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The alternate title for this post was Why I Have the Best Wife Ever.
Behold the newest edition to the Mad_Science driveway. You’re looking at a 1964 Ford Falcon Futura. It’s sporting a 260c.i. (4.3L) V8 running through a 4-speed manual transmission. It’s got power nothing: not windows, not locks, not steering nor brakes. The paint’s a re-do, and needs some love in the typical places. The interior’s a re-do, but needs nothing for the time being. We don’t need to get into price, but it was a pretty good deal for a very rare drivetrain combo. Roughly 1/50th the price of the Bentley pictured beside it earlier.
So, WTF am I doing, parking a fifth car in the _Science driveway?
It all makes sense, in that “only on Hooniverse” kind of way, so bear with me.
As I mentioned some time ago, The Missus is pregnant with Mad_Science Jr, with an ETA of March 1st. As such, as of March 1st the WRXagon becomes her daily driver, as it’s the most practical, efficient, safe, normal car that we own.
That leaves me with the option of doing my ~80 mile round trip commute in a lifted Jeep Wrangler, ‘67 Ford Country Sedan (that would bea 390ci powered 10 passenger full-size station wagon), or C: None of The Above.
Living in a dry climate rich in classic (or just old) cars, with plenty of tools, skills and driveway space, I just couldn’t bring myself to go out and buy a 10 year old Civic. I was planning on making this a running series here on Hooniverse: “Help Mad_Science find a Car”, knowing it was a toss-up between some kind of “mini-muscle” (a classic compact domestic car) and maybe something like a non-LeMons 6-series. The overall goal was something reasonably efficient, reasonably comfortable, but definitely cool.
[singlepic id=711 w=320 h=240 float=center]Before I had the opportunity for you to give me a bunch of terrible ideas help me out, this puppy popped up: exactly what I was looking for. I’ve always loved the lines on the 64-65 Falcons. The 260ci is the little brother to the 289, with a smaller bore. To be honest, the smaller engine is a bonus for me: v8 torque and exhaust note, but potential for better efficiency. As most of you probably know, the Mustang was based on the Falcon chassis, meaning I’m now drawing from economies of scale like you wouldn’t believe. Parts for the Falcon are literally half the price of the equivalent on my oddball FE-powered 67 wagon.
So, where am I going with this? My ultimate goal is to have a comfy sport driver that pulls 25mpg if I can stay off the skinny pedal. I’m hoping a combination of the right engine tuning, gearing and the Falcon’s already light curb weight can get me there.
Straight away, I need to address a few issues: the gas gauge doesn’t work, the (2 bbl) carb needs a rebuild, the shifter linkage is a floppy mess, and the clutch takeup is way too chattery. The only love that 2bbl will see is a screwdriver and some carb cleaner: a 4-bbl intake and ~500cfm carb will be replacing it. I’m going to have to find my way to taller gears for the freeway, and I’m torn between just stepping up the rearend or swapping in a T-5 with its nice tall overdrive 5th gear.
In the meanwhile, the Country Sedan’s going to get some attention to get it ready to be sold. I don’t particularly want to part with it, but between LeMons and the rest of my life, it doesn’t get driven enough and doesn’t get the attention it deserves. So, stay tuned over the next few months as I clean up the Country Sedan and do some exploring and quick fixes on the Falcon.
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Wow, that's a beauty man. Nice find! I'm sure the "seriously thanks babe" tag means there was some, um, "discussion" with Mrs. Science regarding this acquisition and that the Country Sedan leaving Scuderia Science was the price you had to pay to make it happen. Ah well, it's testament your other half's coolness that in a hormone-induced fit of prenatal need for safety, she didn't make to buy a Camry.
It could only be better if it was a wagon. Enjoy the new whip!
Actually, she keeps pushing me into classics. Whenever I bring up something like a newer GT500, it gets a big "meh". Her dream "mom car" is a nice, roomy Lamborghini Espada.
