Liam's early bird project, 1965 XP Falcon sedan of doom

[Liam-B]

Discussion thread //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/33256-liams-early-bird-project-1965-xp-falcon-sedan-discuss/page__hl__falcon

Hey all, I used to live in Wellington once upon a time but have been living in Melbourne for the last 6 years. (deserter I know...)

Anyway here is my new project, I have been looking for a XP for awhile now and after months of searching I even found the right colour scheme cos I always wanted a blue and white XP for some reason

Plans are to start tidying it up and get it closer to road worthy for my liking. It looks pretty good in the photos as you can see but there a few things not quite right with it that need to be addressed, the interior seats are worn pretty thin, the shifter handle knob is from an old kitchen utensil I think haha and there is a couple of very small rust bubbles on a couple of the doors but over all, its in great shape. I could not find any signs of filler with my trusty magnet and no signs of accident damage as well, always a bonus.

It now has a 250 engine from an XA, was originally a 200 super pursuit. It has 14inch XP fairmont rims but has drum brakes on the front which I want to change out for some boosted XF discs. Probably going to put a Windsor V8 in it when funds allow.

The paint is pretty thin in places, it is a bit crazed here and there, stone chips etc but I quite like it like that, its looks cool, lots of patina (extra bonus points these days for original patina right haha) Seats are getting re-trimmed though, they are pretty worn!

So, plans are :

Slam

5 stud conversion

Stock steelies

Brake upgrade

Interior tidy up

Windsor V8 when funds allow

Cruise and annoy sensible people with loud old car.

Anyway, here are the pictures, progress updates to follow soon cheers.

Chur

[Liam-B]

Ok, so been making quite a bit of progress on the old beast, been acquiring a few parts, making inquires about what works etc etc.

Anyway, scored a factory AM radio

Wacked it in the dash. Removed the under dash radio and moved the aftermarket gauges across to the middle. Was thinking about removing them but hey, they are in there and working so can stay for now. I also replaced the wok handle gearshift with a proper ford one lol

Before :

After :

I noticed the Alternator bearings were rumbling pretty badly so threw a new set in. Rest of the alternator was really good, so just cleaned it up and reassembled.

Picked up a set of XF front stubs complete from pick-a-part. The brakes are like new, measured the discs and 2mm over mix thickness. Bonus. I measured for run out with a dial gauge and none. Excellent. I will be reusing the pre-loved pads also, as they are as new condition. The bearings however are the original Ford Timkin ones, so will put a new set in for good measure. Will put a new set of brake hoses in, I am pretty sure XF ones bolt in to XP but will have to check.

Also scored a VH40 booster from a XT and a master cylinder but I am unsure if I am going to use the master as its a drum brake model one with 3 outlet ports not quite the right one for my intentions... It can be made to work though if nothing else comes up

Been doing a few other bits and pieces, I removed the rear speakers and I replaced the rear parcel shelf, Replaced the front indicators as the rubbers had gone right off and they were falling out of the bumper ha ha. I called the trimmers and will be sending the front and rear seats out soon for re-upholstery. I Gave the engine a tune, replaced the heater hoses, fitted a washed bottle and rad overflow bottle... Need to suss out the wiper switch, I have a XC one I want to fit as it has wiper delay and wash button built into it. I think that is about it for now!

Cheers

[Liam-B]

ok, not much been happening. Well, I have been busy gathering parts and doing what I can, got small little jobs sorted that always seem to take a lot of time but dont really show much progress!

Anyway, got the new indicators in, the old ones were pretty much roached and ready to fall out, the LH one actually was half out and boths lens were cracked as well.

Had to cut the rubber apart, it was toasted!

Shiny shiny

I did something about the gearshift selector pointer, someone had put an old light bulb holder in there, pretty dodgy but it worked I guess!

New pointer fitted. Probably should have painted the honey pot but Meh. Its getting a different column in it when I eventually get all the bits for a Windsor conversion next year.

