Dennis, what size are your tires now?
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Dennis, what size are your tires now?
Hello, Don.
I have Milestar brand tires, size P175/80/R13 .
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“Milestar MS75 Passenger tire is offering a comfortable ride with excellent handling and incredible low road noise. The wide circumferential grooves are to avoiding hydroplaning offering you a stable all year round ride. The Milestar MS75 tire employs a contemporary tread pattern with quality styling queues like the pattern name imprinted into the tread face. Entry level price with quality performance and styling.”
See: http://www.tiresall.com/Milestar-MS7...S-WW-A-S/1392/
Wow, what a find. I looked all over for that size and couldn't find them any more.
Jeff's advice is no doubt sound, and I may give in one day, but I'm trying to keep mine mostly Origional including these tiny wheels. I do think I might give in before paying $800 for 4 Coker tires however. My tires are 185 70r13....and they are a nice tire and in great shape but small. 23.2" in diameter. (According to http://tire-size-conversion.com/tire-size-comparison/ )
My spare was trash, so I bought a spare that is a 165 80r13 and had it put on after the wheels were painted. It's 23.4" diameter. 0.2" bigger, and I can tell the difference in the look. The coker bf Goodrich bias ply are 23.78". I think I'd rather go the quarter inch bigger...and do 175 80r13.
Dennis, I think you found the perfect last set of tires for our cars! I think I might buy a set after I get rolling again...maybe next spring.
Hello, Don.
Having 14-inch wheel would give a lot wider choice of tires, but doing that would mean buying five wheels. The price of five wheels would cancel any cost saving on the tires. Going to a bigger wheel would also alter the accuracy of the speedometer and require a gear change.
The general fashion trend for automobiles has been towards bigger and bigger wheels, but I will be in the minority and say that I like my 13-inch wheels. They weigh less, take up less room in the trunk, give the car a lower profile, and they are what the car came with. They may be an unusual size now, but they used to be extremely common. My 1981 Plymouth Horizon had 13-inch wheels. And I gotta have white walls!
The V-8 Falcons have 6.5-inch wide rims and the six cylinders used 6-inch wide wheels (I think). Whenever I replace my present Milestar tires, I will try the Maxxis MA-1:
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The wheels used on the Sprint hardtop model are 6.5” x 13”.
The Maxxis MA-1 185/80R13 whitewall tire will fit 5” - 6.5" wide rims. “The Maxxis MA-1 is the perfect touring tire for almost any passenger car. With an attractive design and solid construction featuring double steel belts, solid center rib, advanced tread design to resist hydroplaning, and a stylish narrow (3/4”) white sidewall with serrated black sidewall.”
SKU: 700403, Tread Width: 5.40, Section Width: 7.40, Overall Diameter: 24.70, Load Index: 90, Speed Rating: S, Max Load Capacity: 1323@35PSI, Rim Width: 5.00 - 6.50.
See: http://www.cokertire.com/maxxis-185-80r13.html
Amazon has them for $104.89 each with free shipping.
When I installed my front disc brakes, I had to convert to 14" wheels. The 185/70-14 tires I got are EXACTLY the same diameter as my original 6.00 X 13's.
I didn't want to lose the look of the wire wheel covers, so I found a 14" set on e-bay. Turns out they were from a '63 Galaxie. I just swapped in the center "knock-offs" from my 13" wheel covers. Voila! Fourteen-inch Falcon wire wheel covers!
Before/After pics:
Hello, Gary.
That was a good idea. You have an exceptionally nice looking car.
The weather forecast this morning said 20% chance of rain. I flew The Wonder Falcon to work and ... it rained at 3:00 and ... it rained again at 4:45 as I was driving back home. :rain:
But any day that I get to drive my Falcon is a good one! :banana:
I just maintained plenty of room between me and the car ahead so that I would not have to stop suddenly and possibly slide.
