Hello and a picture

[FortFor]

First, this forum is amazing and thank you to those maintaining it. I have a "barn find" 61 Tudor. Well, maybe that's a stretch because I found it in my own barn. Bought this thing about 30 years ago and drove it a lot for about 5 or 6 years before it started to sit for long time between starts. Pretty soon time, neglect and bad gas caught up, and it turned into a "someday I'll get back to it" project. But I kept it around and its been stored dry.

I bought it with a 170 and 3 speed (although the code tells me it was 144 originally). Being a kid, of course I stuck a 289, C4 and 8" rearend in it. Otherwise it was in decent shape and fairly rust free. Recently hauled it out into daylight to assess the work to get it going again. First issue was mouse damage, and that was extensive. Anything chewable had been turned into plush bedding in the trunk and heater box, so first work was stripping nearly all the interior. Gas tank was about half full with the nastiest goop and sludge I've seen. Cleaned that out with lye, which worked incredibly well and I highly recommend. That's about as far as I've gotten, but I've got a big list of things to do and probably a ton of questions that will come up that the group here I'm sure can help with.

Master cylinder was of course in awful condition after sitting, so this seemed like a good time for the dual master upgrade. Just collecting parts and planning now. Here's a partial list just to get it on the road:

Replace all fuel lines, hoses, pump, etc. Need to replace the sending unit as well.
Replace MC, all (or most) brake lines, hoses, probably wheel cylinders, shoes...haven't gotten that far
Carb rebuild, Edelbrock 1405. Probably some jet tuning. I never felt like this carb was set up right before.
Rear wheels and tires. I was a kid with no money then...its got mismatched width rims with re-treads.
Some re-wiring of my old mistakes.

And whatever else I run into along the way. That's just to get it running and ignoring all the creature comforts like upholstery, heater system rebuild, future electric wiper conversion? A future front end rebuild with disc brakes would be nice. Currently 5 lug in the rear and 4 up front.

Lots of work to do.

falcon.jpg

[beerbelly]

Your car looks to be in great shape, needing only the stuff any car that sat for a long time needs.
I just have one suggestion- you might want to consider an Edelbrock 1403 (500 cfm) rather than the 1405, especially if the 289 is stock. I had a 600 Holley on mine, and never could get it to run like I wanted. The 1403 gives me very snappy response, and up to 19 MPG on numerous long road trips.
Let me know if you need any info on the heater rebuild- I completely rebuilt mine a few years ago and have source info for all the parts.

[Luva65wagon]

Sounds like a nice project. Wish I still had my 62 from high school. It'd retreads too! Laughed at that.

It's getting late and I just returned from a week away from home, but will hopefully see a stream of updates as you bring your car back to life!

[Falcongek]

ooh that's a nice survivor.

I have the same hubcaps, If you're missing some, there were a lot of them on e-bay the beginning of this year for decent prices.
+1 on the dual master upgrade. I found out too late that this was a bolt in upgrade. But it's in the near future for my bird.

The paint looks pretty decent.

Good luck with the car,
Rinke

[FortFor]

Thank you for the comments. It should be fun to put some life back into. It is interesting to contrast taking on the work now versus many years ago when I had lots of ambition and little knowledge. I can't claim to have much more smarts now, but maybe a little seasoning of time. Some things that would be daunting years ago aren't now, and vice versa. You won't find me laying in the gravel along side the road pulling the driveline these days, or such things that seemed perfectly normal then.

I hear you on the 600 cfm carb. My guide was often the speed magazine articles with "bolt on horsepower!" that lacked the nuance of how parts should be matched. It will stay like it is for now, but something to add to the ever expanding list. The pep of the V8 is sure fun, but I also miss ol' dependable 170 that never gave me any trouble at all.

[bloodspite]

Sitting is hard on them
Glad to see this one coming back to life!
I cant wait to see the journey with ya!

[gtaroger]

Congrats on your almost barn find.I look forward to seeing your progress. GTARoger

[dhbfaster]

Nice looking 61!
Look forward to following your story and whatever we can do to help.
Are you located in Alaska?

[FortFor]

Not Alaska. Down here in Onalaska...a bit east from Chehalis. Not to be confused with Onalaska, WI or Onalaska, TX of course!