P for Primo

I adjusted the linkages at the shifter pinch nut as the pointer was miles out of alignment and would not select gears properly in the gate. I shifted the column around until it all aligned up again and worked as it should, it kind of wants to pull out of park to easily, does not lock fully in as it should but its pretty good for the age of the car I reckon.

I fitted up the new overflow and washer bottle & pump I scored, The old ones were had it.

My wiper switch in the XP is really hard to turn, it feels like its seized up, so also been thinking about the washer pump button, I got one with the kit but its kinda lame and there was originally a dodgy switch under the dash. However I have a couple of XC windscreen washer/wiper motor switches handy. Best thing is they have 2 speeds and 3 intermittent wiper delay settings plus push for washer built into them. Will wire it up and install in the original spot on the dash. I need to get a XC wiper wiring diagram but its fairly basic stuff to install, as my old XB fairmont had one as well. Of course when I went to remove the wiper motor switch knob in the XP it was rounded out, so will have to get a tight fitting torx or something in there as the allen key no turn the grub screw anymore!

Anyway, I went through the whole car and replaced all the light globes, even the ones in the dash. Got the dash lights working again and also the RH indicator light on the dash, that wasn't going as well. Should be set for another 45 years now, they all looked to be mostly original inside the car! Funny story, I was tidying up wiring under the dash and securing everything nicely etc when I noticed the interior light was always staying on. I thought I must have done something weird to one of the wires, so I went back and rechecked the diagram and kept thinking about the headlight switch. Only to realize I had turned the headlight switch on fully to the left that being the cause of the interior light staying on... I forgot XP's had a switch on the light switch for the interior light, its been years since I owned a car that did that lol.

I am still trying to make my mind up about the brake master and diff, having a think on it this week before I commit as I have a couple of different options to consider. I scored some 14 x 6 steelie rims this week, slowly getting the bits all together now

Chur

[Liam-B]

Yo all, A few things to report this weekend, been sanding my wheels for painting, tidying up a few loose ends in the engine bay and got the drivers quarter glass window to close fully as I could not lock it.

Excited as I made a few purchases, I ended up going with the Hoppers Stoppers brake booster set up, turned up on Friday :

Scored some new peep mirrors :

And best news of the day, I just scored a 5 stud 8 inch Ford Maverick diff, pretty happy about this as I was reluctant to use anything else. These are a direct bolt in swap for those that do not know, same width & mounting points and the 3.00 ratio should suit the 250 engine nicely. (and the Windsor conversion eventually when I get all the parts together one day lol)

So, next weekend I hope to get the brake booster in and the front brakes. I want to get the rear springs reset 2 inch's lower, they need doing anyway as the rubbers are split on the leaves, so once that is done I can think about bolting the 8 inch Ford Maverick diff in

[Liam-B]

So, been busy making some progress since my last update. Its funny how long the supposed easy things can take time...

Got my XF disc brake conversion on. Also put some new ball joints in while I was there, seeing as the old ones had split boots. There was no play in the old ones but anyway, all sorted now.

Rest of the front end is pretty sweet actually. Previous owner fitted Pedders front suspension, bush's etc. I must admit it seemed to handle pretty nice when I first drove it home. I am actually going to lower it some more next and also do the upper control arm Shelby drop to improve the handling a bit.

Managed to get the hoppers stoppers brake master vac installed. It was not as straight forward as I would have liked but got there in the end. I tried my very best to mount it in there with the least amount of cutting or panel beating but you definetaly have to cut the strut brace to fit it, there is no other way to clear the master cylinder cap. Bummer as I did not really want to cut it but anyway, its in at least after a whole day of mucking around!

Old single circuit master cylinder gone

Have to enlarge the pedal box hole, remove the old mounting nuts for the master and grind the inside edge so the new booster has enough room

I had to hit the inner guard a bit, some people don't apparently but My car need bit of a tap. You can see where I drilled the holes on the firewall, as you can see, I drilled them a bit too big, but I needed to try find the centre as well as panel beat the inner guard at the same time to get it in there. I did this first and then moved the booster as far down as possible. Once this was in position I reinstalled the pedal box and marked where I needed to drill the 4 holes and match the hole to the pedal box.

