The work begins on the 64 2 door wagon

Picked up this wagon the 1st of September and the 66 Mustang parts car 289 4 barrel toploader 4 speed car.

First thing I had to do was get the Mustang stripped and out of the work area, it is a good running car but was very rusty, even the frame had issues. Engine had 80,000 on it but had been warmed up with a cam at least, not going to tear it down until it needs it.

Wagon has already had body work done and in primer but the car was completely tore down, I have parted many cars out and left more on them then this car had on it, but the good news is I say that 90% of the parts are in totes that came with the car and close to $1,000 of new parts and a bunch of powder coated parts. Very rust free car as it lived in the Yakima area.

The car has Global Performance tubular upper and lower control arms and the Shelby drop done to it. It also has the Scarebird disc brake setup in the front using the Ranger rotors and came with the Crown Vic disc brakes set up for the rear but not installed.

My desire is to put the 289 with the 4 speed in it, probably not too many wagons with 4 speeds. I have changed to a clutch brake pedal assembly (btw) Mustang stuff doesnt work, it probably would but the angles from pedal to equalizer bar would be slightly different. I could have used the equalizer bar from Mustang but opted for Falcon stuff instead.

I changed out the steering column from the Falcon and used the Mustang column, had to trim the tube about 2 1/2" and wiring is a little different but have diagram for both wiring and they are very similar.

Started in the engine compartment and took it down to bare metal then gave it a coat of etching primer then primer the some black paint, looks a lot nicer.

Anyhow to not bore you with all the little details I will post a couple pics and will try to keep it updated, I know everybody loves pics. I get carried away sometimes and forget but this is the first time I have every gone this deep into a project and thought it would be nice to keep track.

Just a few more pics

Any progress being made? Would be great to see another wagon come to the shows. [thumb]

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Originally Posted by doghows

Any progress being made? Would be great to see another wagon come to the shows. [thumb]

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Progress is slow with the cooler temperatures and a non heated garage to work in but a little is made everyday. Got the dash area painted and heater box reconditioned, retrofitted Mustang steering column tube and turn signal assembly in, engine and tranny bolted together and ready to go in after waiting 6 weeks for a tailshaft housing from Dan Williams toploaders,clutch and brake pedal installed.

Goal is to have the car streetable by Memorial day, maybe not final paint but on the road. I think the main hurdle I face will be putting headliner and glass in, of course there is always the unexpected that pops up.

New years resolution is to put at least 2 hours a day in on progress, heck I am behind schedule on that already better get out in the garage and get to work :doh:

Maybe we should plan a tech day/cruise and head out your way. The guys came over here to Sequim and put my glass in and did a better job than my local glass guy could do. I think we have a couple of headliner veterans as well.
Hmmm wonder how long a drive it is?? What y'all think road trip:rocker:

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Originally Posted by doghows

Maybe we should plan a tech day/cruise and head out your way. The guys came over here to Sequim and put my glass in and did a better job than my local glass guy could do. I think we have a couple of headliner veterans as well.
Hmmm wonder how long a drive it is?? What y'all think road trip:rocker:

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It is about 4 1/2 hours to get to me I was just in Gig Harbor yesterday, heck I wouldnt be against throwing the car on the trailer and bringing it up there as I will probably have to trailer it somewhere to get it done anyhow as I dont trust myself to do it.

I will probably end up taking it or just the windows to a glass shop in the Portland area because I want to have the windows tinted before they go in

I used to have a 61 Falcon Futura and put a new windshield in it and put the trim in the rubber after windshield was installed and remember it was a pain but doable

Well you keep us posted, I know if we can we'd be glad to help. My delivery had the trim and they put the trim in the gasket and then the gasket onto the glass. Its definitely is easier to do with 2-3 people. Headliner definitely in before the glass.
We're probably having a tech day at my place in the next weekend or so, we need to finish Gina's engine install. Maybe we can talk the glass guys into coming over??
Either way keep us posted and get some pictures up for us reading impaired guys..:ROTFLMAO:

Well the big brown truck showed up with a bunch of goodies so if I wasnt overwellmed with work before I am now.

Engine and tranny are in, floor cut for shifter hump and shifter installed, wiring in engine compartment done, as a side note when you put an engine from a Mustang in a Falcon it sits 2" closer to radiator. I dont know what Ford was thinking when they designed the frame stands and intermediate and rubber mounts for Falcons as it could get to be a little confusing but I got it right first try ;)

Wiring Mustang steering column with Mustang turn signal switch and wiring was pretty easy after looking at wiring diagrams for both had the Falcon been a 65 it would have been even easier.