The car starts instantly, with a satisfying deep "VaROOM!" It tracks so perfectly that I can take my hands off the wheel and it continues traveling straight. While moving, it steers so lightly that it can be guided with one fingertip. When stopped at red lights the engine idles so smoothly and quietly that it almost seems not to be running. Every time I drive it, I think "Gosh, this is nice!".
The Wonder Falcon will be 52 years old tomorrow! (The same as Kenny!)
The car was built by members of Lorain Local United Auto Workers 425 on Monday, July 22, 1963 at the Lorain, OH, assembly plant and delivered to Jacksonville, FL. “Surf City” by Jan & Dean was the Billboard Hot 100 number one single music hit that week.
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See: http://danielebrady.blogspot.com/201...edication.html
Mine was one of the last round body Falcons. Production of the 1963 models stopped a week and a half later at the end of July and the dies were shipped to Argentina.
Dave,
I'm sure others are asking this too... what tire separated? The same one Dennis was espousing? Was it new?
Saw your car at the mini. Looked like a nice, solid car.
Thanks for the compliment Roger.
All four tires were very old, 25 years or more.
I thought it was the right front. So "we" swapped the spare to the right front. Drove around the block,,,nope. So "we" took the removed right front and swapped the left rear. Much better. Made it back to about Marysville, car started shaking again.
Pic is my big brother posing. After the late arrival and fixing the Futura, there wasnt a ton of social time. My apologies.
After dismounting all four tires, two looked like this
Here's what I have to say about that...
:WHATTHE:
It should have looked like a Keystone cops car going down the road, or something.
We have had some tremendously bad weather during the past week.
"Tampa Bay is under a FLOOD WARNING until 6:30 p.m. Stay inside. Do not drive through standing water"
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But.... there is only a 20% chance of rain tomorrow so I will get to drive The Wonder Falcon to work tomorrow morning!
I'm doing the happy bannana dance. :banana:
We're all under the impression that at some point all of Florida will be under water. Is that not true?
:D
Looks like a boat might be more appropriate!
The weather finally cleared (for a couple of days) and I drove the perfectly running, instantly responsive, whisper quiet, silky smooth Wonder Falcon to work yesterday. :)
I took a slight detour on the way home to look at something. The Falcon makes it fun to go driving just for the heck of it.
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This main road passes right in front of this place, but it is behind a fence. You have to to turn off onto another road before you reach it in order to get to it. It makes it a bit confusing to find the place, even though it is plainly visible from the highway.
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A friend at work told me that it had used to be a bait and tackle shop, but it had not been open for a long time. No one was there when I visited, but it looks like maybe someone want to make a souvenir shop out of it (?). They have put a lot of work into the place. Look at the painted hand prints on the driveway surface.
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I wonder how many boat owners in the town have said over the years, "Dang-it! Someone stole my floats again.... :mad:
Good to see it drying out enough for you. Erica skirted you it appears. I hope to finally take my Ranchero "Out for a spin" too this weekend after all the work it's seen. Weather is supposed to be somewhat cooperative for the long Labor Day weekend. Not 100%, but you take what you get.
A guy at work gave me a wild coffee plant from his back yard.
See: http://naples.floridaweekly.com/news...doors/033.html
My wife and I went to Loews after I got home from work in order to get a bag of potting soil in which to plant the coffee plant. While at Lowes my wife added three large crotons into the cart.
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I said "You do remember that we drove the Falcon?" She said "They will fit!"
The crotons were too tall for the trunk so I tilted the passenger side front seat forward and two of the plants went on the floor behind it and one on the floor in front. My wife sat in the back seat on the left.
That was the first time since I have had the car that someone rode in the back seat and used the rear seat belts that I had added. :rocker:
Interesting:
Wild coffee berries were once used as a coffee substitute even though they do not contain caffeine. The plant produces the chemical compound dimethyltryptamine, which is hallucinogenic.
Kenny and I work for a little coffee company based in Seattle - sounds like this would add something unique to the Latte.
