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Thread: Out for a spin.

  1. #76
    Join Date
    Jul 2013
    Location
    Federal Way
    Posts
    906
    Wow, nice pics and nice cars Dennis.
    I always loved the t-birds of that era. It's almost as nice as your falcon!
    That is a really nice wagon. Looks like someone really put their heart into that one.
    I don't think I've ever seen one of those Mercurys- huge!
    I like the old huge cars, but I think one would take up too much room in my garage.
    Don Bartlett
    Federal Way, WA
    61 Four Door Sedan
    144-6, 3 on the tree



  2. #77

    My MPG is increasing.

    Huh.

    My 260 and Ford-O-Matic had been delivering about 14.5 MPG for routine city driving (18 - 19 MPG highway).

    Then for the past five fills the city driving MPG went up to 15.5.

    Today I got 16.8 MPG! Wow!

    My theories:
    Warmer weather is causing the automatic choke to disengage quicker.
    The engine not being cold causes the gasoline to vaporize and burn better.
    The "summer blend" of gasoline works better in my engine.
    Dennis Pierson
    Tampa, FL
    "The Wonder Falcon"

    '63 Futura Hardtop (260, Ford-O-Matic, bench seat)

  3. #78
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    1,430
    Quote Originally Posted by ew1usnr View Post

    Today I got 16.8 MPG! Wow!

    My theories:
    Warmer weather is causing the automatic choke to disengage quicker.
    The engine not being cold causes the gasoline to vaporize and burn better.
    The "summer blend" of gasoline works better in my engine.
    My Theory: your co-worker is adding a gallon to the tank each day you drive to work. Wait until he starts the siphon in a few months...

    Jeff Watson
    Seattle, WA
    '63 Tudor Wagon (170 - 3 spd.)

  4. #79

    Sports Car Falcon.

    Quote Originally Posted by Jeff W View Post
    My Theory: your co-worker is adding a gallon to the tank each day you drive to work. Wait until he starts the siphon in a few months...
    My co-workers are pranksters, but they would not put out money to buy gasoline for me (I don't think).

    The little Falcon even seems to be running cooler now. The temperature gauge swings up to mid-range when the engine warms up and pretty much stays there. It moves to 3/4 while stopped at an extended red light, but drops to mid range when the car starts moving again.

    The weather has been fantastic. It was 67 degrees this morning and 87 in the afternoon. I drove to work with my windows up and drove home with all the windows down. Gosh, this little car ZINGS when I step on the gas. I drive it everyday and am so happy with how it starts, rides, handles, accelerates, and sounds. It is a wonderful little car and it has exceeded my expectations. I am probably the only guy on the planet who LIKES his two-speed Ford-O-Matic transmission. The transmission provides engine braking and makes a sound like VOOO-oooom when I lift my foot off the gas. It sounds so nice. The Ford-O-Matic shifts at about 15 mph if I start off with a soft foot, and will spin a wheel at take off and shift to second at at 50 mph if I floor it from a start. The transmission shifts smoothly and it makes driving so much easier in the stop and go traffic that I commute in.

    I waxed my black car this past weekend with Turtle Wax black wax. See: https://www.turtlewax.com/shop/produ...box-finish-kit
    Wow! That is good stuff. It made my hood as reflective as a mirror.
    Last edited by ew1usnr; May 27th, 2016 at 05:29 PM.
    Dennis Pierson
    Tampa, FL
    "The Wonder Falcon"

    '63 Futura Hardtop (260, Ford-O-Matic, bench seat)

  5. #80

    Ethanol-free Gasoline

    Regular gas is (I think) 10% ethanol. Ethanol attracts water which will cause steel gas tanks to rust. That is why new cars have plastic gas tanks. The ethanol also corrodes carburetors.

    I only knew of one gas station in Tampa that sold ethanol-free gasoline and it was quite a bit out of my way to go there. Well, .... they built a new Wawa convenience store that I pass by every day on my way to work and I noticed that it has two pumps that dispense 89 octane ethanol-free gas. Wow! Now I have options.

    IMG_0498.jpg

    The ethanol-free gas is, unfortunately, 54 cents per gallon more expensive than the 87 octane regular. It is 29 cents more expensive than the mid-grade 89 octane with ethanol.

    IMG_0499.jpg

    I bit the bullet and filled "The Wonder Falcon" with the gasoline that it was designed for.
    Last edited by ew1usnr; June 19th, 2016 at 04:54 PM.
    Dennis Pierson
    Tampa, FL
    "The Wonder Falcon"

    '63 Futura Hardtop (260, Ford-O-Matic, bench seat)

  6. #81
    I drive right past a, ethanol-free station on my way home every day, but never when I'm driving either of the Falcons or my pickup (63, 65, 66 respectively). I've so far had no issues. I add a bottle of HEET to the tanks (when I remember to). Basically ISO alcohol. Not sure if that negates it or not - but I do it.

    The station here charges almost $1.00 more than the most expensive stations around where this station is. That's like $1.50 more per gallon than Costco gas, so don't bother with it in my Kia.
    Roger Moore

    63 "Flarechero"
    powered by: 347ci stroker | Tremec T5 | 8" 3:45 TracLoc rear



  7. #82

    Three comments

    The Wonder Falcon received three comments while I drove home from work today. An older black lady driving a big SUV honked her horn and asked "Is that a 1966?" and we chatted a little bit.

    Then I got down the road a little further and stopped at a red light in front of the University of South Florida. A young Indian guy in the passenger seat of a car to my left asked about my car. I did not catch his name, but we talked briefly and he said that he was a mechanical engineering student and a member of the USF race team. I just looked at their web page to see what that was about. Cool stuff. Go Bulls! See: http://www.usfracing.com/

    A little further on, I met a young black guy with tattoos who was riding in the passenger seat of a new Chevy Impala. He rolled his window down and asked "What kind of car is that?" I told him that it was a 1963 Falcon and that it was what Ford had as a small sporty car before they introduced the Mustang. He said "Wow!"

