1963 Ford Falcon Futura

I wanted to replace the 01 GTI with a more vintage daily driver. All of the sudden I owned this

Powered by the 170 six backed up by the three on the tree

Within 16 hours of owning it I rebuilt all four brakes, went through the carb and replaced all three of the missing check valves in the accelerator pump circuit. I also installed 2" lowering blocks out back and cut two coils off the front springs

And I drove it just like this for two weeks

I placed a huge order at rockauto and the bits started trickling in.

Today it went back onto the lift

It got four new KYB gasadjusts and most importantly new front suspension strut rod bushings

It drives much better but it is still an old yank tank. The 4 wheel manual drums are on their way out soon to be replaced with these 11" discs from a V8 Granada

Of course that means I have to swap out the rear end for a five lug unit and buy larger five lug wheels.

more to come............

I'm following this thread....

That thing is so damn cool...

You'd think this would be something I'd have looked up several dozen times over the years, but do you need to change the master cylinder and/or add a brake booster to get the discs where you want them?

I love this project and am really jealous of your sweet Falcon! I would love to build a similar rig for my DD duty.

Nice! I'm digging the red interior/champagne/red-stripe combo. Weird combo by today's standards, but it works here.

Slow and low, that is the tempo. (Looks excellent lowered.)

Cool car. Having followed your Fiat build, I've no doubt this one will turn out similarly awesome.

Very Nice! If that was my car, I would be finding a C3 from a pinto and hook up my zetec. Maybe turbocharge it. A bench seat makes for a Great Cruiser!

I like Ross D's suggestion of a turbo. Assuming you feel the need for more power. That 170ci equates to about 2700 cc's. I think they make china chargers on Ebay to fit that size motor. You could most likely fit a blow through kit pretty easy. Run about 5 psi and watch your air/fuel ratio to keep the motor healthy. I'm over-simplifying but it could be done pretty easily I'd bet.

yes, yes indeed

The plans for now are as follows. Go five lug all around and mount up some wheel vintiques 16X7 smoothies with baby moons and trim rings. The steels will be painted in the same red as the interior and I will redo the spear at that time in the same red. I found a company that makes a bellhousing adapter to mount the six to a T5. Then drive it.

I like the idea of boosting the six. I would get the later 7 main 200/250 block for that though. I have already worked out where to mount the investors for efi .

ditchdigger wrote: I like the idea of boosting the six. I would get the later 7 main 200/250 block for that though. I have already worked out where to mount the investors for efi .

Fuel injection is expensive, but investors?

In reply to ditchdigger:

I don't recall who off the top of my head but some board member said they had aussie contacts and might be able to have them mail over a nice cross-flow head for the motor. That should be sufficient...

ditchdigger, have you thought about the 16" wheels from the S197 mustang:

They've got a pretty vintage look to them, and would probably only require a 1" spacer and longer wheel studs to make 'em work on the Falcoon.

Funny you should mention those wheels. I just sent out a text yesterday to all my car crazy friends asking for opinions on them. Responses ranged from hell no to maybe.

I would love a set of the torque thrust looking 17's that came on early 2000's mustangs, but I have to locate or fabricate a narrow enough five lug axle first.

In reply to ditchdigger:

I'm trying to figure out how to get more of a torq-thrust, sand-cast look on the centers of those things, 'cause I think they'd look way cooler that way...

In reply to ditchdigger:

Why don't you see if there is an axle that will work with the s197 offset. That way you don't have to narrow an axle or buy spacers. I would imagine that they are +40ish meaning that gives you an extra 1.5" or so per side. That should get you a fair amount of better axle options (maybe the V8 explorer or a 7.5" from an early 91 or 92 ranger)

Did a little digging.

a newer ranger 8.8" or 7.5" should work with what I suggested above. Or if you want something the same width, the 92 and down ranger will work with classic offset wheels.

Old Ranger - 56.5" wide Newer Ranger - 58.5" wide Pinion Offset To Right Of Center 2" Explorer - 59.5" wide Pinion Offset To Right Of Center 2"

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/Explorer8_8.html

AngryCorvair wrote: ditchdigger, have you thought about the 16" wheels from the S197 mustang: They've got a pretty vintage look to them, and would probably only require a 1" spacer and longer wheel studs to make 'em work on the Falcoon.

Well what do you know. Look what I bought today.

The hunt for the right 3.27 rear end continues.

In reply to ditchdigger:

i forgot to mention the three-bar spinners. i think they give those wheels an even better vintage feel. very nice!

The faux knockoffs add to the vintage halibrand look. The 16's are much nicer looking than the 17" ones.

Nice!

I'm digging this project! Reminds me of my '63 2 door post that I had years ago. Mine was black with red interior, 2 speed "Ford-o-matic" slushbox and the same 170 cid.

With the plethora of engine/trans/suspension options out there for the mustang crowd you can do just about anything you want.

I'd love to see some sort of boosted 4 cylinder in there, maybe a Zetec?

I like those wheels alot, I think the Torque thrust style ones are overdone, and a bit to big on a smaller car.

Can't wait to see it with the V6 Stang wheels on there. I've seen those wheels put on a lot of things recently (ranger, tacoma, etc) but they should look awesome on the Falcon.

Sweet!