Next project is the brakes, after reading up on them in here I bought all the parts on the list.

Got a little more done, dash mostly put back together some sound deadener on the floor and roof and engine in.

I know some will scold me for using the stuff I used on the floor but from previous experience with it is it works great and doesnt stink, it is a product called peal and seal and is used for roofing, its really sticky but has a tar base. It is very cheap and can be bought at Lowes for $16.00 a roll but it is only 6" wide.

The stuff used on the roof is a product called Reflectix, it is a 2 sided foil insulation bought at Lowes as well for $16.00 a roll and it is 24" wide and 25' long. It is a very good heat barrier and some people also use it on the floor. It is not an adhesive backed material so it was glued on with some 3M hi strength 90 spray adhesive

Looking good. You going to have it ready for some shows this spring.
I like the looks of your insulation. I say if it works use it, why spend the big dollars for the same results?!
Keep up the great work and keep us posted. :3g:

Steering gear box, well I got the parts to change the 64 6 cylinder steering to 65 v8 steering. When I was putting the pitman arm on and turned the box from underneath the car my steering gear box sounded like a rock crusher uh oh this isnt good.

Well the engine is in I dont want to pull it the hole in the firewall isnt big enough for it to come out to the inside of the car rebuilding it in the car was not an option, what are we going to do ? Well after doing some reading on one of the Mustang forums someone had mentioned that it could come out if you got the car off the ground far enough, okay do some more reading out of the 64 Falcon shop manual, its says take of the brake master cylinder and slide it out the top. Guess what, thats the ticket it came out without a hitch.

Sometimes you get lucky I guess I never thought it would be that easy. Took the box apart and it had a bad bearing on the steering shaft and races were screwed up, no easy repair so I picked up a box off of ebay from a person in Gigs Harbor that was identical to the one that came out and have it cleaned and painted and ready to go back in.

Headliners are a real pain-----maybe it wouldnt be if the supplier would have put the bow sleeves in the correct spot, I have been having to redrill some holes in hope that I can make it work got it pretty close now just letting it stretch a little before I tackle it some more.

What ever happened to quality control or were all Falcons put together differently. If I cant get this one to fit the next one my wife and I are going to make. On a wagon if it wasnt for the windshield it would be easy to make a solid one out of veneer or something similar

I'm sure you know this but the bows are not all the same... Kenny and I had fun with mine. It's a long roof.:)

I know the bows are not all the same on a hardtop or sedan but they all appear to be the same except for the very front bow. I have a total of 7 and 6 laid out side by side look identical. Is this correct or am I missing something.

I took them out of the old headliner and put them back in the new one the same way but the old headliner was not installed and it may have not been correct since it had no hole for dome light. :confused:

Well, I can't really confirm now that my headliner is installed, but in the write-up I had written, "Glad I marked the bows when I took them out because they all have different contours".

Mine is a 63 but it was my understanding 60 - 65 had the same greenhouse.

Here is a link to my installation.

http://www.rainierfalcons.com/forums...?t=1470&page=3

Maybe mine were bent or I was drinking when I did the write up. Sounds like you have a plan (re-drilling holes) and I'm sure it will look fine. Nobody looks up... although I did have one gal at a show say "I remember that dome light". It took me a few minutes to get the joke. Apparently in her younger days she had spent a lot of time looking at the ceiling. The back seat does fold down after-all.

jw

Headliner bows are also color coded on the ends (assuming the paint survived) so that should help define what you have.

The dome light cutout is never done in the uninstalled material. This is done only after the stretching and moving and gluing is complete - then you feel around for center of light and .... slice an X oh so carefully.

If the bows are not matching the actual holes in the car, as you said, this makes me think it is for another wagon. I've wanted to redo my headliner since I've owned the wagon, but have just not faced this task with any joy enough to do it. Having to have all the glass out to do it right has just never happened.

I think the rear bow also had two smaller wires that I atached between the bow and two holes just above the rear window. I recall it held the rear bow straight up and allowed me (actually Kenny) to pull the headliner material forward and glue it to the windshield frame.

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Originally Posted by Jeff W

I think the rear bow also had two smaller wires that I atached between the bow and two holes just above the rear window. I recall it held the rear bow straight up and allowed me (actually Kenny) to pull the headliner material forward and glue it to the windshield frame.

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Yep got that, I have it pulled and tension on it but have very little at front to glue, I read up on the seller that I bought it off of on ebay and one person complained that the bow slots were off 2", most mine are close 1/2" or so off.

