Hot Rods 1963 Falcon Futura build... DONE...

So I didn't get all that done today... Everybody and their brother stopped by to talk and I only got the headers back on and the exhaust ran... I had the wife go put insurance and tags on it, so I did take it for a drive..... and man did it feel good... and it pulls great... BUT.. of coarse there's always a but.. the drivers side front wheel bearing took a shit on me... the next nice day that I don't have to work is suppose to be next Saturday... so that should give me the time to finish everything up...

Finish pictures in a week..

 

I got some wheel bearings and fixed my car today after work... put the nut on the spindle and tightened it up and something didn't look right... the cotter pin was quite a ways away from the nut... so I found some washers to shime it out and everything was good....

that's why it failed, whomever put them in didn't shime the nut out for the cotter pin to hold it, and it loosened up.....

So I figured I'd better check the other side... and sure enough..



I don't know who started building this car, but I hope they never work on another vehicle as long as they live...

 

FINISHED..... I've still got to order some safety harnesses, and tune on it... but other than that it's done.....

 

Looks so cool! Right out of 1963! Good job staying with it, sure you'll have a lot of fun with it.

 

Congratulations on a job well done. HRP

 

Thanks guys.. I appreciate it..

 

Looks good..What did you end up doing to fix the clutch? I had subscribed but don't think I saw any follow ups..

 

Thank you sir.... Turns out that the cable was pushing the clutch fork to far and was letting the throw out bearing kick at an angle which is what broke the bearing retainer tube... so while I had it all out, I mated the bellhousing to the trans, then put the clutch fork and throw out bearing in place... took a measurement all the way in, then all the way out where it needed to stop.... then when I put it all back in the car, I adjusted my clutch cable so it would only push it to the measurement I had taken.... and it works great now... I've taken it on several drives and it's working fine....

In hind sight, I really should have done all that to begin with, but didn't think about it...

 

Looks like fun...

 

Yes sir, it sure is...

 

Great job! My 2nd vehicle was a 1962 Falcon- 6 cyl/auto- could hardly get out of it's own way-

 

cool car, had one way back when

 

Thanks guys...

 

your falcon looks great.
looks similar to a 60 falcon my brother built in 67.

 

That's a cool looking car...

 

Awesome! You took it way farther than I would have.

 

Thanks... yeah the day I bought it off you, I had a picture in my mind that I wanted it to look like.. and except for a couple small things, it looks just like I thought it would....

 

Fantastic looking car, and with an FE in it as well!
Just a great build, and your avatar isn't bad either!

 

Good clean build. She turned out bad ass!
Thanks for sharing.

 

Thanks guys.. I appreciate it...

Since I've finished it I've been trying to drive it as much as I could to get some road miles on it, and work out any bugs that might have came up.... and it's done great... well up until last Saturday anyway...

I drug it down to Greer South Carolina for the Southeast Gassers season opener... and unfortunately broke an axle on the first pass... but oh well, that's racing huh..

 

Great Build! A co-worker has one I've been after for about 4 years that still hasn't happened. It still has stock suspension and a 302, but I've assured him in my mind it will have a straight axle and an FE!

Devin

 

Hey at least you proved it's got some awesome FE POWER.

 

Thank ya... and that's a great combo to have...

 

Isn't that the truth... of coarse the track was really sticky.. and I did drop the hammer at about 6 grand... lol

 

Hey JB love your car and too bad I live so far away or I'd come down and buy it.

I'm wondering if the front subframe is pretty well stock or is there a new subframe welded in to hook to the leafs and straight axle.? I looked through your thread but couldn't really tell.

If I can't buy yours I'm want to buy one and build it and trying to figure out how much work the straight axle will be.

 

Nice job! Stock 28 or 31 spline shortened or not ?

 

Well thank you sir.. the front frame on my car is competely stock... the front crossmember was cut out, and the frame rails were cleaned up (cut off things not needed).. throwing a straight axle under one is pretty simple really... weld a flat plate to the frame were you're going to hang the springs from, and go from there..

 

Thank you... the rear axle was a stock width for a 72 Mustang.. that axle I snapped was the stock 28 spline.... I stepped up to a Moser 31 spline and haven't had a problem since..

 

And an update on myself and the car...

I was diagnosed with mixed connective tissue disease earlier this year, along with a couple other issues that has ended my racing, wrenching, and working days... It has also hindered my ability to drive a stick shift as I have a hard time getting my foot on the clutch pedal... now, the 360 we put in this car was actually an FT engine that had the entire rotating assembly balanced, including the flywheel... so to put a automatic trans in the car, I would need a flex plate balanced the same way, which doesn't exist... so because of that reason, and my health we yanked the engine and trans out and posted it all over the interweb for sale...

Luckily it didn't sell, so I started gathering parts to build my 428 to throw in it, then I can start collecting parts for an auto swap... but like I stated earlier, my working days are over.. so money has became a bigger issue than it ever was.. as pathetic as it sounds, I'm down to lacking about $500 to get the 428 put together, and the car back up and running... so that's where the Falcon and myself are at as of this time...

 

Sorry for your health taking a turn for the worse..Please do as the Dr's say; it will help in the long run..HAMB is here for as much help as possible..A shop that does balancing should be able to balance a flex plate to match the flywheel balance [or imbalance] so you can keep the engine.