Hello, Jeff and Kenny.
I read a bit more and found the following:
METHOD OF PREPARATION: Flesh of the seed is edible raw, seeds can be roasted and ground for a black drink that may give you a headache.
A woman said that her dog ate a lot of the berries and: "... for a moment she was unsteady, then suddenly took off to run wildly for a few minutes, very out of character. She finally drank deeply (water) and started coming out of it."
There is an area in Tampa with a concentration of Middle Eastern grocery stores and restaurants. I was driving though there on my way home from work and a young guy about fourteen years old in the back seat of an SUV on my left said "Nice car!" as I stopped at traffic light. I said "Thanks" and noticed that they were a Muslim family as I coasted a car length past to stop. A couple of women in the car wore head scarves. I stopped and thought about it and then backed up and motioned to the kid to roll his window down. Then I briefly explained before the light changed that it was a 1963 Ford Falcon and it had been the compact car of its time. The girl in the front passenger's seat looked about eighteen and must have been the kid's older sister. I said good bye when the light changed and she gave me the most wonderful big, beautiful, beaming smile as I drove away. It had made her happy that someone had taken the time to chat with her younger brother. That was nice.
Happy 2016.
I keep track of how many miles I drive the Falcon each year and noted the following:
Miles in 2015: 4,305
Miles in 2014: 4,280
Miles in 2013: 3,999
Miles in 2012: 291 (I bought the car mid-year and had a lot of things to fix).
Yaaay! A new distance record. I will try to break the 5000 mile mark in 2016.
We drove The Wonder Falcon 110 miles north to Silver Springs in Ocala this past weekend for the 22nd All Ford and Mustang Roundup.
"“The show is Totally Free to 1993-earlier vehicles. Set your sights on the most fun-filled gathering of Ford enthusiasts on the east coast. Come join us at Florida's Nature Park - Silver Springs, home of the world-famous Glass-Bottom Boats. Spend a relaxing weekend in a natural garden setting to visit with fellow hobbyists and friends. This is a just for fun event! Day of Show Registration/Check-in: 7am-10am sharp."
See: http://www.npdlink.com/store/pages/ss_ford.html
There were twenty-three Falcons there. That was the most that I have seen in one spot probably since looking at a grocery store parking lot in 1974. They had us parked in front of the Mavericks. Someone had brought their four-door Maverick. I hadn't seen one of those in decades.
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I fell in love with the 1958 Lincoln Continental. The beach seats are so wide that they will accommodate four adults sitting abreast for both the front and back.
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The front bumper has bullets! Wow! It would punch holes in the side of a Hyundai.
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It has fins on top and the bottom. The bumper wraps around to include the trunk lid. The trunk is gigantic.
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Whoa....thanks for sharing Dennis!
That is one beautiful Lincoln. That is Love at first sight. I love the old Lincoln's and old T-Birds. There's a guy close to a sandwich shop dive I go to sometimes...it'a s typical Washington older house with huge trees and lots of stuff in the yard with green stuff growing all over it...and this one has at least four classic Lincoln's in the yard. A few years newer than that green one, but not much. I just hate to see them outside and neglected like that. The guy obviously loves them- but clearly doesn't restore them for some reason (I assume he values eating as a priority.) If I'd won the lottery I'd stop by and buy them all. Maybe some day when I have nothing to do I'll stop by just pay him a visit.
I think it's really cool to see you've driven your Falcon a little more each year too.
Slooowww progress on mine, but I dropped the exhaust pipe off at the ceramic coater yesterday, got the dipstick tube installed, and got oil in the motor. At least I checked a few boxes...headed out to see if I can take care of another baby step before bed time.
Check to see that the dip stick tube comes up through the hole in the generator bracket. I had someone at the car show that my dip stick tube is incorrectly placed in front of the generator bracket. Oh, well.
