Father and Son 61 Ford Falcon Restoration

More Decisions on the Inside

2009-07-05T15:20:00.000-07:00

Lets continue our journey around the inside. Whe we bought the car we knew it had a little rust in the floor pan and toe board on the drivers side. Purchasing a new floor pan and toe board is no problem. Falcon Parts dot com has plenty to purchase and a simple weld into place is an easy fix.

Since this is a project for the long haul I have decided to rewire the car as well. I do this more as a preventive measure more than anything. I want the car to be as problem free as possible for as long as possible. My son mostly was concerned with the stereo system than any other part of the inside, well except leg room. As I have stated earlier we do plan to make a cut into the dash for an updated stereo system and one more up-grade has been decided on. We plan to use the bezel of the old instrument cluster and replace the inside with new sheet metal topped with a peel and stick carbon fiber vinyl. We plan to bore one large 3 5/8" hole in the center and four 2 1/2" holes, two on each side. The center hole will house the combination digital speed/tachometer and the other four holes are for the temp, fuel, oil pressure, and voltage meters. These will all be red digital display gauges to fit with the Crimson Tide theme. The radeo will also have red display as well.

The dash will be white on top and bottom and red in the middle. The same theme will be used for the door panels as well. We only have one door panel to use as a pattern but it will be easy to form two side from the one pattern. We plan to use as much padding and insulation as possible to cut down on noise and wind drafts. We also decided to install electric door locks for ease of entry and as a reminder for locking it up. It seems kids are spoiled to the use of a FOB these days.

The carpet will be red and the seats will be red and white with the picture of the "Bear" on the head rest. Of course we plan to sand, primer, seal the floor as well as installing plenty of insulation for noise and heating and cooling purposes.

A center console is planned with floor shift in the middle. Speakers will be added to the sides and cup holders for from and rear passenger will be added as well. Perhaps we can add such conveniences as a coin holder and perhaps a small compartment for odds and end items.

New side panels will have to be made to match door panels as well as new top upholstery. A new back dash with mounted speakers and one woofer in the middle. I will add more detail and pics as those projects are tackled.

We hope to get the car in the shop this next weekend and actually start with the removal of the interior items and begin on the floor patches. I will update more during the week on ideas that we have thought of. Items we have decided to upgrade. We welcome any comments or suggestions to all our readers and welcome to our blog. We hope you all will enjoy this journey as much we hope to.

Thanks
Hollis

Analysis on Current Condition of Project Vehicle

2009-06-30T13:17:00.000-07:00

Once we got the Falcon home we were able to look the car over really well to assess all the things that needed repaired. We already knew that the interior would have to be replaced. This would include the overhead upholstery, door panels, and rear deck. We also new that the seats that had been placed into the vehicle was way to large (especially for my over grown son). The rear seat was too long and sat crooked in the rear. The bucket seats (although flush and electric) sat way too high and wouldn't accommodate a console. We had also decided that we would cut the dash to accommodate a new slide in dash radio/cd player. This is an important decision because if you plan to resell the vehicle the value will be down if the dash has been altered. It would be best to mount a radio/cd player under the dash instead. The original steering column was made for a straight shift (3-speed). The car had been outfitted with a 3-speed manual on the floor. We decided to change all of this to a 3-speed automatic on the floor. This means we will have to make the collar on the steering column smooth so that no one will be able to that it was ever a manual shifter collar. I found help on how to do this, along with much help on other issues at my friendly Ford Falcon Forum called tffn (The Ford Falcon News). http://tffn.net/
We also plan to move the new Mustang bucket seats back to allow more leg room and are still comptemplating wether or not to add a tilt steering column as well. I found out that a 67-69 Lincoln can provide a very close fit. We have also decided to manufacture our own center console for convienience reasons. We will add cup holders as the older models didn't allow for such amenities. We were able to get the original front bench and rear bench seat along with the car when we bought it so we will simply re-upholster the rear seat and add buckets from a Mustang. We have a friend helping us with the paint and body work. His name is Harry and he also happens to have an upholstery sewing machine. We will make our own red and white seat covers to cover all the seats and I also found a place in Huntsville Alabama that can embrodery a siloiet of Paul "Bear" Bryant on the seat covers as well. This will add that special personalized touch we are looking for and tie the inside to the Alabama Crimson Tide theme that we are going for on the outside.

There are more details that we have considered for the interior such as instrument gauges, wiring, and electric door locks. I will be posting about this next time. Hope everyone has an awesome week and especially a safe and joyful Holiday Weekend remembering the birth of our awesome nation. Please remember our current soldiers and their families during this time of celebration.

Hollis

Buying the Project Car

2009-06-27T10:30:00.000-07:00

When you are looking for a car to buy for your project the first thing you need to decide is, What is your skill level (or what is the skill level of those who you plan to get help from)? My skill level is that of a novice , however I have a good friend who has hired my 14 yr old son as summer help who has been restoring old cars off and on for over 20 yrs and he has agreed to help us with our project. He is a paint and body man and I will be doing the mechanical part. My son will be gaining experience and knowledge of both along the way.

The next thing you need to decide is from what decade or what type of car you want to restore? My sons first choice was a 51 Chevy Coupe. It was in bad condition and it was on a 6 volt system. This was more of a challenge than I was willing to take on. I showed him the cars from the 60's and he liked the body styles. I personally wanted something that looked sporty, however it could be cheap on gas and still have power to avoid embarrassment.

There are many other aspects in which one needs to consider but those are details of more of a personal nature. Some people only like a certain make of car, some want a drag racer, some want to take it back to original for more monitary value, some want a daily driver to look cool in, and some want to bring back a childhood memory from the past. I wanted something that would please my son, something I was excited about and could invision in order to give ideas and feel motivated about, something that would be unique and still stylish, something that my son could be proud of, and something that would help my son and I continue to bond with during his teen yrs that he could keep and remember the good times with as he grows older and moves on in life.

We found a 61 Ford Falcon being sold locally by an individual who had lost the desire to restore. It has been through several hands over the last 20 yrs of people who saw its potentual but never saw the project completely through. The body was in good shape with the only rust being that of the driver side floor pan and toe board. It had a rough new paint job and new interior from I don't know what but electric bucket seats that was way too big and not so new carpet from who knows what? It had a running 144 l-6 but wouldn't idle well and a 3 speed in the floor that the clutch was completely gone in. Never the less the chrome was in great shape as well as all of the glass. We were able to talk him down to $1700 and brought it home.