I'm the one who wants out from under the wagon. Not really because I want it gone, but when I'm not working on it, I get all stressed out. I know there's a big list of things to work on, and when it's just sitting there getting dusty I feel bad. Then, after I clean it up a little and go pick up some 4×8 plywood or sheetmetal, I remember just how awesome it is, even in the condition it's in.
It's also getting a little tricky playing musical parking spaces with 5 cars and a utility trailer to shuffle around.
Espada, eh?
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/12/07/ebay-find-of-t...
I think if my wife did some research on her ideal car and the answer was anything not Japanese, I would probably fall out of my chair. If it was 30+ years old and Italian, the Universe might be sucked through a singularity of awesome.
"Her dream "mom car" is a nice, roomy Lamborghini Espada."
Does Mrs. Mad Science have a sister that's as cool as she clearly is?
Inquiring minds want to know, you know…
No sisters, sorry guys.
Sedan Delivery FTW:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?V...
Whoa. FTW, indeed! Throw some moon caps over those chromed steelies and call it a day.
BTW, Mrs. Science's next ride back at ya:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1972-Lamborghini-E...
Haha, that's been quite the point of discussion today.
I am JEALOUS! I would love to have one of these. You're a lucky guy and Mrs._Science sounds like a keeper. Congrats on both.
That carb can't be all that bad. Get a rebuild kit, a gallon can of carb cleaner with the dipper basket, and scrounge some guitar string to poke through jets and passages with and have at it. Only takes an hour or two, and it will buy you time while you decide what kind of four barrel and manifold you want.
Best of luck with your new car, you scored, bigtime.
Agreed. 2 Barrel carb would be worth rebuilding. Rebuild it and run it, then sell it for more money when you decide to spring on a new carb.
Kudos on the car/wife combo… and way to inspire me for a commuter car. Really think you can squeeze 25mpg out of it on the highway?
As best I can tell, I was getting about 15 driving it around yesterday (drove about 60 miles on about 4 gallons of gas).
That's with the clutch behaving such that I have to launch it like I'm racing (or it stalls) and a carb that's all over the map.
A properly tuned 4-barrel (with the primaries set up really mellow) a mild cam, an electric fan and the right gearing and I know it can get over 20.
Well you're already off to a better economy start than I am. The TJ I drive to work pulls in a solid 13-15 MPG. Stupid three speed auto…
My TJ with a 5-speed, 4" lift, 33" MTs on steel wheels and 4.10 gears gets 16-18 hwy if I keep it around 65. It'll break 20 in stop-and-go traffic, b/c I can just put it in 2nd, 3rd or 4th and let it creep.
Ahh big healthy gears…
If you hit 24 with that beast, I'll have to put some thought into aero-tweaking and manual-swapping the Brick… that's about what I get in two-thirds-highway driving.
Ain't love grand!
My grandmother owned almost this exact car. I don't know if she bought it new but she owned it longer than I have been alive and only recently got rid of it since she is in her 90's and was having more and more trouble driving it. One of her nephews was kind enough to give her a nice mid-90's Mercedes to get her around town in relative comfort. When she did finally get rid of the Falcon it was in excellent condition, save for fading paint and cracked upholstery. It had well under 100k miles on it if I recall and ran like a champ. If I had been in a position to buy it at the time I would have been all over it.
Congratulations on the newest (and yet to come) members of your family Mr_Science! May they both bring you lots of joy.
Nice car. Always had a soft spot for the Falcons.
How I envy that you can consider that a rational daily driver – up here it'd almost definitely be garaged for about half the year. Still, I look forward to hearing more about it.
Yeah, as I was picking it up, looking over the rust, I was like "eh…not a big deal. It's LA, it rains like 4 days year here".
…and it's going to be raining all this week.
Seconded.
My Dart went up on the stands two weeks ago and the wheels won't touch ground again until around Tax Day, 2010. We have three inches of snow already and are expecting 8-9 more in the next 48 hours.
Where did I leave that bottle of Jack Daniels?
