Falcon Gasser update

Well, I haven't done much with the car itself....mainly been gathering parts and hunting down leads to an engine.

Now that I've got some parts, I'll be doing some rattle-can detailing and start adding stuff to the car.

Here's how the car came home....right down to the wheels and tires









God knows why someone painted the straight-axel set up and rear brake drums powder blue.....I've seen some Day-Glo painted suspensions on other gassers and old drag cars, so maybe it was a 60's-70's psychadellic thing....who knows? It's one "period correct(?)" item I'm definately going to change. I think I'll wash down all the Baby Blue, then primer and paint it up in a gun-metal gray.

As for a powerplant......I've been planning on using the 71 460 engine I had originally bought for my Galaxie, since I've found and bought the rebuilt 460 Police Intereceptor and C-6 for the Galaxie. I've had no luck at all locating any fenderwell headers for the swap other than some swap headers for a big block chevy engines into 55-57 Chevies and early Nove/Chevy II's that I might adapt to Ford exhaust flange and fit to the Falcon.

Then, last week, I got a lead on a rebuilt cross-bolt 427 block with hi-perf 390 heads at a local engine shop, and fortunately, the owner doesn't much like Fords, and in turn, doesn't think they're worth much. It was rebuilt for another customer who paid for the rebuild kit, but never came back to pick it up.....it's been sitting in his shop for 5 years, and I might be able to get it for the cost of the machine work.

The 427 would be perfect....the dream motor for the Falcon, and with a period perfect FE motor, I don't even care if it gets the fenderwell headers or not.

I'm also on the hunt for some wheels and tires. There's plenty of new "vintage" wheels available, but I've been clicking the "used" search on ebay and trying to find some actual vintage 15X10's for the rear and the mandatory "skinnies" up front. As with the old Gassers, back and front wheels don't have to match, but I've been trying to find wide & skinny pairs that match in Cragar S/S's, standard slots or American Torq-Thusts, but they're all rare and can get pretty pricey, so if the hunt doesn't pan out, I was thinking about some new retro, natural cast, "Halibrand" style wheels for the rear and American TTO-style 15X5 Torq-Thrusts for the front.

For now, I'm going to go out and paint the radiator panel flat black, and the engine compartment and firewall with some gray w/ black-and-white speck spatter paint.

 

Real nice

 

Cool car!! How will it be used? Strictly race or will you make it street legal?

The dog caught my eye. Except for the brown butt, it looks like our ex-neighbor's dog that we had joint custody of. She is smart and FUN!!

 

Neat looking Falcon. I always liked the 64-65 style.

 

That's Oscar, our Daschund.....just wandered up to the house a few years ago....been one of the best dogs we ever had.....tons of personality. Loves cats, go figure.

I'm not going to race the car.....at least, not yet. Mainly building it for cruise-ins and local car shows.....definately something different in these parts. Might take it to some Nostalgia drags/shows.

I'm also leaving it in "diamond-in-the-rough condition....with the whole Rat-Rod, beater, original "Patina" craze, it fits right in.....it was obviously a car some average guy(s) built in a garage somewhere, and I like that grass-roots, hayday of hot-rodding feel to it.

I couldn't believe all the attention and comments it got when we were just hauling it home....it drew small crowds at every gas stop, thumbs up's on the highway, we even got pulled over by an Arkansas State trooper who just wanted to check out the car.

Imagine the hit it will be at the A&W cruise night and local car shows when it's running and driving!

 

I pulled out the more modern racing buckets in favor of the two plain-Jane van bucket seats laying in the back of the car.....like the simple bucket seat swaps they used to do in the Ford Thunderbolts





Yeah, they're ugly, but I'll have them recovered.....maybe in red and silver metal-flake vinyl! LOL A nice tuck & roll would be a good period touch

And it came with some cool stuff.....like the skull door lock pegs...



Since the firewall and trans tunnel have been hammered and cut up, and the floors have pinhole rust and weak spots, I've been contemplating replacing the floor boards and trans tunnel with pre-fabbed sheetmetal pieces, like from Jegs, and maybe a recessed firewall, but I think for now, I'll just leave the hammer-dings and patch the holes and fabricate a plate for the trans tunnel/shifter hole.



The modern tach and shift light are going out and will be replaced with a vintage Mooneyes or Stewart Warner tach & gauges. Might make a custom gauge panel using the original gauge bezel since that stuff runs all along the dash.

Going to install a 4 or 6 point roll bar....if I go with a 4 point, the main loop will be the big OD tubing like they made 'em in the 60's. Maybe some old 60's aircraft style lap belts unless I can actually find some vintage 4 or 5-point harnasses (when did they start using safety-harness belts in drag racing?)

That's another question I got for the historians and old-timers....

When did they start using fuel cells in drag racing?



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Sorry. I'm busy looking at the graveyard. I think there's a wagon I'm seeing. Picture 2 over the engine bY

 

What,...this one?



That's no body in a graveyard.....it's alive and kicking.

that's my 70 Chevelle wagon:

 

One of my ebay deals: I was looking for taillights......found several pairs for 64-65 Falcons for $35-$75....

then ran across a guy selling two boxes of 64-65 taillights, bezels and lenses.....even included a few other round Ford taillights.





and that's just from one box.

The seller had just sold his home and land to Wal-Mart, and he only had a couple of weeks to get rid of all his car junk....I got both boxes for $50

Anyone want to try round taillights on their Maverick?

Like I said, found some decent grills. I like the look of 64's but I got two 65's in case I want to go original.

 

Oh yeah, and I just had to get this for the car.....

 

car looks super nice...what other cars you got sitting!

 

Well, the 70 Chevelle wagon: In use, running, driving project

a 79 Malibu wagon: In use, Running, driving project
a 69.5 Maverick "Grabber": Winter/spring project
a 70 Maverick: Parts, possible future project
a 71 Maverick 4-door: V-8, 5-lug LDO parts car
64 Galaxie 500 2-dr: Currently undergoing bodywork & Paint, 460 install
64 Jeep Wagoneer 4X4 2-dr.: Project. Driver by winter
79 454, 4-spd. Malibu Classic: Engine out for rebuild, interior upgrading
75 Mustang II Mach-1: Undergoing 5-lug conversion, 8-in rear 351W swap
83 Mustang GX convertible: V-6-to-5.0 swap spring '13
87 Thunderbird GL: To be "Murdered out"/351W swap, winter
88 5.0 Thunderbird LX: Been sitting, refreshing parts for start up this summer
94 Mitsubishi 3000 GT: Running/driving, undergoing detailing. Paint '13
82 Chevy Silverado 1-ton crew cab dually: In use
87 Chevy Suburban 1-ton dually: Project, due fall
88 Suburban 1500: Needs transmission
91 Buick LeSabre: Needs crank sensor
98 Dodge Avenger: In use
03 Hyundai Elantra: In use
00 Crown Victoria Interceptor: In use

two old motorhomes, various parts car for projects listed above, and maybe a couple I've lost in the high grass where I don't mow often



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Cool old Falcon, keep us posted.

 

Hmmmm Arkansas. Not too far away.

 

Ahh, the joys of dealing with shipping companies.....

This is one of the 65 grills I bought on ebay:

The way it looked when I bought it:



This is what the grill looked like when FedEx delivered it:





Thanks to FedEx, I basically paid $135 for a set of headlight rings.


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