Projects 1960 ford falcon "slow and low"

I bought a 1960 falcon just before the holidays and i have been working on it for about a week and here is where I am at

What it looked like the day I brought it home



The first thing I got started on was the ghetto exhaust the PO did, it was a mess!





Made a new exhaust with one piece of tube instead of six



new muffler



Then it was on to the rear suspension





I also converted it to a floor shifter. The column shifter was a nice touch but it was very worn out so I switched it to the floor.



I also put in a new clutch and then on the front I cut 1.5 coils out and did the shelby drop.

Here is it as of now







This is the look I was going for. I am a little higher that the photoshop and I am not sure what I am going to do to match the photoshop.

 

I dig it. see if you can find some chromies instead of hubcaps, that'd really help finish off the look.

 

I would keep the caps but paint the wheels to match the top of the car. Cool ride though.

 

anyone have suggestions to make the rear about an 1" or 2" lower? I can cut more out of the front coils to match(I cut 1.5 coils, I will go to 2 full coils probably)

 

De arch the rear springs, taller blocks with U-bolts, a "C" notch. That'll get 'er down. I agree with Wicked Tin - leave the caps, paint the rims. Cool ride.

 

Height is OK
Paint the wheels body color, chrome lug nuts and trim rings.

You went from a glasspack to a flowmaster? Sacrilege!

 

you should look at the upper balljoint with front suspension loaded.

Its pretty close to topped out and if you go any lower you'll have to modify control arm to correct it.

Nice car though! Wished we could get one thats not rusty around here!

 

The glass pack sounded like a sick honda from the 80's, the new muffler makes it sound a lot better. I didn't throw down the money on a flowmaster, it is a thrush 2 chamber. I bought and built this, to this point, for $2000

 

Lowerd stance looks alot better........

 

I agree on the lowered stance. I was initially not that excited about falcons but then I saw how the whole look changed when you lowered them and I really like them low.

I have been looking at the pictures of mine all day and going out side and starring at it and I think I am going to try to get one more inch out of it. I think I will cut 1/2 a coil out of the front and maybe take one of the leafs out of the pack, what do you guys think?

 

That's the way to do it. You totally fixed that car. It's a million percent better lowered.

 

I think that will make the stance about perfect..............

 

I like it. What size tires are those?

 

Keep it going the lower the better. I wish I could get mine lower, but it would start to cost alot more money, so it will have to wait.

 

I have a feeling those rear springs were not correct to start with none of my falcons sat that high in the rear stock, which is why I could go with 3" blocks in the rear and 4" out of the front springs to get my stance. Just to refresh everyone, this is 4" out of the front springs (with the shock mounts on the towers raised 1" with spacers for travel) and 3" blocks in the rear:





No A arm mods, just a toe adjustment and it rode and drove almost stock. I loved it.

 

I would have to second the above about your rear springs being something other than stock. When I saw your first post on this a couple of weeks ago that was my first thought. Probably aftermarket towing or maybe Ranchero springs. You might count the leaves in your springs, look around at other Falcons in your area and count theirs. If you find more in your spring packs, remove a few until you get to the right number. Does the car ride real stiff? that could be a tip off as well. these cars rode real squishy when they were relatively new. I got mine back in 1980 or so as a low mileage 18 year old car. Barring that, a good spring service can re-roll the eyes of the springs to drop an inch or two, and also de-arc them the same.

 

A couple more thoughts. Someone above mentioned that the upper A-arms are probably pretty close to a bind at your ride height. mine has been considerably lower than yours for most of it's life with no such problems. What I did encounter though is bind in the shocks. The easy solution for that is to extend the upper shock mounts as Merc63 suggested. Easy enough to do, just mak sur you use good quality D.O.M. thickwall tubing. As far as wheels go, I have to agree with the majority and say paint your wheels to match the top. Another thought though... If it's time for tires- look for a set of '64 or '65 14" wheels and run something like a 165/70-14 on the front, and a 185/70-14 on the back. Those years only fit the stock Falcon script caps, and 14" give much better ride qualities and much better handling. Oh, ya looks allot more agressive too.

 

shorter shocks,,,,

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=436237

Need louvers,,,, could you post pics of the upper balljoint area on your car?

I dont see how the balljoint would not be bound up, unless my controls arms are different than everyone elses.

 

Da tinman, I would be happy to do that, but I don't know how to do photos yet on the computer. P.M. me and if I can get somebody to help I will. Over the years playing with these cars I have noticed quite a bit of difference in ball joint quality levels. some have much ore material down low around the bottom of the joint that could produce bind. Mine have been in so long now I can't remember which manufacture they are. I will take a stab and say Moog. I agree that shorter shocks would be the ideal way to solve that problem, but in my case heavy wall tubing to raise the pickup points has worked very well. Now a bit of disclosure just for the record - my car has been off the road for quite a few years now. It's waiting it's turn in the never ending que of projects around here. Soon I should have the time and $ to do the turbocharged 250 and t-5 combo I have tucked away for it correctly, and then it will live again. But in he time I drove the car, it covered aprox. 150,000 mi of daily use and abuse set as low as if not lower than the peach colored four door above. It is one of my few possessions I consider "not for sale at any price", and will always be close.

 

cool.
i'd get the rear down way more, or at least enough so it sits level. some skirts would be a nice touch, with black wheels, hub caps and thin whites.

 

The answer to the question no one asked, how radical do you think it would be if you got a parts ranchero and stretched it just enough to make the rear door strait at the bottom. Walla...Crewchero.

 

I got blocks to lower the back of my falcon but wanted to know where you got u bolts or if you just used the ones in the kit? It looks like my stock ones are 7/16 and the ones in the kit might be 1/2 inch.

 

I redrilled the lower plate to 1/2" and used the ones in the kit. HOWEVER, this is only temp, as we are swapping to a ranger rear end that has a larger tube so the ubolts will fit the new rear.

 

Here's a falcon ranchero a good friend of mine built 2 years ago. He did everything himself....cantilever rear suspension w/bags....7 in. chop....comet nose.....lowered floor.....custom seats....flame paint....custom tonneau.....custom upholstery....on board air...hot ford power....custom body mods....all done in a 2 car garage!

 

Thanks for all the suggestions. The rear leaf pack has 5 leafs in it but the bottom leaf is very small so four main big leafs. I think I am going to take the fourth form the top or second from the bottom leaf out and cut another .5 of a coil out. That should improve the stance even more. If that doesn't work for the rear I will take them to get de-arched.

I also am going to raise the shock tower up and get new shocks front and rear. They are in desperate need of replacing.

 

the crewchero is an interesting idea. the rear doors would need to be shorter, like using a 4 dr wagon with the inner bed section of the ranchero..

 

On mine I had a local auto parts store use their source for custom bolts. I gave them the U diameter and the bar stock diameter and they had a set bent up and threaded. Cost about $20 for 4 of them. (and way better than using bent all-thread...)

 

I am not going that crazy on the falcon. I just need to get the stance dialed in and then drive it.

 

I saw a malibu wagon converted into a 4 door el camino that almost 30 years ago in San Antonio. I was there for basic training in the Air Force and saw it roll by at an intersection. Looked well done from 15 feet away.

 

Shock absorber length etc.
HAMB thread Great Shock Absorber Cross Reference
Do a search. Good info.
Monroe front Falcon shock is #5809

Nick