Love it. My favorite Ford from this side of the pond. I've long dreamed of getting a coupe after spending a fun time in a friend's '65 Fairlane 289 (K-code) … I would never want a Fairlane, but based on that experience scaling down that package seemed exceedingly fun.
And yes, your wife gets extra "Awsome Hooniverse Partner" points for being so cool about it.
I am glad to see in one of the interior shots that someone retrofit seatbelts… the freeways of L.A. can be a dangerous place no matter how skillful a driver Mad_Science is. A dad-to-be needs to take appropriate steps toward self-preservation, for the sake of his family.
Interestingly from a perspective of symmetry, my mother drove a white Falcon wagon ('63 or '64) when I was a tot, and I drove the family 1970 Ford Custom 500 wagon (not too dissimilar from Mad_Science's Country Sedan) once I got my license in 1979. Falcons and Ford wagons ran in my family too…!
i agree.. my brother lives out there… and i worry for him, his wife, and my niece just about every day… they're great drivers.. but many of their fellow commuters are not quite so great…
Looks great, congrats! Real classic lines on those.
I'd like a Ranchero version to haul my motorbikes around.
<img src="http://www.duncancumming.co.uk/photos/lucky.jpg" width="500" height="370" /img>
in so many ways.
Seriously, that is an awesome find, and props to your lady for being the coolest wife in the history of ever.
First, congratulations on your the impending
doombirth of your child. These arehorrificexciting times for you, I'm sure!Now, on to business. The Falcon is sweet. I know everyone is saying that. However, as you pointed out, it's fairly inepensive to keep. Since the Mustangs were all based on the Falcon, parts are going to be plentiful. Once you get it tuned up, the clutch issue addressed, the carb cleaned/rebuilt, and address any other little issues it should be a pretty reliable driver. I applaud you for wanting to drive it, too. Too many people would try to drop a 302 and drag race it. There's something kind of special about old iron left stock (or pretty darn close). Adding a T-5 would be acceptable since it would help you in your endeavor to keep it daily-driver-friendly.
I am progressing on Project House Hell (the upstairs is nearing completion and should be darn close by Christmas), and I'm getting excited about a project car. The sad part is, I would have to garage it for 4-5 months during the winter. Stupid Michigan weather.
I fully agree with you. It is getting increasingly rare to find old iron with it's original drive-train. It infuriates me that a friend of mine ripped out the flat head last week from his 40 Ford Shoe Box and replaced it with a Chevy 350. >:-O
What's his address? I'll punch him in the neck.
I'm tired of seeing 350s in Fords. Yes, parts are cheap, but they are nearly as cheap for a 289/302/351W. Flathead parts aren't quite as cheap, but they aren't ridiculous. Plus, flatheads are darn cool and not your run-of-the-mill engine. There's something special about that.
That was his excuse. That parts are cheaper. He's young and dumb though, he's 20 years old and I'm afraid for what else he's going to do to the car. He already sanded down the original acceptable paint and painted the car in primer. It's a 4 door and he wants to weld the rear doors shut too.
I think we need to form a Hooniverse torch mob and head down to his house.
Nooooo! There's nothing wrong with sedans, despite what people like my dad might have you believe.
That's just a damn shame. I'll bet he dreams of putting billet everything on it, as well. Sounds like he's taken a perfectly good car and raped the hell out of it. Anything with a Ford flathead needs to stay that way. And, old paint with patina needs to stay. It's only original once.
Too nice a car for the kid.
Alas, I figured out last night that this car was originally a 170ci I-6 with a 2-speed auto…at least according to the data plate and serial numbers I saw.
Maybe there was a good reason for the swap… Least they kept it in the Ford family.
I salute you for going with the project car as a daily driver route. I gave up on that a long time ago, and my "project" car is only 25 years old! Call me soft, but I like the feeling of knowing the car will start, stop, and drive every time I hop in it. Then again, the check engine light came on this weekend.
I wouldn't be doing it quite like this if I didn't have my Wrangler as a backup.
So far with the Country Sedan (knock on wood) I've managed to keep my stranded-on-the-side-of-the-road incidents confined to the weekends, after monkeying with something.
