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In my quest to replace my 2001 GTI as a daily driver I wound up with a Ford Falcon this afternoon. As I found it in the sellers driveway It is a 1963 Falcon Futura four door. It has the 170ci six cylinder backed up with a 3 on the tree manual transmission. I crawled underneath the car poking and prodding with a pick and found zero rust so I happily paid the gentleman and fired it up and drove it away shortly after having him show me how to operate the shifter. Here it is It is in freakishly great shape. It spent the bulk of its life in the idaho desert. It has had a repaint in the original color in the past. The interior is a shade of red usually reserved for chinese restaurant booths here in the states. The six cylinder isn't pretty by any stretch of the imagination but it has been rebuilt recently and the compression test indicated it was quite healthy. It has sat for so long that the throwout bearing is a bit loud and the water pump grumbles a bit. It ran great. The seller warned me that the fuel in the tank was over 18 months old so I filled a 6 gallon can in anticipation of draining the tank and filling it with fresh. After 40 miles of driving it started to surge at cruise just about a mile from home. I drained the tank and replaced the fuel filter and it continues. Looks like I get to clean out the carburettor in the morning. Then it is a shopping trip for some lowering blocks and a few cut off wheels to shorten the front springs. Stay tuned.
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Mike
East Midlands
Posts: 3,387
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That looks great!
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79cord
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,615
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Wow sounds like another, very different project for you & will no doubt be just as interesting.
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jpsmit
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,268
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Nice! Years ago I had a Mercury Meteor with a 170ci. 6. Took forever to get to 70mph but then would stay there all day.
Good to see you back! How are things? How is the Fiat? did you ever get the roof straightened?
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mrx
Part of things
Posts: 134
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Cars aint allowed to do such dizzying speeds in usa....hence why they only have 7 litre v8's to get them up to 55mph
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mmmmmmmmmm who needs mopar..........
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2001 HONDA CT110 (NOT RCV)
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,784
Club RR Member Number: 34
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1963 Ford Falcon futura Dez
@dez
Club Retro Rides Member 34
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do some reading on the front suspension before you do anything to it. its an odd setup thats hard to lower effectively, and will be truly terrible on cut springs(mine was). the shocks will need much fettling too, and it will still destroy tyres very quickly.
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I rebuilt the carb. It was missing exactly three of the three necessary check valves in the accelerator pump circuit. It no longer surges at cruise and cracking the throttle results in the car moving instead of bogging down. I also rebuilt the brakes. It still stops terribly. 2 inch lowering blocks in the rear and 2 coils off the front resulted in this It now has about an inch of toe out that needs to be dialed out and is a bit .....woolly out on the road. There are quite a few bushings that need to be seen to before I can have it aligned.
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love it proper retro cool
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79cord
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,615
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The red detailing on the exterior trims works so nicely with the interior colour & tail-lamps in that rear view. I've started imagining one with a more prominent central horizontal grill bar & pointy Thunderbirdly shaped front bumper now. Very nice.
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Last Edit: Nov 4, 2012 13:03:50 GMT by 79cord
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Been a few weeks now. I have been just driving it whilst waiting for the parts to come in. Today it went back up on the lift. It got new shocks all the way around and most importantly new front suspension strut rod bushings. The original rubber units were beyond perished. New Urethane units replaced them. It drives.....better. It is still a big wallowy american car, but it is better. The next steps include a "shelby drop" which lowers the mounting points of the upper control arm to improve the camber curve on suspension compression, and installing the 11" disc brakes I picked up last weekend. Of course that means swapping the front to five lug which means I have to do the rear axle as well and buy new wheels. Decisions to make. Oh well. It is just money.
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Great looking car, it's just plain and simple.
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Honda Civic EK3 Ford Capri III 2.3S
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foxy99
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,443
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Nov 15, 2012 11:10:40 GMT
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Yip. Beaufiful Not got time to read thread before work but please no large wheels, coilovers and modern engine conversions!!
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1974 Daimler Double-Six VDP 1965/67 Hillman Imp pick-up 1984 VW Polo breadvan 1970s Yamaha Twins (4) 1976 Honda SS50ZK1
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Feb 10, 2013 17:53:18 GMT
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I don't think the new wheels are too large. Being a modern version of a 60's Halibrand wheel I think they suit the car nicely. Lots of work being done. Updates to follow.
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Feb 10, 2013 23:53:18 GMT
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This is part of the pile that I need to dispose of While I was in there Brakes!!!! I am pretty sure I squealed audibly when It came down How she sits now I am well pleased. Still a lot to do. New master cylinder and front brake pipes, shorten the tie rods, buy/modify/install drive shaft, Bleed brakes and have it aligned.
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One of the many things I did this weekend is what folks call the "Shelby drop" The suspension geometry on these old beasts is pretty terrible. The wheels go into positive camber upon compression. What was done to the Shelby Mustangs was to lower the mounting points of the upper control arm so that it would generate negative camber. You can buy kits to do this but it was easy enough to do it without. Measure the existing holes and scribe a template with the holes 1" lower and 1/8" back to add some additional caster. Bolt the template into the existing holes and drill the new ones Now with this extra angle plus what I get from my lowered height the upper ball joint is out of its range of travel. Instead of buying a negative wedge kit I just adjusted the control arm A pie cut and bend it in and weld it up
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The 8.8" rear end is from a 91 Ford Explorer. This was chosen because they plentiful, cheap and easy to narrow. The center section is offset so there is one long and one short axle. You just get another passenger side axle and remove 3" from the drivers side tube and reassemble. I chose to drill out the factory plugs and press the tube out of the housing, cut and press it back in. Pretty straight forward.
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I liked it on the old wheels for looking short and almost cute, the new wheels give it a wholey different attitude, in a good way. It does seem a bit of a shame to mess about with such an original car but if it's being used daily, I can see why you're doing things like improving the stopping power and the handling.
I shall watch with interest.
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jpsmit
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,268
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So glad to see you back. And loving this thread. Not wanting to hijack, but, what's up with the Fiat?
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