Build project - 1962 wagon deluxe

[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.

[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.







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.

[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.



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





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

[Gitanesteel]

Some more body repair photos - the guy doing it for us is making good progress. Also, a little clearer photos of the floor repair. As most probably know the pan is for the 64-65 years but is a good fit for the earlier models too.



Probably didn't need to do the toe boards but figured "what the heck" since we were already in there. Should last at least another 62 years.

[Gitanesteel]

I'm encouraged that after some good clean up and a polish these scuff plates should look presentable. The right side was lightly polished last night as a test.