Saving Granddad's Falcon

[BadBird]

Unless I see something different, I will see you all on Saturday between 9-10 am? If that doesn't work, let me know. Larry

[Luva65wagon]

Saturday it is then. Fingers crossed it's driving when we leave.

[BadBird]

Running a fever for the last 3 days. Very sore throat. If the fever is gone I will be there tomorrow, if not, then I don't want to spread this crap around. Larry

[dhbfaster]

Larry,
Take care of yourself! Totally understand if you can't make it and either way hope you feel better by morning.

Gene and Roger,
What time to think you'll be over?

Also....I need to adjust the brake shoes as these are not self adjusting. Do I need a special tool for that? I recall something from the book but haven't had time to check. If so, I assume you might have that tool Roger?

I'm just finishing up work (while I'm supposed to be on vacation today...). Going to take a walk with my wife to get work off my mind and then head out to the falcon and start to dig in on some other little things. It's amazing how much dust can build up over six months.

Look forward to seeing you guys!

[Luva65wagon]

Larry, Hope you're feeling better soon, but if you are and want to carpool with Gene and I, he's meeting me at my house at 8:30AM tomorrow...

...So, Don, expect us down south about 45 minutes to an hour later. Give or take.

I do have a brake adjuster tool or two I can can bring. If you can think of anything else, let us know before we head out in the AM.

To anyone else who might want to see a phenomenal restore of a Falcon, in action, now's your chance. I'm sure Don can put you to work on something, but if you check out this thread even just a little bit you can see the attention to detail this car is getting. Come see it, or lend a hand, if you can.

[dhbfaster]

You bet Roger...if anyone else in the club wants to stop by, just send me a PM and I'll send directions. Love to have you.

Meanwhile, Granddad's falcon did a good job of making me feel more dumber today...so I decided to quit while I'm ahead.

And man...is it getting dirty! but I decided to wait until I get the steering back together...maybe I can actually drive it out to wash it??

I was putting the new window crank knobs on the handles...one broke right in half. I was hoping to get the handles installed tomorrow...if anyone happens to have an extra knob lying around so I can install it tomorrow, I'd be happy to send a replacement.

AND...I hope you guys know the trick to getting these handles back on. (I do have the clips.)

Roger is there any special tool needed to get the steering arm back together? (Pic). I don't think so, but asking just in case.

So, the list of jobs I seem to be clueless about and could use some help with:

Clutch adjustment

Brake shoe adjustment

Radio antenna install...I played with this for a while today. Of course, the old one has been off the fender for a long time and I couldn't find a picture of where the cable enters the inside of the car. I had no luck poking around trying to get it through. I'm assuming one of you had replaced these a couple times before?

Front door panel install...these are ready to go (I spent a ton of time last visit getting them sized up right.) This is another one that will be easier with the car outside the garage...and maybe a little of your experience will keep me from messing them up.

AND...if we totally hit a home run on all this stuff...that Pertronics is right where you left it Roger...

I'm feeling like a kid on Christmas eve again....i really appreciate your help guys.

[Luva65wagon]

Don,

Clean up the hole and the taper pin and that steering will go together fine.

We'll get as much done as possible.

[BadBird]

Best of luck and hope you get everything done. I am so sorry I couldn't be there. I have been looking forward to this day and helping out. Send pics of updates.
It is almost impossible for me not to get sick. With grandkids. Great grandkids coming over, always one of them is spreading something around. Not good, but have to admit, I wouldn't want them to stop coming and crawling on my lap watching cartoons with me. May have to hand out surgical masks or something.
See you all Wednesday, I hope. Larry

[dhbfaster]

What a great day...
Tools all over the place to clean up and got lots done.
Huge thanks to Roger and Gene.
It continues to amaze me the richness of falcon knowledge in these guys.
Roger, if wealth were measured in falcon knowledge, you would be the Bill Gates of the falcon world. Gene would be pretty rich too. The amount of stuff you guys see and know that I would have no idea about and isn't in the books continues to amaze me. It would have taken me another year to get that stuff done by myself (assuming I was in Washington) and I still wouldn't have noticed that I had the rear brake shoes on backwards on one side!

Stuff we got done:

-Clutch adjusted and working. (but - We didn't attempt to drive in the rain.) It turns out there is a bushing missing...but all is set for now.
-Steering all hooked up.
-Rope threaded into the radio antenna hole to the car- unfortunately the Dennis Carpenter antenna I bought just doesn't fit. (although it says it is supposed to...)
-parking brake system working...this was a bunch of stuff. The replacement cable I bought also didn't fit right- the spring on the portion inside the brake drum is about 1.5 inches too long. We cleaned up the old one and put it back on. Not as pretty, but problem solved. Maybe some day I will clean it up more or find the one that actually fits a 61. (the one in there was the 2nd try.)
- Door panels are all installed. I have a little finishing to do. Most handles are installed but still a few more to do.
- Adjusted all the brake shoes. (Have you guys noticed that Gene loves to be on the cold garage floor on his back? It's like he's made for it.)
- Of course, we discussed and found a few new issues a long the way.

You were missed Larry! Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures. Started to take one of Roger upside down under the dash, but got distracted. Hopefully I can finish the interior and the get the antenna on and take some pictures by next weekend if we can get a break in the rain.

Roger- I have a few questions about the parts list and steering/ turn signal stuff...I'll do another post in a while.

[dhbfaster]

Roger,

Questions about parts and stuff....

