looking at a 1963 falcon sedan

Hey all, I went a looked at this 63 falcon today. I really like it I'm concerned I may have had "rose colored" glasses on.

it's a 63 with a 1977 200ci 6cyl installed. It's running a 2 speed auto, tires brakes exhaust all that stuff is good if not nearly new. It's an east cost car so I can tell there was some rear wheel patches and the trunk has a patch but over all it's pretty clean. I'm sure there's more mud in there but I can live with it. the paint is a 10 footer, interior is complete but the color is not matching. the seats are black and perfect. Front bumper has a dent. The car was originally white.

Extras, the car come with "was running when pulled" date matching 260 compete with 5 bolt bell. A pair of steel wheels and extra tires. It also comes with a 4 speed from a 6cyl car (owner says it's rare???) frame tie-ins nd a few misc odds and ends , stock steering wheel,


My plans are the get rid of the air shocks in the back and drop the whole car about 3" . De-chrome the engine. dual master cyl , lap belts and drive the poop out of it.

Eventually paint it white again maybe leave the top as is. I'm not sure if I will install the 260 or just sell it? Any thoughts on this car and what it's possible value range is? I'm trading it for a non topic car I have and I realize I'm not going to get all my money back but I don;t want to be foolish either. I'm thinking as is with parts it's in the $4500 range>? more if it was cleaner.

thanks

bob

 

If you are seeing patches here and there on the outside, look super closely at the rear frame rails and the driver and passenger floorwells. The frame rails rust through from the trunk floor going bad and would be a no buy in my opinion, but floors aren't too hard to replace but have got to be welded in. The Dagenhiem is bitchin' and worth some dollars but weak as bad coffee. For a manual I'd go T-5 or T50 for strength and overdrive. The 260 would be worth something to someone I'm sure.

 

Way too much. $3k max. Do yourself a favor and buy a hardtop, convert, ranchero, or 2 Dr wagon. A sedan is always hard to sell. The tranny is normally junk. Can't get parts for them and are real weak. Better off with a T5........

 

I have never had a problem selling two door sedans! And you couldn't give me a hard top car! But I do agree, 4500.00 is way too much for that car. Look at Phoenix's craigs list and ship something back and you'd be money ahead. You'll still have small amounts of floor rust to deal with though.

 

I hear what you guys are saying.. If I had the cash I could probably talk the guy down to that range, but I don;t... I'm not have any luck selling my current car and he's more than willing to trade even. Dollar for dollar today he's getting the better deal. But my current car is loosing value daily and the falcon is gaining... at least that's how I see it. It's just a toy and my hobbie so I'm not to upset if I loose a some cash for the sake of knowledge gained..

Also the frame rails have been "reinforce" and it looks like it has new springs and bushings, brakes ect... So my current position is take it or pass on it.. I've seen better cars but, I could't work out a deal. I'm sure the day I trade mine I'll get offered a 32 roadster for trade.. I like the sedans and wagon. Problem with the south west cars is my trade vehicle is worth even less there...

thanks again, I'm not trying to be difficult, I do appreciate all the comments, that's why I asked..

I'm in Pa

 

So the engine and the 4 speed tranny maybe worth $200 for the tranny and $450? for the engine , on a good day?

 

Hit e-bay and the TFN websight for the Dagenham pricing. I saw one at L.A Roadster show this year with an ASKING price of 1500.00... It was stated as rebuilt and super clean though. Never checked back to see if it actually sold or not. I would guess fair market value would be much more than 200.00 though.

 

that's interesting and would make up some in the trade... I did get some bad news from the PA notary, If I want to keep it's antique plates I have to resubmit all the paperwork and new pictures. Those wheels will fail it. After reading what's permitted under antique vehicles I'm not so sure I want to do that anyway...

I wish I would have spent a little more time under the rest of the car. I only concentrated on the front frame and the rear. The floors looked and felt solid and the "rocker"s inner and outer were great. I know the gas tank was replaced but as I looked under the back of the car where the back of the seat is there was a spot that was rusty, and patched, I don;t think it structural but I cannot find a decent schematic style pic of the falcon body to know what are braces and what are fillers...

I did not find anything wrong mechanically to fail inspection but I know some of the shops around here can be pricks. I've had a truck fail for cracked body mount donuts...

 

First thing to remember, in a unibody car, EVERYTHING is structural! We get floor rust in these down here because the corners of the winshield and rear window rubber cracks and pulls away letting rain in to do it's work. Without solid one piece floors these cars are pretty floppy.

 

I was checking there and the floors, if the floors were done they did the whole pan, and tarred the crap out of everything. If you get behind the car and look at the back seat from the rear bumper, and under the the gas tank, whats the area up top behind the seat? The truck was a whole piece also looked stock and I checked in the edge corners where it looks like all the water and anything small would fall in. There was some sort of panel board there.

 

Is this a deal killer with a unit-body?

