My old daily driver '64 Falcon wagon suffered a burned valve on the way down to the Stray Kat 500 in early May, and it's taken a while to get her patched up again, but it looks close to being a done deal. The original 170 six was yanked in favor of a fresh remanufactured late '70's 200 six. I went with the late '70's engine for a couple of reasons: 1) Dual bell housing patterns. I still have the factory Ford-O-Matic in place, so I wanted a block that could mate up with that small bolt pattern, as well as be upgradeable to a six cylinder C-4 possibly in the future. 2) Bigger valves. The '77 and up 'small' sixes (200 and 250) have the biggest valves of the series- 1.75". The header was on my old engine- it's a Pacemaker dual outlet piece from Australia. The D.U.I. (Davis Unified Ignition) distributor should be a major horsepower gain (OK, I know it's not 'traditional'). The setbacks have been the ring gear on the torque converter was pretty chewed up and had to be sent out for a new gear and rebuild. The biggest setback has been finding a spacer with a wider stud pattern to fit the bigger carb throat. I got one off an '80 Mustang that looks like it'll do the trick using the old aftermarket Holley carb that was on the 170. I'm not sure how well it'll run on the smaller carb, but some running is better than none, and then I can tweak the details. The engine itself is basically stock except for a minor overbore and three angle valve seats. I'm planning on driving to the HAMB Drags at the end of the month, so I'm crossing my fingers, eyes, toes and anything else I can find that I can get it all wrapped up soon and well tested before the 2 1/2 hour drive. (Pics wouldn't post right, so here's the links
I've known the co-owner of Action Brake for thirtysome years and he's been kind enough to let me clutter up his place with the Falcon carcass for the last three weeks, so a big thanks to him. It'll be on the road today to get the header welded back into the exhaust and then she'll be done- well the engine part at least. Other changes are up for future consideration.
It is always a good thing to get a car back under its own power. Have some fun with it while you are scouting the locale for a C-4. I think one of those would make a ton of difference in how your car runs.
looks like you've been shopping at classicinlines.com. I'm anxious to hear your report of drivability. That DUI should wake her right up. It should for that kind of money!
She's been back on the road since Friday. It's definitely picked up a good amount of power (I'm guessing 40hp) and I'm estimating the gas mileage should improve too. http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v664/keltoi28/?action=view¤t=100_0043.jpg http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v664/keltoi28/?action=view¤t=100_0046.jpg http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v664/keltoi28/?action=view¤t=100_0045.jpg
The Jalopy Journal