1) Horn: "Horn switch" and horn "contact brushes" is what I had written down.
Is this the only part I need? http://www.falconparts.com/ford-falc...ORS-85p285.htm

2) Turn Signal: It looks like there's a turn signal switch and a turn signal cam.
http://www.falconparts.com/ford-falc...urn+signal+cam
Do you think I need both? (while I'm at it.) (fyi for others, the problem is that the fit up between the male part on the turn lever and the female part on the cam is messed up.) It does seem to switch both ways but I'm not sure of some of the sloppiness is also in the switch itself.

Also, looks like the turn lever is available for $20 in chrome, but a black one is about $90!! Do you think the old lever will work fine in a new cam since you ran the die over the threads?

3) Steering wheel puller: Amazon says they can send this out same day for $20. Is this what I need to do the trick? I might as well buy one-assuming I will have to pull this thing off again. -https://www.amazon.com/Performance-Tool-W150-Steering-Removal/dp/B0002KO0QS/ref=s9_cartx_gw_g263_i1_r?_encoding=UTF8&fpl=fresh &pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=&pf_rd_r=RHFPEV3V39 0KQ0G4NKRS&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=1cded295-23b4-40b1-8da6-7c1c9eb81d33&pf_rd_i=desktop

4) The steering wheel itself- I counted 11 major cracks on it. Add to that the heavy wear on the upper surface that looks like it will take quite a bit of work to get smooth after filling. Obviously this "can" be restored and I prefer to keep the original and restore it if it's not a huge job and within my skill set, but it does look like a pretty big job to me.
(It looks like the process is a) drill/clean out all the cracks, b) fill with PC-7 or similar epoxy, c) clean, prime, and paint. Is it worth it?

Anyone bought one of the aftermarket ones from falcon enterprises? ($149). or the "exact replica" from Carpenter...$199. I can't tell if there's any difference.

Thanks as always

[Luva65wagon]

Started to take one of Roger upside down under the dash, but got distracted.

Thankfully...

Glad we were able to get a lot done for you. I did take one picture of you cleaning up the old e-brake cable. Wasn't the best picture, but the phone rang just as I took the picture. The car is in the background at least:

DonEbrake.jpg

This horn bits you show are a good start, but you may find them to be OK when you get it apart and just need to clean what they ride up against.

Didn't realize the TS Switch was two-part on your year car. That wealth was not in my knowledge. It would probably be the cam part in yours. Not having the puller and being able to inspect all that is there, or having tested the lights, it's hard to say whether the rest is good or not. The obvious bit to get the lever screwed in was the cam part and not the switch part. It's not clear, if the cam you had was out, whether you could chase the threads in your existing part with a tap.

The lever was pretty chewed up, but you could probably cut the threads off and re-thread the end with a good die. For $90 I would be trying. The Harbor Freight stuff was OK for chasing threads, but was lacking a bit.

That steering wheel puller would probably do the job.

If it were me, I'd probably keep the steering wheel and just repair they cracks. The wear, it's Granddad.

Also, I meant to ask and search for a new clip for the E-brake roller pin, but got distracted. You need to remember to get a clip in that or the pin will fall out.

Hopefully, while you are still in-town, and if the weather clears, you can back it in and out of the garage - at least! Sorry I was the first to move it under it's own power, but felt somewhat privileged to do so as well.

[Luva65wagon]

Also, chatting with Gene yesterday on the drive back I realized the back seats have no other door closing pull than the door handle. No arm rests - right? We both concluded you should pop the rear panels and remove enough board, from behind, to accept the round shape of the entire handle base. This will let you push the handle to the clip, while maintaining the entire vinyl material behind the handle.

[dhbfaster]

Thanks Roger....

AND....I did back it out of the garage and drove it for a loop around the neighborhood today. Clutch is so smooth...wow...and brakes worked ok too. It started to rain so I went back home and gave it the light wash and rinse off that it needed and I put it back in the garage nice and shiny clean again.

I agree with you on the steering wheel. It's meaningful that it's the same wheel. Any flaws left are certainly part of the character. Maybe I can do it Saturday.
I have ordered the epoxy. What primer and black paint should I use?

I have a note down on the pin for the parking brake...

My wife is going to order the ($250 of) parts first thing in the morning. If I don't need anything, she says she will send it back.

It's looking like a very busy week at work. Hopefully I can do a little more work on the falcon this week.

[dhbfaster]

Guys...a successful day today!

Jason and I
-got the horn fixed (it was just that contact button),
-we got the new turn signal cam in...and it was defective-dimensions left it too close to the horn button, but I was able to take the old one and tap it out so that the old turn signal lever fit. AND, we straightened the steering wheel.
- we took off the rear door panels and skimmed off the cardboard around the door handles...put them back on and the handles went on. (Then later when we went for a drive, hit a speed bump, they both fell off!! Oh well, need something to do next time. I think a little silicone sealer might help hold them just enough.)
- We got the new radio antenna on.
- put some nice trim screws in to hold the door panels on.
- and last but not least- installed the hubcaps.

Then we drive it probably a mile and a half all around up and down the hills around here. Everything worked great. Just like a new falcon!! Smiling from ear to ear over here....and here are a few pics. Jason also took some video. Hopefully he will post them on Facebook. Huge thanks to everyone who has helped or supported us to get this far.

[Luva65wagon]

That's a very cool thing to see! Good job.



The clips on the rear handles, if going on far enough, should "click" when they go into the grooves. Maybe you can just push a little harder on the to see if that happens.

You'll have something more to look forward to coming back home for now!