Projects 1964 Falcon B/FX Build Thread

I have been doing a lot of research, prior to starting this build. I don't need my car to be a 100% show car/ wanna be racecar, but I want a nice looking car that is period correct and runs decent. If i could get close to "the rocket" 64 comet or Roy's "65 comet" I would be super happy(fellow hambers and cars I saw at this years "Hot Rod Renion" in Bakersfield.) Thank you Fast Eddy for tire size recommendation.

I am starting with a 1964 Falcon Futura. It currently has a 289, metal 4 speed hump, bucket seats, console, all the trim in the trunk and no rust or body issues. It is a stong running 289/c4/ 8" rear combo, I picked up for $1800, so I am starting off with a good platform car/ money wise.

Parts I have collected so far:
I have a 69 tunnel port boss 302 engine with 351w heads with a blowproof bellhousing, correct narrow bolt pattern falcon toploader and 9 inch rear end ready to go in the car.

Other cragar ss rims for the front, fiberglass fenders, front bumper and trunk lid (craigslist find), dodge a100 seats, Hurst pie-crust cheater slicks. (refer to picture of parts room).

I have spoken to "Mr. 289" aka Donny Havers a couple of times. He campaigned a 65 B/fx car new from Ford in 1965, so I could get an idea of the modifications he did to his car. I attached a photo of his car if you are not familiar with it. I am open to any comments or suggestions anyone has to help keep the car period correct (I know I have a 69 engine block, other than that).

Plans I have for the car:
I would like to install a 6 point roll bar setup with swing out door bars, an 8 barrel weber carb setup. I want to get the fiberglass doors and thunderbold style hood. I dont plan on modifying the fenderwells with the exception of the front edge of the rear wheel well. I may need to massage it forward a 1/4-1/2 inch, but will have to wait to get the new rear end/ tire combo fitted.

I would like it to have a red/white/blue similiar to the sox/ martin car, see picture below (thank you to the photoshop thread and my own microsoft paint skills

Hope you enjoy this thread.

 

I thought anything tunnel port 302 related stuff came out in '68... How about some more info on that '69 302 block???

 

I always thought the B/FX cars looked good with the front wheel/tire moved forward slightly.

 

Cool. I'll have to watch this thread, my boy just picked up a 65 Futura HT and we plan on starting it this spring. We will be going more an A/FX route with a FE and moving the wheels on both end forward. I like the fact your going 4 speed!

 

A few things come to mind but first get the period correct rule book, read and understand it. If you are going to race it under a modern sanctioning body - it is likely an association like MANDRA/East Coast Gassers etc that races under NHRA sanction - get thier rules and read them. They will be very specific as to engine combo, carbs etc and i think you'll find that you will be limited to hollys and that block/head combo may not be avaiable to you. Those associations keep thier cars very correct, i guarantee you won't see a set of webers on anything other than something in the parking lot.
I like the seats, they are correct if from an econoline, you may not need 2 of them i would've thought ford provided only one seat as they did in the thunderbolt and that was 'stock' class where the fx classes gave a builder many more options. Move the front wheels ahead as far as you can, one side should be about an inch longer than the other to gain 'rollout' in staging - you stage with the rearmost front tire and tripped the finishline with the foremost front tire so you automatically get there an inch before the other guy (they may allow 2" i can't remember). Seems to me your car should run quicker than a 10.50 so you will need a full cage - 10.50 is the fastest you can go with roll bar, stock floor pan and stock firewall - if you modify the floorpan and/or the firewall then the fastest you can go is 11.0 if i recall correct.
Check the rules as to how the rear frame and sheetmetal can be dealt with, it might well be that you will have to salvage the rear frame section by drilling out all the tackwelds and re-use the original rails or have exact copies made, the inner fender wells might be the same way. In short, you probably won't be able to do a typical 'tub' job like a bracket car. I belive that the FX classes modified the hell out of the cars but had to use all the original factory sheetmetal, i recall chrysler selling rear quarters to relocate the rear end. Check with the association before you go about whacking something up - i made that mistake once and an original '67Nova SS lost all its value and became just another G.D. bracket car.
Good luck, oj

 