I also had to cut the booster pushrod to the same size as the original master as the push rod was way too long

Then I could bolt it all up from the inside nicely. Have not clipped the push rod on yet fully as I need a new nylon bush for the pivot.

Mounted the master in, would not fit originally, so I hit the strut brace up a few times where it was making contact with the end of the brake master. Managed to get it in but there was no way I could fit the lid, so out with the die grinder. I was really hoping not to have to do this but it was worth it in the end.

Scored a rev counter, looks the part I think. Could not complain with the price as well. Anyway, I like to keep an eye on engine rpm Its just held to the column with a hose clip and is fairly discreet.

Also got my wheels back from the powder coaters and new Master craft 195/75/14 white wall tyres fitted up. Have not cleaned the protective paint off, so I guess they are blue walls for now

You can see the car is sitting a bit too high. I have not driven it to let it settle but anyway, its still way too high, even though its got lowered springs. Shelby drop should get another half an inch. Might have to lose 1 coil and see how it looks after that

Thats all for now, got to make the brake lines up next and then fit my 8 inch Maverick diff. I have all the parts from summit to rebuild it now, so thats on my list for next week, plus I will get the leaves reset lower to match the front as well

.

Discuss //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/33256-liams-early-bird-project-1965-xp-falcon-sedan-discuss/page__hl__falcon

[Liam-B]

OK, so been busy with the front end still, actually been waiting on ultra low front springs to arrive but anyway, I carried out the Shelby drop on the front strut towers. It allows for a better Camber arc under compression and more caster plus also gives a slight drop to the front height. This was a bonus, just required a redrill and slight tap to clear the upper arm. where it meets the strut tower. Heres more info for those that are interested http://dazed.home.bresnan.net/drop it can be done to all Falcons up to XF (but was originally done to Shelby mustangs hence the name Shelby drop)

I was trying to figure out the front springs and why they did not look right after comparing them with other peoples spring photos, so I put them against a set of standard height stock springs at the wreckers and found my supposed 2 inch lower pedders springs were in fact the same height as stock height springs... That and they had a bigger coil diameter! Obviously the completely wrong springs were fitted when the front suspension was rebuilt by the previous owner (or pedders) No wonder this thing felt too stiff in the front end! I am guessing they are V8 stock height springs or something for a later model car. Anyway,

So, I had a look around and found some Ultra low King springs, 70mm drop front stock height but had to wait for them to be made to order. Heres the difference :

Here they are fitted, they don't look so coil bound as the other ones that were in there and I did not need the spring compressor to fit these in, they are only just captive (so, only just legal then!) At least they will not fall out when I jack the car up and I did not have to resort to cutting springs to get the desired result. I also gave the bump stop bit of a trim to suit and checked the shock absorber has enough travel under full compression with the spring removed, so thats all good it already has shortened shocks fitted. Also check the ball joint was not binding under full compression and it seems to be fine with a little movement to spare, so no worries about breaking anything I suppose. I might look into getting some proper bump stops that have not been cut but have the same length as my cut down ones.

Also spent the whole day making brake lines through out the whole car, took me awhile to get them in nice and neat, its been years since I made brake lines, mind you I spent my apprenticeship making heaps for old cars back in the day, so it slowly came back! I had a proper kit to make them with a pipe bender tool etc, made life easier but still made a few mistakes and had to redo a couple but got there in the end!

Also scored a steering wheel, my original white one was cool and everything, (apart front a few cracks and a tired horn ring) but I like the look of this repo one and I think it is one of the best looking factory wheels ford ever made! It has a genuine falcon crest center cap which is pretty cool. Its also a smaller diameter than the stock wheel and sits a bit further back, so much better suited to my driving position.