I will win one way or another :doh:

Well after banging my head against the wall on the headliner issue I have decided to just bite the bullet and have my wife make one, she can work magic with fabric and I can have it in gray like I wanted in the first place and probably better quality material and the place that I am getting the material has it on sale at 30% off. This way I know it will fit, on the one I had if I drilled new holes it would have ended up with a bow right in the center of the dome light.

The headliner that I was working with fit really nice until I came to a section that should have had a 14" panel but was only 13" and from there on things just went downhill.

I just took mine to my local upholstery guy and he made and installed my custom one for about $300. Very well worth it I gave up.

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Originally Posted by doghows

I just took mine to my local upholstery guy and he made and installed my custom one for about $300. Very well worth it I gave up.

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Looks great just like the rest of your ride, really looking forward to seeing it in person. I checked out your build and you have a ton of work that you have done and it payed off. [BOW]

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Originally Posted by doghows

I just took mine to my local upholstery guy and he made and installed my custom one for about $300. Very well worth it I gave up.

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You have to pick your battles. They did a real nice job on yours.

Well here it is several months since my last post and way beyond my Memorial Day completion date (note to self, never set a date). Well after changing out to 65 steering stuff I found out my steering gear box was bad so I had to install another one, it was not as bad of a job as I expected it to be with engine in car, headliner I ordered off of ebay was all wrong so had the wife make one (sure is nice to have a wife that can do that) although it is not perfect it is pretty nice, she also has made the seat cover for the back seat and is working on the bucket seats now.

I had the local glass shop come and put my windshield and rear quarter windows in and was very glad I did as they did an outstanding job and came back after a couple days that I put some heat in the garage to help it set and apply caulking to the outside.

I finally got around to painting the car this was a garage paint job using Omni base coat clear coat system Omni paint is a the lower class line of PPG paint but I upped to the little better quality of Omni base.

Enough rambling and on to a couple pics

I had a problem with getting gas to carb from the newly installed gas tank and sending unit, I could pour gas down the carb and it would fire until gas ran out, usually this would be sufficient to get gas from tank to carb I had about 5 gallons in the tank. Well I finally took the hose off at tank and ran a fuel line to gas jug under the car and it picked it up right away. Arrrg now I have to pull tank to get sending unit out and see whats up with it not enough room to do it on the car. Well it ended up being the sock on the sending unit was bottomed out on the pick up pipe.

I know someone in China is laughing at a stupid American

Very nice! Like the color. Gets me antsy to get out and drive mine, but for whatever reason it's been a brutal season to get out to any shows. Be sure to post some pics of your wife's handiwork!

[BOW]

A little more progress made, got the bumpers and lights and grill installed, new window fuzzies and door rubber installed, reupholstered rear seat that wife made installed (she working on the buckets as I type), made some door panels and covered the sill plates, new gauges installed and got the tunes up and going now the stereo is louder than the car.

One step backward though 2 speed windshield wipers dont work, took them out and bench tested it and still no worky so I sent it away for rebuild

Wagon is looking great! Hope you can find a way to get it to the Mini-Meet.

Would love to make it but we are off to Yellowstone for 2 weeks this Saturday but I will make it to a meet up there one of these days, used to go to Cruizin Colby and XXX Root Beer every year with my Maverick now it will be my Falcon I prefer to go to shows that are All Ford.

Heres a pic or 2 of my Maverick

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Originally Posted by 642dw

Would love to make it but we are off to Yellowstone for 2 weeks this Saturday but I will make it to a meet up there one of these days, used to go to Cruizin Colby and XXX Root Beer every year with my Maverick now it will be my Falcon I prefer to go to shows that are All Ford.

Heres a pic or 2 of my Maverick

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We were in Yellowstone in July. Wonderful! If you have the time I highly recommend the Beartooth Highway out the NE entrance. Best part of our three week trip.

Wow, just catching up on this one. You've really come a long way with that wagon. The color and interior are really nice.

Let me introduce Alice to you, she is finally done that is if they are ever done. Took it in and had a front end alignment done and was real close by just eye balling it then it was off to the muffler shop for some duals that turned out really nice and sounds great.

Here are a few more pics

Wow. You've been VERY busy since we last saw pics. Very nice. Hope you'll stop to see us if and when you're up this way.

Good JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK, this is a minor point, but .... Wow! The glove box on a 1964 Falcon looks a whole lot bigger than the one on my 1963 model.

I like the paint color. That is a real eye-catcher. Good job!