Just a note on the Webers....Rick Kirk out in Ripley, Ok, has a factory built B/FX 65 Comet with something like 116 original miles. I'm fairly certain the wheelbase is not altered, but according to Rick, the car came ready to race and is a Weber carbed 289. Rick is a great guy and very knowledable about Ford/Mercury products. You might try and contact him at RK Machine in Ripley. He still has the car, along with a bunch of other rare cars in a private museum in downtown Ripley.
Rick was featured on a Hot Rod TV Speed channel production about the POWER TOUR
a few years ago.
I love the ideas for your build, but, as OJ said, a through research on those cars and what equipment was used and available at the time will era authenicate the car. You're doing the right thing by researching. I look forward to the finished product. One of my favorites. Subscribed.

BOutlaw

 

Dueces this is what I found out about the block it has a good back story I will post a little later. The casting numbers are C8FE-6105-B date code 3A9 it does decode to a 69 boss engine. But withe c8 number you are right

 

Thank you for the lead Boutlaw!

OJ- The seats are Dodge A100 seats, the same as the Thunderbolt, I attached a photograph of Mickey Thompsons Original Thunderbolt which had both front seats (A100), as well as a rear seat. This is a different class though than b/fx, where other modifications were aloud.

Going by the rule book posted at http://www.colesy-juniorstockforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=176 -Thank you Colesy, in B/FX 9.01-13.01 lbs per cubic inch air ducts are permited,
optional body equipment such as fiberglass and aluminum is aloud,
engine Any parts listed available by the factory may be used- this applies to carburators, camshafts, heads etc, but the displacement limit still applies,
Interior seats, floor boards, window glass may be as dealer installed, Mag wheels are acceptable as long as they fit in the factory wheel well.
All other stock car class rules shall apply other than those listed above

So my engine combination is available by the factory, just not for the car model year, i don't know if that means it is aloud or not.

In speaking to Don Havers he said his wheel wells in the rear were moved forward about 2 inches, but looked factory. He also ran webers, check the picture, you can see them sticking through the hood. Also his car has all fiberglass body panels and 1 piece lexan door windows. He told me NHRA made it so the windows had to be rolled up and down. This is one of my sticking points, should i put the glass wing window/ side window in the fiberglass doors or go with a one piece lexan window?

As far as the engine, I saw a local craigslist ad that adviertised a "4 bolt main for engine with scattershield for $600". I made the couple hour trip and met the owner, Bob Parsons. Bob is was a circle track racer in the 70's and 80's who ran a 69 fastback mustang bodied car with a boss 302 engine. I included a picture of the car, i will attach a better one later. Bob said he sold the car and put the engine in another modified type car, but with less than one race on the engine, the car was wrecked and the motor pulled. THe motor sat in his garage on a pallet ever since, until I came along. I have all the receipts for the engine build and a lot of money was put into the thing. I attached a couple pictures of the engine as well.

 

Subscribed for sure/ Sounds like a great project. I'm a little confused on the restriction on displacement notation. There were Big Block 427 cars that ran B/FX

 

From what I understand, as long as the cubic inch to weigh ratio fell between 9-13 you could have a 460 for instance, if it was an option then, but you would have one heavy vehicle, like the 1963 f100xl 427 B/FX race truck.

 

fiveoh108;if you plan on staying here on the West Coast,the only association is the ANW,American Nostalgia West,that is the group Dale and I plus the 22 other cars were in at CHRR20.If you plan on any N/SS races in the Midwest or East you need a FE,they do not run small blocks!There rules are fairly basic,must be NHRA legal for the speed and ET you run,no electronics,no big prostock type scoops,engine must be same make as car,year not important.They want the car lettered like the old school drag cars[they bitch at me because my Comet is clean],new style wheels and race tires are OK.An 8 point roll bar is legal to 10.00 by NHRA rules,you can have more safety equipment than you need though.You may need to run mid to low 10s to qualify out here,depends on who shows up to race,they try to field 16 cars so sometimes you get a slower field,I think 12.00 is as slow as you can go.Do NOT go by a T-Bolt as an example,totally different than a B/FX!!Good luck with the Falcon,PM me or Dale or get a hold of Dave at the ANW web site. ROY.

