Fn family car

Ive been looking for a fun car to enjoy with the girlfriend and daughter (2.5 year old)

I want a clutch pedal, seat at least 3 and be cool and reliable.

And today i saw this:

How bad are they? Easy to upgrade brakes and suspension?

I'll bet that it doesn't have rear seatbelts at all. That might be a deal breaker.  No ability to mount a rear child seat. 

How did that car ever escape the effects of Quebec road salt ? When I lived there my 1975 Granada had holes through it by 1980. As to your questions....brake upgrades should be pretty generic Ford stuff for the era, possibly  1st generation Mustang kits. As for reliability, that's not going to match a modern car, but you can do a lot to a car of that era with basic tools and skills. IIRC the rear suspension is leaf springs so a spring shop can add a leaf to stiffen it up, if it hasn't already been done. Stock they'll be pretty mushy and will bottom out with a couple of adults in the rear seat. Front coils should be easily replaceable .

Early Mustang stuff mostly fits. Rear seat belts would be easy to install if it needs them. Some one before you has already started on the right track with the tower brace in the photo, Ford did not make that. Sweet car, but I would want a wagon....

You might try getting to know these folks....

https://www.falconclub.com/wiki/first-generation-1960-1963/

Thnak you for the coments! 

I thinks its been restored or kept in garage.

A wagon would be better for familly travel if it proved reliable.

I was looking for something more modern like a volvo 240 wagon or a mercedes 190e but, i have a sweet spot for the classic lines of those falcons.

Speaking of wagon there was a datsun 510 wagon in need of restoration near me few weeks ago... no time nor garag...

There should be  mounting lugs for a rear seatbelt, and likely for front shoulder belts. 

There is some wisdom to the cautions put out by others. I'd say 3 point belts, a collapsible column, and dual circuit master cylinder would be mandatory for regular street driving. Should be cheap/easy on this car.

Nice car!

Falcons didn't get a V8 until the 1963 1/2 Sprint model, so the engine in this car must have been swapped in at some point.  I'd want to make sure the job was done correctly.  I'm not sure but I think the rear end and brakes on a V8 car were upgraded for V8 cars as well, so if the original 6 cylinder components are still there they may not be adequate.

edit:  I looked at the picture again and it appears the car has five lug wheels, which is an indication the brakes were updated.  So, that's a good sign.

I had this car's stable mate, a 62 Comet swapped with a 289 and 3 speed toploader, also upgraded to the V8 brakes and rear end. Mine still had the 6cyl radiator. It wasn't adequate in summer traffic. The brakes were not great but they're manually adjustable and I could just never get them right. It was a really fun cruiser at 35-55 but highway driving was a little loud and revved out.

I know the one you are looking at is not a wagon.  Check out the  Flying Monkey Bus - ‘67 Falcon Wagon Content in builds.  He has done a bunch of work on his that you may want to copy onto yours.

I saw it in the mag, sure will check! 

Its not mine yet, for the moment is a project, havent proritise expenses yet.  Still have 2 bikes to put on the road (old cb750 and gs750/1127) i consider sacrificing 1 or both to something we can enjoy as a family.. its a hard decision to take!

A car, even from this era seems safer than a bike.. 

LOL.  Not what I was expecting, but awesome car!

Dad drove a 1963 Falcon wagon from '63 to about '76.  170 c.i. I-6, three-on-the-tree.  First manual I ever drove.

As a modern family car, it lacks most of the safety features we take for granted.  Some of that can be remedied.

On the plus side, if you keep it up, it will never be worth less than you pay for it.

Beware rust!  Pop's car was in Jersey and it was rusted some by the time he got rid of it, and that was eons ago.  Get under the car and take a hard look at suspension mounting points, gas tank straps, floorboards, etc. etc.

This was my crew cab 63.

Suspension engineers didn't seem to care about what the alignment was doing in the bias ply tire era. So roundbody falcons generate positive camber under compression and there is a shocking amount of bumpsteer.  Going to modern radial tires makes the bumpsteer issue worse, in my case moving to Granada knuckles for the larger disc brakes made it worse still. 

The "shelby drop" addresses the camber issue. I think the bumpsteer problem would require changing the lengths of the center link and tie rods but never got around to modeling the suspension to see what the problem really was.  With wide, low profile tires my car was a handful at freeway speeds. 

That seems on the high end of the price scale for a 4 door sedan. 

edit: Didn't realize OPs location. Carry on. 

I dont know why, but these are possibly my favorite domestic classic car. A turbo coyote powered, pro touring build would be amazing.

wheelsmithy (Joe-with-an-L) (Forum Supporter) said:

There should be  mounting lugs for a rear seatbelt, and likely for front shoulder belts.

I won't argue with you, but in 1962 I can't imagine that there would be hard points for shoulder belts.  Yes they were invented in the late '50s but I doubt they percolated into American cars that quickly.