Saving Granddad's Falcon

**ew1usnr** · December 20th, 2014, 04:53 AM

Hello, Don.

That was a great write up. I look forward to reading the next chapter!

I like the way the car looked when it had the green paint and yellow "Lube n' Go" business logo. It gave the car a sturdy appearance and showed that it was not being pampered and that it was so reliable that it was being used as an everyday work car.

Does your car have a tinted windshield? In the third photo of the front of the yellow-painted car it looks like there is a tint band along the top of the windshield.

Does your car have a heater?

How did the right front fender get dented? It looks like something heavy was dropped on it from above.

Thanks, Dennis.

Ford is my car.JPG

**dhbfaster** · December 20th, 2014, 07:16 AM

Home for the holidays
My in-laws still live in El Paso so we visit every Christmas. My wife and I are blessed with lots of wonderful family. Christmas at Nana’s house is always a big deal and there’s lots of food involved. It had been a while since I’d seen the falcon. My wife and her Mom went off to the grocery store. I got a phone call. “Dear…, you’re not going to believe this, but I’m sure I saw Granddad’s falcon and it has a for sale sign on it.” “What? …(gulp)…falcon?” “Your Granddad’s falcon was yellow right?” “Yea” “I’m telling you, it’s parked out front of the Lube N Go near the grocery store and they have a for sale sign on it.” I couldn’t imagine. Impossible- I thought. It must be some mistake. So, my son and I drove over to go see it with our own eyes. There it was. It had a for sale sign on it. I just stood there, and although I never understood it before, as a flood of emotion came to an otherwise not that emotional guy, I now understood how a man can get emotionally attached to…a car… I tried to shake it off. A young guy, likely the pit man, came out and said “Hey how’s it goin? You interested in buying the falcon?

The Conversation
Here I was, and a guy just asked me if I wanted to buy what was basically my own falcon back! I said, “Humm….uh, well, yea, I’m thinking about it.” (Yea, right, like I’m going to buy my own grandfathers, and fathers falcon back after it was supposed to be going to falcon heaven?) He said, “It’s really cool, I wish I could afford to buy it.” I sat down in the car- all the memories came back like it was yesterday- it even still “smelled” the same. I told the guy…nicely…”Actually, my Dad and his brother started this company with $500 and THIS FALCON. I worked in the pit for a while too.” “Really? Wow” he said. “How long ago was that?” “Like 30 years ago…” “Uh, wow.” I got back to the in-laws and my wife said, “That was it, that was your Granddad’s falcon wasn’t it?” “Yea, it was.” “What are you going to do?” she said. I said I would think about it. Car restoration is ridiculous after all. The next day she just looked at me and said “I know, you have to take it. Just go get it.” (I love that woman.) A couple emails and a phone call later and the falcon was mine (at no charge) of course. I have absolutely no hard feelings about it with my relatives. In fact I’m glad they had it while they did through the economic downturn. They just didn’t have the history that I did with the falcon. They needed some more warehouse space- practicality won over and after all….”it wasn’t a T-Bird or something like that.” It sure wasn’t. It was Granddad’s falcon- a working car, not a cream puff that sits in the garage all day- and it’s going to be a lot easier to restore than a T-Bird too.

As the fourth generation is now restoring the falcon with me (using some of Granddad’s tools), it won’t be a hot rod, but it will be beautiful again, and it will be garaged now- more of a crème puff than ever, but it will be an occasional driver, still earning it’s keep just like it was always meant to.

**dhbfaster** · December 20th, 2014, 10:14 PM

Hi Dennis,
It does have a heater, and it always worked quite well. The corner windows work amazingly well for ac too.
The windshield does have the tint band across the top. The original one did not. This one is fairly new.
My grandfather had a fender bender a long time ago which was responsible for the bondo, and the sort of bend in the hood, then we think something fell off the shelf in the lube n go warehouse and created the dent that's there now. I found another hood and grill here locally. Meanwhile, the falcon is on its way to Spokane, wa tomorrow to get all the paint and body work done. It will be great to have the garage to work on all the other stuff. My remanufactured engine is already due back Monday!

**ew1usnr** · December 21st, 2014, 05:50 AM

Originally Posted by dhbfaster

My remanufactured engine is already due back Monday!

I'm excited for you, Don!

You have a really cool little car and I am very much looking forward to reading about your impressions and experiences when you get it back on the road.

That 144 was designed to be a Volkswagen fighter. I want to hear what what gas mileage you get and about the performance it delivers while driving around town. Take it to the grocery store and see how the bags fit in the trunk. Have your son take it for a drive while you enjoy the ride as a rear-seat passenger. Try out the rear doors for ease of entry and check out the back seat for leg room and roll the rear window up and down.

The car was designed to carry six adults. Get your friends and family together and give it try. Put six people in there and see how the suspension, brakes, and acceleration perform under that load. And have someone take pictures with all six of you inside!!!

You should have a lot of fun with that little car once you get it back together.

Ford sock it em multiple.JPG

**dhbfaster** · December 23rd, 2014, 06:58 PM

Jason (and Makena our dog) and I had a great trip over to eastern wa Sunday and brought the falcon to Phil for paint and body...a major next step! It's in good hands for sure. Really looking forward to March...