pan

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Interior:

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Grille:
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Rear floor pan:
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[Gitanesteel]

Engine compartment
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Drip rail and tailgate:

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Not sure why the photos are getting rotated

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[Gitanesteel]

So, there you are. Be patient with me and my dumb questions. Also, if anyone has a spare quarter panel trim to hold the deluxe trim piece on let me know. We have a missing one. I'll have to check which side.

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[Gitanesteel]

The paint idea:

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Scripting would be smaller font

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[Luva65wagon]

Scott - It really is amazing, having seen the wagon with my own eyes sunk into the ground, how nice a starting point it actually is. I'm excited to see this come together for you and your pops.

I'm sure I've said it before, but that is something I did early in life - hang out with dad working on things. Until I got smarter than him (in my own mind). Typical teen. Later in life, in my late 20's, I realized how much I actually learned from him and yearned again for that. By then it was more his musical abilities I found my need to connect to him with; I had long-since exceeded his mechanical abilities by then, but he was an awesome musician. And I'm glad I did. And he really enjoyed that too.

Long story short - take every chance you have to hang onto your parents. I have now lost both and my only regret is not spending more time with them. Now I only have the things to remember them by and it's not the same.

FWIW, this corner is my parents ohmage. My Dad's guitar and amp (I repaired and preserved both into working condition) and some of my mom's art and writing.

[Gitanesteel]

Roger - thanks for sharing. Great stuff. Love the poem and painting. The musical side of things is always something that escaped me - guess that side of the brain doesn't work too well.

I'll head over to my brothers in a couple of weeks and my dad and I will start putting the list together. I had to start this weekend with the easy part and picked up a set of Shelby CAL 500 14" slot mag wheels to match up with my 65. They cleaned up alright and now I need to work on the polishing.

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[Obie 250]

Thanks for sharing about your parents, it hits home for me. My dad, 92, is suffering from some dementia and your mother's poem is such a good reminder. I have been helping them a lot this summer and currently am planning to move them back up here from Arizona, thus not much work getting done on my car. It will be good to have them close though and hopefully I can take advantage of whatever remaining time we will have together

[Gitanesteel]

Went through the car today and gathering a list of parts needed. Tackling the suspension first. For ease we will replace the lower control arm. My understanding is the stud on the upper ball joint is too small for later spindles. I assume if I put a 63-65 upper control arm on with the larger stud the spindle has to change also. If that’s the case I'll probably just pay the higher price for the 60-62 upper ball joints and shaft kit as the spindle is in great shape.

We were unable to remove the left axle shaft so are regrouping to see what we need for a tool to remove that.

The wheel bearings are in really good shape and will get repacked with grease.

I took the slot mags with me but will need to get some "long shank" lugs nuts to work. I did receive center caps for the wheels but now need to find some proper size decals for the caps.

We looked at the 79 Mustang 200 6 cylinder to be used. It looks to have the higher mount starter so shouldn't interfere with the center link. We have the 170 block that came out of the car and can swap the oil pan and oil pick up tube from that.

Little steps and speed bumps. Pretty normal I guess.

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[Gitanesteel]

One other question regarding the steering wheel. There are cracks where the spokes meet the rings and also at the center base. Has anyone repaired these cracks with an epoxy and then repainted the steering wheel.

[Falcongek]

One other question regarding the steering wheel. There are cracks where the spokes meet the rings and also at the center base. Has anyone repaired these cracks with an epoxy and then repainted the steering wheel.

Yes I did. It turned out pretty good. Now after 25 years some cracks have reoccurred, but not as noticable as the original cracks.

There is a tutorial on line on how to do it, it was linked to the tffn start page.

Rinke

[Gitanesteel]

Well, this past weekend I finally got some time to drive to my parents south of Spokane and then spend a few days with my dad at my brother's (he has the wagon in his shop) and start some work.

We had done a lot contemplating what we want the car to be and in the end decided on mostly stock for the suspension and have it be a mellow cruiser. After all, I already have a V8 Falcon. I had ordered bushings, lower control arms, wheel cylinders and brake shoes, shocks and a dual mast cylinder. My dad picked up new bearings and seals for the wheels.

Friday morning was deconstruct day. At 57 this is my first time going through a car and it's a little overwhelming since I am not the most mechanically inclined. I got some guidance from my brother who was recovering from surgery and my dad and will lean on them more. I'll also hope to lend a hand to my brother as he builds his 63. Dad helped where he could. We got the fenders, grille, bumper off and called it a day a little earlier so we could drive to the country body shop we want to use for paint. Unfortunately, he wasn't there so we didn't get a chance to talk about the work on the car. We also finally decided on the color - 1999 Aston Martin darker metallic blue.

Saturday morning we continued taking the car apart with the drivers side suspension as well as a few other miscellaneous parts. In the afternoon we were ready to put a lower control arm. Now for the fun part - I had misread the date code on my photo of the vin tag date code because the photo wasn't real clear. I had determined the production date of Dec 31, 1961. Unfortunately, it's really Aug 31, 1961. Kind of a big deal because that means it has the smaller upper ball joints and also lower ball joints. I had ordered the lower control arm that had the bigger ball joint "post". So, my stock spindle didn't fit. I already had upper ball joints on order (just not received yet). That set back had us shut down for the day to contemplate our next course of action.

After much discussion on Saturday night and some evaluation of the spindle we decided to try and have a machinist ream the lower part of the spindle for the new lower ball joint. Frankly, I like the beefier look of the Moog part and we determined the increase would be .1 to .12 of an inch so the tolerance on the spindle should be fine.