    The amount of positive attention that this little car attracts is really surprising. Falcons used to be cars that no one paid attention to.
    Last edited by ew1usnr; July 12th, 2016 at 02:20 AM.
    Dennis Pierson
    Tampa, FL
    "The Wonder Falcon"

    '63 Futura Hardtop (260, Ford-O-Matic, bench seat)

  8. #83
    Join Date
    Jul 2013
    Location
    Federal Way
    Posts
    906
    That is so cool....and it's driving me crazy
    Granddad's falcon is so close to me being able to just drive it out of the garage...and now after being home for a week and a half, I only had enough time to open the hood and hook up the battery tender.
    Now I'm back in Ontario. Time to check for car shows.
    Don Bartlett
    Federal Way, WA
    61 Four Door Sedan
    144-6, 3 on the tree



  9. #84

    What is that?

    I was stopped at a red light while driving home from work yesterday and someone said "Excuse me, sir." It was a young black guy with a gold front tooth in a big black SUV. He asked "Who made that?" I said "It's a Ford! A 1963 Ford Falcon." He liked that and gave me a big smile and waved as we drove off. I got a kick out of that. The Wonder Falcon had left him completely baffled as to what it was.
    Last edited by ew1usnr; August 16th, 2016 at 03:13 AM.
    Dennis Pierson
    Tampa, FL
    "The Wonder Falcon"

    '63 Futura Hardtop (260, Ford-O-Matic, bench seat)

  10. #85

    Prodigal Wheel Cover

    I drive home each day heading west on Busch and then take the on-ramp to go south on Dale Mabry.

    On-ramp.JPG

    That winding on-ramp has an uphill slope that is more fun than the flat straight roads that are typical of Tampa and I always charge up the ramp with extra zeal. While I was halfway through the curve yesterday, I heard a clanging-rattling sound and saw my front-left Futura wheel cover rolling alongside me on its rim. It hit the outside guardrail and flew into the bushes. There are no shoulders on the road at that location and I could not stop. Darn it!

    Wheel covers from ebay 1 20 14.jpg

    On the way home today I parked near the on-ramp and got out and looked through the bushes and found my escaped wheel cover! It was undamaged.
    Yaaaay!

    Last edited by ew1usnr; November 2nd, 2016 at 05:51 PM.
    Dennis Pierson
    Tampa, FL
    "The Wonder Falcon"

    '63 Futura Hardtop (260, Ford-O-Matic, bench seat)

  11. #86
    Yay indeed!

    You need to massage those retaining tabs out a hair so these caps provide more tooth to hold themselves on. I've got hubcaps on both my Falcons I've had a hard time finding spares for. So it always makes me nervous one is gonna come up missing someday.
    Roger Moore

    63 "Flarechero"
    powered by: 347ci stroker | Tremec T5 | 8" 3:45 TracLoc rear



  12. #87

    Day Trip to Gatorland

    My wife and I drove The Wonder Falcon on a 195-mile round trip from Tampa to Kissimmee today to visit Gatorland.
    It was HOT today. It was a record-breaking 85-degrees! Christmas is next week!

    IMG_0657 (2).jpg

    IMG_0658 (2).jpg

    We drove on highways going there but we drove back on Interstate-4. That was the longest distance that I have driven the Falcon on an Interstate so far. We held it at 70 mph for about 80 miles and the Falcon performed like a champ. Yaaay! An older guy driving a new BMW convertible honked and waved at us.

    IMG_0661 (2).jpg

    IMG_0673 (2).jpg

    IMG_0668 (2).jpg
    Last edited by ew1usnr; December 21st, 2016 at 05:01 AM.
    Dennis Pierson
    Tampa, FL
    "The Wonder Falcon"

    '63 Futura Hardtop (260, Ford-O-Matic, bench seat)

  13. #88

    Day trip to Animal Kingdom

    My wife and I drove The Wonder Falcon from Tampa to Orlando yesterday on a 219-mile round trip to visit Disney's Animal Kingdom.

    IMG_0689.jpg

    IMG_0690.jpg

    We drove there and back on Highways 60 and 27 at mostly 55 - 60 mph. I filled the car with 10 gallons of gas when we got back near the house and found that the Falcon had gotten 21.7 miles per gallon on the trip!!!

    Whoohoo! That is my best gas mileage to date. I have hit around 19.5 a few times before, but never above twenty. This is with a 260 V-8, an Autolite 2100 two-barrel carburetor, and a Ford-O-Matic two-speed automatic with a 3.25 differential.

    IMG_0692.jpg

    IMG_0697.jpg
    Last edited by ew1usnr; December 21st, 2016 at 05:19 AM.
    Dennis Pierson
    Tampa, FL
    "The Wonder Falcon"

    '63 Futura Hardtop (260, Ford-O-Matic, bench seat)

  14. #89
    Dennis,

    You're having way too much fun! Good to see they give those 'gators plenty of birds to eat.

    85 degrees in December... I think we may have a white Christmas instead.

    snow.jpg
    Roger Moore

    63 "Flarechero"
    powered by: 347ci stroker | Tremec T5 | 8" 3:45 TracLoc rear



  15. #90
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    Ellensburg
    Posts
    217
    I guess those of us in the cold, snowy northwest and live vicariously through you. Nice to see the Falcon is running so well.

    My wife and I went to Gatorland back in 1992 - loved it
    Scott Zimmerman


    '65 Falcon Futura 2 door hardtop, 289 V8

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