 

This is what I say for what it's worth if you like it go for it.If you have the time you can fix it as you go.Rust is never a good thing there is more than you can see.These cars are a lot of fun but hard to work on.If you get it take the time and talk to someone face to face before you start a V8 swap it's the small things that turn into large things fast.There is a Guy at Falconearybirds.Com that has a wagon like mine 60 2dr for 3,200 just something to think about he also has a lot of parts and want rip you off.Anyway what ever you do have fun with it.

 

The tar would make me turn and run, not walk!!! the last time I bought a vehicle with a tarred under floor board, it was a '59 El Camino that had spent it's entire life here and in Nevada. Under all that tar was a patchwork qhilt of license plates, road signs, and roof flashing material. I replaced everything from the outer rockers to the trans tunnel...

It would be with me! As said above, that's a shock cross member that runs below the seat in the back. one good bump where stuff bottoms and your done.

 

According to PO the floors and rockers were replaced and the wheel well lips, when he was done he bedlined it all.. I know we all know PO's... The rockers and floors are one piece I can see that. no doubt it has other bad spots, but looking around in the north east he's not out of line. I'd love to just go and buy something but I'm trading my 94 mustang gt convert... I've not had any takers on it for cash, 90% of the trade offers involved a lowered s10, some sort of rice burner and a total basket case.

I guess when I looked at this I wasn't to concerned to much. I can see it would be a pain to get at. Are you all thinking it's softer than it looks? It almost looks like that hole was round to access something?

 

I got this Ranchero for $2800 last Sept. I have driven it all year,took it to Torquefest,plan on taking it to Jalopyfest,and the Iron Invasion! I added the Cragars,Cal Custom wheel,and door hardware. I also swapped the dash pod from a Mercury Comet. It also had the trans swapped to a c4, gen to alt,and single to duel master! It has not left me stranded yet!and I drive the hell out of it! My best car buy yet!

 

I can't tell ya how to do the deal. If you feel it's a better deal than what you have, absolutely more power to you. I'm just saying I think as time goes by you will find out more not so good things about your new little purchase. But I too have been car blind before. I am saying that around here, that would be about a 2500.00 dollar car at best, and it would be slow to sell because of the rust issues. But this is a completely different market. If you feel comfortable, pull the trigger!

 

ya, I wan to get out of my car but not for that... I gotta think it over.. thanks all

 

Would you be willing to repair that if necessary? Is there more rust like that? I'm guessing there is. Let's see pictures of the floor repair, "undercoating", and such. I get the feeling there are hidden problems.

 

Package shelf.

Yeah, they come with a pressboard-like panel to keep stuff from getting in the space between the wheelwell and quarter panel.

 

My '61 Ranchero and Comet don't have a hole there. Somebody with a '63 should check theirs.

 

I would question how they were replaced and what was used. You've probably seen the threads where the "new" floors a PO put in were made up of chicken wire, bondo, and whatever else they had laying around.

I know the market is tough right now, but I would still caution about a rusted unibody car. At least you are asking questions before hand. If you do decide to jump on the trade you will know what you are getting into.

 

always have had a thing for falcons. a small thing but a thing none the less! ive owned exactly 1 of them 61 (I THINK) 2 DR SEDAN.little baby 6 and a 3 on the tree. gave 75. for it in 75 and went from tn./ to canada and back in it. would stop and buy burnt oil from sevice stations all the way there and back.lol 1.00 for a 5 gal bucket.lol sorry got of track. anyway the only thing ive been afraid of when lookin at these cars is the that these little babies rust and when they do they take alot of structural integreity with them.seen a few down here that were acually twisted from bad floor and trunk changes. and then hid with rino liner or equal.son has a 65 wagon with a late model 5.0 and a 5 speed but luckly it was sound.around here that car might bring around 3000.maybe a little more .just depends on a lot of different things. and ive always prefered the sedans in this model.if your willing to put a few dollars and some time in it i think you could come out pretty good in the long run.

 

I'd toss that dagenham overboard for an anchor. I had two of them in my ranchero and they both had the same problem, 2nd gear was out. No parts available. I also ran into cOmpatiblity problems between the '63 block and newer ones, ended up gutting a perfectly good Maverick running gear and using all of it. Drove it like that for 8 years,now putting in a V8. I rebuilt all the stock running gear and now wish I'd saved myself the money and put in the Heidts unit to start with. It's in now, and I don't think I'll have any regrets. Sits right, discs, all the reasons for upgrading. A lot of work, but I'll have a really great driving car. Oh, rear end from the Ford Ranger is a great fit, though you'll have to weld the spring mounts to the top of the axle.

 

Not to high jack too badly, but what year Ranger did you pull the rear end from?

 

I'm pretty sure it was an '83. I will have to be a little careful with it with the v8 upfront, but my driving is pretty "old guy" now, so I'm not really sweating that. I know a lot of guys use that same rear in v8 Ranger swaps.

 

Thanks!