I came home Sunday evening cutting my trip a day short. My dad is more comfortable working one side at a time so we didn't take the right side suspension apart yet. I had ordered a new upper control am shaft kit and we tried it on the upper control arm for fit - perfect. I brought the upper control arm and sway bar home to clean up and paint. I also brought the headlight bezels (really nice shape) to clean up and the grille to clean and paint the black spots on the grille.

So, this morning I found out that the upper ball joints were out of stock with no date on when the manufacturer was planning on making more. I called Russ Wall and discussed the issues and he said I just need the 63-65 upper control arm, strut rod and spindle and I should be good to go. Hoping that's true as I'll order them in the morning. I'm hoping to go back in a couple of weeks and we'll start putting the drivers side together and help my brother put the rear end back in his 63 if his leaf springs are back.

Unfortunately, I won't be getting anything done from Feb to May with my daughter playing her first season of college softball while we're traveling every weekend to catch games.

Photos below including some of the upper cowl area at the windshield pillar and the lower portion of the a pillar showing how solid they are.

I readily welcome advice on how to clean the cowl panel out. There's a lot of mouse crap in there.

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Just some clean up needed here of the surface rust:

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[Gitanesteel]

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I do like the look of the Moog lower control arm:

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[Gitanesteel]

Need help on this "regulator"? It was bolted on the left side of the core support just above the horn. Is it a horn relay?

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[Gitanesteel]

Finally, could it really be that the last time this wagon was licensed for the road was 1969? Crazy to think. The odometer reads 81216 so I suppose it's possible.

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[Falcongek]

That could be true, My car also sat for at around 30 years in a basement before I pulled her out in 2002.

[Jeff W]

Hi Scott, yes that is the horn relay. When purchasing a new one (if needed) beware they come with either two mounting tabs (like yours) or a single mounting tab. Either will work electricity but the single will leave you with extra hole in the radiator support.

[Gitanesteel]

I know most people aren't following the forum much and have moved to Facebook. But, I figured I'd post here for those who still come around and are interested in progress.

It's been a couple of years since my dad and I took over the wagon project from my brother who has his own 63 2 door to worry about. It's been slow because of travel for my daughter's college softball, some medical treatment for me and the fact the car was 3.5 hours from me. That left limited time to work on it - as in 6-8 times a year. Well, in May of this year things started to get better when we moved from Ellensburg, WA to Lewiston, ID. Now, I am only 90 minutes from the car and trips have been more frequent. So, the question is what has been done.

We have all the parts for the front suspension which have gone on. My car was made before the switch over to the upper ball joints with the bigger spindle so, rather than try and source the unobtanium ball joints, I took the upper control arms and spindle from my brother's 63 since he was upgrading to a V8 suspension. $20 for ball joints is more palatable. Of course, you have to have wheels even if the car isn't functional and I now have two sets - 14" Enkei mesh and 14" factory steel rims that have been powder coated black. I have a set of Falcon dog dish caps from a guy on Bike Forums who just had them sitting around one of his sheds.

We bought a full floor pan from Steve Harwood. While patching would have worked I decided to just go the route of a full pan and new toe boards just for the sake that they should last another 62 years. I don't have the knowledge or skills to do the floor work so, through my mechanic cousin, we got in touch with a guy who works in a body shop. He looked at the car and agreed he could do the floor work. His labor rate is agreeable (total cost has been well under the minimum a body shop quoted us without seeing the car). And his attention to detail has been fantastic. He fashioned some new parts for the welded panels on the floor and also for the transmission hump because he didn't like the way things looked. Fast forward to now and work has slowed immensely at his body shop. He is taking a few weeks of unemployment and has stated he'd like to continue with the remaining body work on the wagon and take it to primer for us. Fortunately, the body work is not as extensive as other cars I have seen. The quarters, tailgate and other key areas are good with surface rust and no holes. The only area that is suspect is the bottom of the rear doors but I have extras that he can use if needed.

In the meantime, I have been pulling off all the stainless trim and working on cleaning it up and polishing it. Tedious but also somewhat relaxing. One the car is in primer we'll get it to a shop for paint (hopefully have one located) and while it's gone we can pull the 200 6 cylinder and C4 from the donor 79 Mustang and start going through it. We haven't touched the rear yet and will do so later. We have a set of fiberglass leaf springs that used to be on my brother's 65 Falcon Sprint and I'm leaning on putting those on... just because.

I am just hoping that all the labeled bags and numerous photos we'll get it back together correctly. :)

[SmithKid]

Scott, Looks like you have the beginnings of a great start! Keep at it. I too, realize that FB has taken over most of the old Forum traffic, and I try to keep up with it (FB), but have never been a FB fan, and still try to stay current here, so you're appreciated.

[Gitanesteel]

Just some progress pics - body work (post-floor) should start this week.

I'll get a better full floor pic once the seam sealing and priming is done. Currently it's a lot of work on cleaning up, and polishing, trim. I have back surgery scheduled for Nov 5th so that little work will continue. This past weekend we reassembled the remainder of the right front suspension so the car can be pushed around, stripped out the remainder of the engine compartment and started taking parts off the used right rear door that will go on.

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[Gitanesteel]

Picked up this cool side mirror while getting my used doors and tailgate. It polished up really nicely. Who knows how long it was just sitting buried on a shelf.


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I also moved away from the slot mag wheels for two different options - one set of previously painted Enkei 92 wheels and also a set of Ford factory steel wheels that I had powder coated. I have a set of Falcon dog dish hub caps for those.

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[Gitanesteel]

And finally, some of the trim clean up and polish work. I have one dent to work out of the longest piece of side trim from the right side and three dents in the deluxe trim from that side also. The wheel opening molding for the quarters that holds the deluxe trim panel were the toughest so far thanks to rock pits, etc.

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Unfortunately, there's quite a bit of pitting to the fender ornaments. Probably to be expected considering how long it sat outside.

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It's going to take some patience to work these dents out.

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