 

Very cool looking build. Why the six point cage? If you're going to race it why not go with a 8 or 10 point cage to give yourself some room if you want to set up?

 

I have done factory stock style ford restorations for years of fairlanes and mustangs, this is my first venture into racing. An 8 pt cage sounds like what I need to go with, I appreciate the input.

 

When I built my Falcon. I wanted to go with a 6 point cage. I got some good advice and went with a 10 point cage. I've never had a problem with tech. I like your idea of the B/FX style car. The red, white and blue is going to really make the car stand out.

 

Hmmm....Darrell Drokes 65 T-Bolt was a B/FX car. Also Jerry Harvey's BOB Ford Galaxie was a 427 B/FX car

 

My Brother and I just did this B/FX tribute car its based a lot on Don Havers car here are a few pics I have of it i ended up stretchung the wheel well about 2 1/2 inches the hurst 30x10 piecrusts just barely fit the stock wheel tubs but they do fit the rear suspension is all from Crites and is pretty nice stuff. Its running a 302 w/ windsor heads top loader 4 speed 9" with spool and 5.42 gear.its not done but hes driving it like this for now.

 

6t5frlane;not sure what you meant in your post.Droke's 65 I'm not familiar with,the Galaxy with a 427 may have run B if it was a heavy car.What I was telling Mike was not to go by 64 T-Bolt specs,totally different animal than a B/FX Falcon or Comet.The ANW classifies ALL their cars as A/FX,the rules are not even based on the OLD 60s classes!The main reason my 65 Comet has a full cage is to strengthen the unibody,after 44 years of racing[and more HP] the 8 point and full back half were not doing the job! ROY.

 

Roy, Not trying to cause an issue, but I was pointing out that the 65 T-Bolt ran B/FX with a 427. That said I'm not famliar with ANW. The 65 was the same animal basically as the 64 T-Bolt......I've seen your car. It's killer !!!

 

6t5frlane;I did not mean for my response to seem like an argument! Like I said,I was not familiar with the 65 of Droke's,I had read about the Bob Ford Galaxy,I think they ran a 64 also.The ANW[American Nostalgia West]is a West Coast organization that puts on a few A/FX shows each year.Thanks for the compliment on my Comet,it is still a blast to race all those slush box equipped cars while using a 4-speed!!! ROY.

 

Roy, Take a look on the Thunderbolt thread here. Some nice info and shots of the Droke car. I have to say I'm a little jealous of you banging that 4 speed down the track...

 

Good luck with your build sound like you know exactly what you want to do. I'm building a 62 Falcon, started out to be a gasser but....well it's an altered now.
I'll be watching your progress.

Kevin

 

I like the way your talking!!!!!

 

Fast Eddie with his new look Falcon,I liked it better without the billboards!!! JMO,ROY. I stopped by and talked to Mike and looked at his 64 Falcon project.He has a good solid foundation and some cool old parts to use on his B/FX project.He is a true Ford believer,has a good idea on what he wants to do with this build! ROY.

 

Mike;did Don Havers have a tube axle on that Falcon?Just curious as he has fenderwell headers,not much room for them with the shock towers.Just getting two out on each side on mine was tight!! ROY.

 

He did not say anthing about a straight axle when we spoke, in fact i thought he told me he had a fairly stock style suspension, but in looking at this photograph you can either see a straight axle or a tow bar...its probably a tow bar...

 

Mike;I think that is an axle,the tow bar has a downward slope from the Falcon to the Galaxy.I also noticed how far forward the front wheels are. JMO,ROY.

 

Kinda looks like an axle car to me as well.

 

what do you think about this paint scheme?More of a Strip Teaser/ Sox and Martin paint job.... Ordered the roll bar today, hopefully some progress will get to be made in the next couple weeks! I will be selling the factory buckets seats and console from the car to fund the roll bar. I will be listing them in the classifieds if any of you want to jump on them before that...

 

Personally I don't care for the red, white and blue theme on a Falcon but that's just me. Dave Lyall's Falcon looked pretty good. Orange seems to fit imo.



And Rocket Igniters would fit the look

 

Red, white and blue is always a great combo. Lots of other cars have done that. Make it your own and do what you like. So if you like the red,white, and blue do it.

Hey green is a great color for a Falocn!!!!