My kids surprised me this year and bought me a car. It's a car I've been on the lookout for for a long time. Needless to say, I was flabbergasted. The story of that is here.
The car in question is a 1962 Ford Falcon 4-door, 4-speed. It's probably one of my favorite body styles. I love the soft lines, the curve at the nose, the curve of the back glass. It's a great little car. This one has the 170 i6 with a whopping 105 hp at 4400 rpm and 156 lb-ft of torque at 2400. Fast it isn't but the little 6 cylinders are fun to drive.
I'm still not 100% certain where this car will end up. It runs well. Due to a lack of paperwork, insurance, and seating, I haven't actually driven it. It does move under its own power. It does have one spot of rust that is through the panel on the rear quarter as well as rust spots at the base of the back window that will need some attention. It has also been hit in the passenger rear. That dent has been pulled but not finished. Whoever pulled it did a very good job. The floors have also been replaced. Whoever did them did a pretty good job as well. They have also been painted with bed liner so they should be good to go for a long time.
So where do we go from here?
Part of me wants to strip it down and restomod it. I have a complete 302 in the shop and an offer for a 5-speed. A set of fat wheels and tires and a cool paint job and it would be set. But that's what everyone does. At that point I might as well LS swap it. It can be just another old car that's been hot-rodded. I really hate following the crowd.
Part of me wants to restore it. Ground up immaculate. Realistically that's going to be more money than I want to spend.
Part of me wants to drive it as it sits. The body is pretty straight. It has some rust but not terminal rust. I could throw a blanket over the seats, throw a set of tires on it, and drive it how it sits. Unfortunately, that's also been overdone to death. I might as well paint it flat black with red wheels.
What will probably happen is something between the three. It will probably be something different. It may be that no one likes it but me.
The first order of business is seating. The bench seat is trashed. Between the sheer size of the steering wheel and the mounting of the bench seat, no one over 200 pounds can sit in the driver's seat. Even moving the bench back an inch didn't help. The other issue is no one makes upholstery sets for the 4-door car, only for the split bench in the 2-door. While I don't necessarily mind having the seat done professionally that takes time. For now, I have ordered a set of low-back buckets.
These are from Procar. I came very close to buying the high back but they really look stupid in a falcon. I also came very close to buying red, to stick with the original red and white, but that was too much. The interior is going to end up with tan upholstery. I may leave the painted parts of the doors and the dash red. I think. Maybe.
Next up was tires. What is on it is ancient. It still has the OEM 13" wheels. It's super tempting to order a set of wheels and tires as well as a disk brake conversion and make the car completely different. But I didn't. Instead, I ordered a set of 185/70r13 whitewall tires for it.
There will be more to come. I have a couple of other projects I need to finish first and get out of the way, so it may be a few weeks.
