Saving Granddad's Falcon

[dhbfaster]

Jeff, when I first saw that it reminded me of something medical! Let's just say it was not a comfortable situation for the person I saw that on.
Yea, it's a pretty simple non elegant wire harness routing...but it is what it is and it's all Origional Falcon. Love it..a huge hole with a grommet.

Roger, that's exactly what i had in mind. I'll have to keep my eye out for a pair of those!

Meanwhile, last night I put a big blob of "Goop" adhesive behind the tabs while I had the front taped to the surface and the effect is better than I expected. It's pretty solid today. Definitely much "more gooder."

Pic attached...a bit fuzzy. But you get the idea.

[ew1usnr]

Hello, Don.

I read about this and was struck by the coincidence. Since you have the 144 engine, You might find this interesting. Look how similar the numbers are:

The 1950 Studebaker Champion had a 169.6 in³ flathead six that produced 85 hp @ 4000 rpm and 138 lbs torque @ 2400 rpm. The 2-door car weighed 2,695 lbs and claimed 29 mpg.
1950 Studebaker Champion.jpg

The 1960 Falcon 144 in³ ThriftPower overhead valve six produced 84 hp @ 4200 rpm and 134 lbs torque @ 2000 rpm (figures from Wikipedia). The 2-door car weighed 2,375 lbs and claimed 30 mpg.

Those numbers seem so similar that it makes me wonder if Ford used the the Studebaker as a goal post while designing the Falcon. The Falcon had a 320 lb weight advantage over the Studebaker, but to achieve that Ford had to design a new thin-walled overhead valve engine and use unit-body construction. The Studebaker was using a flathead and body-on-frame construction.

[dhbfaster]

That's very interesting Dennis. Automotive is definitely a game of constantly trying to one-up the competition on their specs. Still happening today.

All....I'm in need of a battery tray bracket. The one that bolts UNDER the tray and bolts down to the fender. Anyone happen to have one of these in their junk box? (I THINK 1960-1962 is the same...maybe 1963.)

I've thrown almost nothing out...but the old battery tray was so rusted out, after I got the new battery tray and compared it, I tossed the old one. MISTAKE - the new one doens't come with the bracket on the underside (I can't believe I missed that.) I can buy a new bracket for $18 plus shipping at Dennis Carpenter...but if any of you have one saved for just such an occasion...I would certainly appreciate it.

I also don't seem to have the rear license plate bracket that also holds the license plate light. Roger...you were going to check your junk boxes...? OR if anyone else happens to have one...I would really appreciate it!

[Luva65wagon]

Roger...you were going to check your junk boxes...? OR if anyone else happens to have one...I would really appreciate it!

Don, I will be home tonight and I know where they... were. Hopefully they are still there. I'll try and look up what they are supposed to look like so I can see if what I have is the same thing.

I swapped from an early battery tray style to the later style on my Ranchero, but I don't think I saved any battery tray parts, but I will look. I am a hoarder of things that can be reused, but not seeing it laying around (in my head).

[dhbfaster]

Here is what the battery tray "brace" should look like:http://www.macsautoparts.com/ford_fa...ce-falcon.html
or see attached.

I can't seem to find a pic or illustration of the license plate bracket/ lamp holder that i still need.

Wiper assembly installation...where the inside wiper arm goes through the car body and attaches to the chrome piece with the nut on the outside of the body just behind the hood (hopefully you can understand what I mean) does the little gasket go on the inside of the car? or on the outside of the car under the chrome piece? I found the old one was inside the car...and there was nothing under the chrome piece between that and my new paint job- so that's how I installed the new one...but that's not intuitive...anyway, is it correct? it goes on the inside?

As always...big thanks in advance.

[Jeff W]

I put my gaskets on the underside of the pivot (inside the car) before pushing it through the cowl hole, then the chrome cover and the nut.

I remember the nut was very soft metal and easy to distort with a wrench. Don't over-tighten. Not holding much anyway.

I think I also put a tiny bit of the 3M rope calk under the chrome bezel... my thought was to save and cushion the paint.

Two man job or use a shoelace to pull pivot up through the hole and get that nut and bezel on.

[Luva65wagon]

Here are the license lights I had. Looking at FalconParts.com this is what they say it is:

http://www.falconparts.com/ford-falc...IES-95p303.htm

I think if you take these two I have and combine them, it's pretty close.

Yours if you want to try it.