Take a look at this Mighty 1941 Lincoln Zephyr that a guy drove to the show:
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Behold the awesome magnificence of a Zephyr flathead V-12. When the show ended, I watched the owner start this car and drive away. It was very quiet! A flathead has no push rods or rocker arms to make valve train clatter.
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Someone drove their four-door Maverick. You don't see these cars very frequently anymore:
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And a 1925 Model-T Touring car that was driven to the event. Those seats look very comfortable. I thought that this Model T was beautiful.
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Cool weather arrived in Tampa about two weeks ago. It was 42° at 7:00 this morning and and 55° and clear while I drove home from work at 5:00.
The new heater that I installed last year works great and really pumps out the heat.
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The car warms up without having to use the fan and then I can maintain a pleasant temperature and "drive in living room comfort" with the control knob only pulled 1/4 of the way out. (Two comments on the attached ad: The driver looks like President Obama, and the little girl should not be riding in her mother's lap in the front seat, especially when it is raining.)
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My automatic choke starts the car with a 900 rpm idle that slows to 450 when the engine warms up.
I last filled my tires when it was around 85° and had to add 5 psi to all four tires when I checked them when the temperature was 60°.
It's going to be 39° tomorrow morning!!! :WHATTHE:
Is your car a RH drive car also? ;)
That's probably the worst insult that driver ever received. Larry
I was tripping on that Readers Digest image too! Right-hand drive. But also the little girl riding on the lap of the mom. Makes me think of that crashed Ranchero image again. How we ever survived prior to the 60's still amazes me.
Who insulted who and why? I'm confused. I'm reading this statement and trying to understand the impetus for it in the context of any previous images or statements.
Sorry, my humor zone was going weird that night I guess. See the quote below. Larry
The car warms up without having to use the fan and then I can maintain a pleasant temperature and "drive in living room comfort" with the control knob only pulled 1/4 of the way out. (Two comments on the attached ad: The driver looks like President Obama, and the little girl should not be riding in her mother's lap in the front seat, especially when it is raining.)
Ah - that makes better sense then.
But if you think about it... President Obama would definitely drive on the left, not right.Quote:
Gotta use them quote tools.
:rolleyes:
Geneva Florida, not Switzerland. Geneva is a little town northeast of Orlando
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My local club, the Suncoast Falcons, explained in our last newsletter that they will have our club meeting at this show this coming Saturday on April 30. That was a good excuse to go for a drive so I went ahead and entered "The Wonder Falcon".
You guys would not believe how nicely my Falcon is performing now. The more and more I drive it the better and better it runs. I love the way it sounds, the way it steers, the way the suspension rides, and the way the transmission shifts. The engine runs so smooooth, and I can smoke the right rear tire if I punch the throttle. Gosh, this car is nice. In my mind, I feel like I am driving a sports car every time I take it out. :)
The daytime temperatures have started rising and I noticed this afternoon when I started the car to leave work that the automatic choke did not come on. Evidently the automatic choke releases when its internal bimetallic spring warms up to about 85-degrees. Those Ford engineers of 1963 were geniuses. I love how they did everything mechanically, not electronically, and that everything works just fine.
Maybe it's time to start gathering the parts for a FOMOCO under dash A/C unit and compressor.
I think I would try and use one of the newer type compressors. I believe they are smaller and rob less horsepower from your wonderful 260.
They also make the evaporator coil that hides inside the stock heater box - but I think the big, vintage, under dash units look dynamite. I have one that I will be using on mine, but instead of cooling, mine will hold a small amp and speakers that connect to my ipod.
The Wonder Falcon made it to the car show in Geneva and back to Tampa.
While heading home, I was doing 70 mph in the right lane of I-75. My lane ended due to road construction. I needed to move left, but could not fall back and merge because it was a line of bumper to bumper cars. So I sped up and swung over ahead of the car to my left. I looked at the speedometer and I was doing 80! Yowsa! I was impressed that even while doing 70 mph, the engine still had enough reserve power to be able to speed up and pass someone. :)
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I saw a sweet 1963 two-door wagon at the car show.
