Projects '61 Falcon Street/Strip Gasser Build

That's a fine looking car. Maybe too fine for the Sawzall and torch

 

Thanks, Mike. I hope to make Lassiter Mtn or Huntsville. Lassiter Mtn was a great race with a large crowd last year.

 

The car will be too heavy for the stock steering box so I went with a manual GM 525 box and a straight Pitman arm. It will require an a-dapter plate to mount it to the frame.

 

Motor mount fab. 3/16" plate ought to hold up that heavy Lincoln motor.

 

EMT tubing used for the tilt front end frame. It will need a bit of bracing. It will side out a few inches so it will tilt without having to cut the lower half of the fender.

 

I would have been tempted to lay the front end up in fiberglass.

 

Not that easy, not much if any weight reduction.

 

Patch panel fab and weld.

 

165/80R15 Towel City front runners. This straight axle, top-heavy big block ought to carve the corners like a loaded wheelbarrow.

 

Brian,

You may have already talked about it, but I've got a couple questions on your straight axle.

Is that a Speedway axle, and if so, how much drop does it have? - it looks like about 4". How did you attach the spring hangers and shackles to the front subframe? It looks like your car is using the original Falcon front frame rails. Did you bolt or weld directly to the bottom of the frame rails or did you add reinforcement? I ask because those original rails are pretty thin.

Thanks,

Steve

 

It's a 4" dropped Speedway axle. I am using the stock subrails. Right now, the hangars and shackles are tack welded.

The subframe is made from .080" sheet which is pretty thin. I'll add a larger footprint 1/8" plate between the shackle/hangar and rail and then I'll do a full-perimeter weld. That should mitigate tear-out. It's probably overkill since this joint is almost always in compression.

The bigger concern is subrail cracking and deflection due to vertical load ( I intend to hang the tires on launch). To control that, I terminated the roll cage strut tubes within a couple inches of the front shackle. For the hangar at the rear, I ran the 2" X 2" X 1/8" subframe connector inside the rail and over the hangar and plug welded it to the subrail. Additionally, I'll run a rear motor plate that will tie into the subframe connectors in this area.

 

I went with a late 70's Ford Courier steering box on my Falcon gasser build. They are beefy, and tall, plus they sit outside the frame rails. The tall height made it very easy to get a flat drag link angle on my '63 Falcon.

 

Ride height mock-up with 28"and 31" rear tires.

 

If your running bias-ply's with the 31's you may have to break out the sawzall on the front edge wheel opening. I like the looks of both the steels and the mags....be a coin flip for me.

 

They are radials but yeah it's tight.



Or I could go in the middle with a 29.5" tire.

 

I love the look of the Torq Thrusts. I generally like the older straight spoke style but the D's are growing on me. I just missed out on a set of 15x4-1/2 and 15x 10's with 29" Firestone slicks for my Falcon. I could get 31's on the rear of my car but there wouldn't be much suspension travel.

 

Hey Brian

really have enjoyed both your build threads. All caught up, looking forward to updates. Wheels up!

 

Thanks!

 

Yeah, I cut my rear quarters high enough to get 3" of suspension travel. It doesn't give the cool look if a tight fit but it will allow for street driving on rough roads.

 

I really wanted to pass the steering shafts under the headers but it wasn't going to happen without an overly-sharp steering column angle. 3 Borgeson joints, 2 shafts and a rod end will let it all run over the headers.

There's 3/4" clearance between the front tube and the shaft. I'll run a motor plate or chain the make sure the headers don't smack the shaft.

 

The front end rode a bit too high for my liking. I cut the lower curved portion of the subrail which allowed the rear spring pivot to sit an inch or so higher. It's welded to a 2 X 2 stub of tubing which is stacked on top of the 2 X 2 subframe connector and plug welded to the subrail. The stub also runs under the motor mount a bit.

16 ga sheet metal was used to close out the gap between the stock subrail and the recessed firewall. Hopefully all of this will be stiff enough to take the weight of the big block.

 

I've read somewhere that British sports car seats were used in gassers back in the day due to their light weight. I scored a set of 1964 Sunbeam Alpine seats from a buddy in exchange for setting up rear gears in his '66 Mustang.

I'll put a slider in the driver's side. The passenger side will be installed with quick-release pins. That will let me remove the seat to access the slicks that will ride in the place of the rear seat. That ought to work for a drag-and-drive car.

 

Well thought out Brian, well done.

 

Thanks. I was planning to run fiberglass seats but with the thicker padded seats, the roll cage cross bar is too far forward. Looks like I'll have to cut out and replace with a bent piece!

 

Could you just fab up solid motor mounts and not bother with a motor plate?

 

I probably could. Since I have to cut a bellhousing closeout plate anyway, it will be easy enough to make "ear" extensions that attach to L-brackets on the subframe connectors. I could bolt that up for strip duty or remove them for street use where the rubber mounts will be appreciated. At least that's what I'm thinking for now.

 

I made a 3pc bell/midplate/block plate. Midplate has ears that attach to the firewall, hangs the back of the engine so that I don't need to support the engine to remove the trans. It also serves to hang the bellhousing when I remove the engine.



There are reinforcements behind the firewall to spread the load, car does not have a cage or roll bar.



It's been 5.73 with a 1.30 60'.

Grant

 

Reason I mention it is the new mounts they sell nowadays are junk (Chinese). I broke 2 sets in 6 years and threw in the towel and built solid ones. Truthfully I don't notice much difference in steering vibration or at least it's something I can easily live with.

One thing I haven't tried is drilling a hole right the way through a regular rubber mount and placing a nut and bolt in it. Heard about on another message board with a fellow that has a stroker BBF.

 

Now thats slick!