YOU have, I am the one who is usually driving it when something goes down….
Cheese it guys, Mad's wife is watching!
Ahem, that was a VERY WISE choice you allowed your husband to make. I hear the 1964 Ford Falcon is one of the safest, most sensible vehicles on the road today. I'm sure if you allow him to add a few "prudent" engine mods, he'll buy you this to ferry around your growing family:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1972-Lamborghini-E...
Mr_Mad sent that to me earlier. I declined this particular one, the tan color makes me think of an early 70's creepy mustache molester mobile. Not quite the image you want for a family car…
Glad everyone likes the Falcon! He already has the approval for the modifications, it is just a matter of how much time he has. The Country Sedan needs some love first I think.
dude is that the car sitting in front of your neighbors house monday after lemons?
Nope.
The Comet Caliente convertible is just my neighbor's car.
It's there on the street every day. No idea if it's for sale, but you might want to ask him some time.
I had a '64 Comet for a few years. Same setup–two-door post with the granny roof. Great noises, good grunt when going straight. Not so good at variations to "staying the course." USA! USA!
http://www.jagpromotions.com/bill/autoscene/event...
Are you wearing a cowboy hat in the that picture?
Also, counterpoint:
<img src=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3647/3385579085_92e710dcde.jpg>
<img src=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3383/3635714325_a9224301dd.jpg>
And:
http://bringatrailer.com/2009/09/27/la-carrera-veteran-1964-ford-falcon-racer/
Are you wearing a cowboy hat in the that picture?
Also, counterpoint:
<img src=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3647/3385579085_92e710dcde.jpg>
<img src=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3383/3635714325_a9224301dd.jpg>
And:
http://bringatrailer.com/2009/09/27/la-carrera-veteran-1964-ford-falcon-racer/
Counter-counter point…..Mercury Comet's got rallied in the 60's too. This one, driven by the Singh brothers and prepped by Bill Stroppe, finished 3rd in the '64 Safari Rally.
<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3632/3566407233_fbe296f111.jpg">
I thought about getting something less straight-line-y, but I decided to pull the trigger on the mini-muscle on account of the fact that I've already got a car that'll kick ass in the hills.
At some future date when the WRX is replaced with a Cummins-powered Wagoneer (seriously, she wants one) I'll spring for something more sporty.
I thought about getting something less straight-line-y, but I decided to pull the trigger on the mini-muscle on account of the fact that I've already got a car that'll kick ass in the hills.
At some future date when the WRX is replaced with a Cummins-powered Wagoneer (seriously, she wants one) I'll spring for something more sporty.
The Waghoon? Really? Going to give it up for adoption?
Wow.
But I understand. When I gave up my old 66 Fury, I could not be there–nor could any of the family–when it left.
I still have the owner's manual and a set of keys.
Congratulations on the impending wee Mad_Science–you are a lucky guy!
Yeah, I'm gonna be losing some wago-cred, but between the Falcon and LeMons and Junior, I'm not gonna have time to give it the attention and use it needs.
…but hopefully it'll go to a good use: surfers, bassists, a large family of awesome people.
It's still gonna be a while before it's for sale. There's a ton of little things that I've been putting up with that need attention. Great how-to fodder for some website or something.
Which four-speed does it have? The English Ford box, B-W T-10, or Ford toploader?
Pretty sure it's the T-10, but I haven't had time to crawl under it to verify.
The T-10's the tranny that's supposed to go with a 260 for 64…but I figured out late last night that according to the serial stamped on the fender and the data plate, that the car was originally a 170ci + 2-speed auto.
…but the weird thing is, the tunnel and shifter and everything are set up for a manual trans.
The 2-speed was a column shifted unit, right?
The plot thickens…
I think all the Fordomatics were column shifted, yeah.
Is there any car with design similarity to a shoebox that isn't at least decent-looking?
no, no there is not.
I guess that to get the loan from banks you should have a good motivation. However, one time I’ve got a credit loan, just because I was willing to buy a bike.
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