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It had the cow head upholstery, a 144 engine and a Ford-O-Matic transmission. It would be slow, but would get good gas mileage. I had the same tan steering wheel cover on the Falcon wagon that I had while in high school.
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I also liked this 1963 Mercury Monterey. It's trunk lid looked as big as the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. The back window rolls down for extra ventilation. I would enjoy driving this car.
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I passed 15,000 miles since I have owned my car as I drove home from work today. Yaaay!
Note to Jeff: My Falcon has a four-belt pulley and evidently had air conditioning at some point in the past. I considered adding a modern AC unit, but decided against it for multiple reasons. I already have two newer cars that have air conditioning, so if I really need AC I can just drive one of them. Also, my Falcon is a big nostalgia thing for me. Call me nuts, but driving in the heat with all the windows down takes me back thirty and forty years ago to the cars I had in high school and community college. As it is now, I sit in an air conditioned office all day and the heat actually feels good as I drive home. Plus, the AC would add unwanted complexity, weight, drag, and would require window tinting on my clear glass to be effective. So, .... no AC in The Wonder Falcon.
Wow, nice pics and nice cars Dennis.
I always loved the t-birds of that era. It's almost as nice as your falcon!
That is a really nice wagon. Looks like someone really put their heart into that one.
I don't think I've ever seen one of those Mercurys- huge!
I like the old huge cars, but I think one would take up too much room in my garage.
Huh.
My 260 and Ford-O-Matic had been delivering about 14.5 MPG for routine city driving (18 - 19 MPG highway).
Then for the past five fills the city driving MPG went up to 15.5.
Today I got 16.8 MPG! Wow!
My theories:
Warmer weather is causing the automatic choke to disengage quicker.
The engine not being cold causes the gasoline to vaporize and burn better.
The "summer blend" of gasoline works better in my engine.
My co-workers are pranksters, but they would not put out money to buy gasoline for me (I don't think).
The little Falcon even seems to be running cooler now. The temperature gauge swings up to mid-range when the engine warms up and pretty much stays there. It moves to 3/4 while stopped at an extended red light, but drops to mid range when the car starts moving again.
The weather has been fantastic. It was 67 degrees this morning and 87 in the afternoon. I drove to work with my windows up and drove home with all the windows down. Gosh, this little car ZINGS when I step on the gas. I drive it everyday and am so happy with how it starts, rides, handles, accelerates, and sounds. It is a wonderful little car and it has exceeded my expectations. I am probably the only guy on the planet who LIKES his two-speed Ford-O-Matic transmission. The transmission provides engine braking and makes a sound like VOOO-oooom when I lift my foot off the gas. It sounds so nice. The Ford-O-Matic shifts at about 15 mph if I start off with a soft foot, and will spin a wheel at take off and shift to second at at 50 mph if I floor it from a start. The transmission shifts smoothly and it makes driving so much easier in the stop and go traffic that I commute in.
I waxed my black car this past weekend with Turtle Wax black wax. See: https://www.turtlewax.com/shop/produ...box-finish-kit
Wow! That is good stuff. It made my hood as reflective as a mirror.
Regular gas is (I think) 10% ethanol. Ethanol attracts water which will cause steel gas tanks to rust. That is why new cars have plastic gas tanks. The ethanol also corrodes carburetors.
I only knew of one gas station in Tampa that sold ethanol-free gasoline and it was quite a bit out of my way to go there. Well, .... they built a new Wawa convenience store that I pass by every day on my way to work and I noticed that it has two pumps that dispense 89 octane ethanol-free gas. Wow! Now I have options.
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The ethanol-free gas is, unfortunately, 54 cents per gallon more expensive than the 87 octane regular. It is 29 cents more expensive than the mid-grade 89 octane with ethanol.
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I bit the bullet and filled "The Wonder Falcon" with the gasoline that it was designed for.