Anyway, that is all for now, getting the rear springs out tomorrow and getting them reset to suit the front. Will get a pic up to show slamage then!

[Liam-B]

Update time, because I all know you have been hanging out like me to see some more progress!

I removed the diff and rear springs not long ago and sent the springs off to be rebuilt and reset properly. An extra leaf was added (so now a 6 leaf) plus its 2.75 inches lower now. Sweet, should line up with the lowered front height perfectly. Time will tell as not quite on the ground yet! Also replaced all the bush's as they were pretty tired and worn out.

I also had to modify the diff to spring mounting brackets, I used XF ute U bolts and brackets. You can see how small the XP ones are in the top there, tiny as! Anyway, seeing as the rear springs on a XF are 2.5 inch, they are too wide, so I welded up the holes and re-drilled them closer to the stock XP leaf spring 2 inch width and also welded a washer so it can centre on the spigot properly.

All painted and shiny, mounted up you would never know my custom mods

I decided to rebuild the diff properly while I was there, so completely disassembled the whole thing, replaced all the bearings and seals etc. I set up the back lash and pinion to crown wheel pinion mesh to factory specs. I have lost the photos of this so no pics of the dial gauge etc sorry! Just as well I decided to have a look as the bearings were on there way out with wear and the pinion seal was pretty used up. Like brand new now

I also decided to clean the housing up and give it a quick coat of paint,

All bolted in now, pretty happy its nearly there! I got supplied the wrong axle seals for the half shafts, so could not fit the axles or brakes today, so will have to get the right ones tomorrow for my housing and them I can get it all back together, brakes done, wheels on

I am yet to measure and set the pinion angle now the car has been lowered. I dont want any drive line vibrations, so I will borrow a dial gauge and suss out the difference, then go to a 4WD place and grab some shims to set the angle correctly. Apparently they have all sorts of angles shims available to suit. One thing that has thrown a spanner in the works is that the universal joint is giving me hassle. I thought I had sorted the correct one to do the conversion and be able to bolt up my XP driveshaft but alas, its correct in every manner except its too wide to fit into the yoke on the driveshaft. I tried swapping the larger cups on to the Xp U joint but its not wide enough to sit on the differential yoke, so will have to do some more homework here. Might even have to get another driveshaft if I cannot sort this out. Don't really want to though, so I will ask at the Hardy spicer factory outlet up the road if there is an off the shelf solution to marry the two together!

Should have some more updates this week when I get some more parts! Hanging out now to get it back down on the ground and move onto the next part which is doing the interior up

[Liam-B]

Back down on the ground, finally!

Before fitting the lowered front springs on the front end :

After fitting new springs :

Stoked! The back will come down a bit more and will be level with the front, when I fit the spare wheel back in and fill the petrol tank

[Liam-B]

Update time

Been busy sorting out a way to connect my stock driveshaft to my new diff. Problem was the U joint on my original driveshaft was too small to suit the pinion yoke on the 8 inch Maverick diff. I found a suitable U joint but was too wide to fit my driveshaft. My original one on the left, Correct maverick one on the right :

So got busy with the new lathe at work!

Turned a 8mm spacer up from an old Porsche Cayenne rear driveshaft (Just so happened to have one lying around lol) I also drilled a hole in the middle to weld the centre to the U joint cup as well. unmodified U joint cup on the right :

Time to get out the mig and join them together

Back into the lathe and machine both U joint cups with welded spacers down to size

Weighed both U joint cups to make sure both were exactly the same weight, don't want any vibrations!

Finished and installed into car.

All this is just to keep the car mobile for now, I plan on fitting a V8 driveshaft when I put the 302 and C4 some time in the near future, when funds allow! I probably should have got the driveshaft cut and re-welded but hey, this cost me nothing and was easy enough to make ha ha

Not much else been going on, I have got to get onto the interior next and then tackle some small rust holes

[Liam-B]

It drives! Thought I would get some decent pictures now its mobile.

Need to get the seats reupholstered next and while thats being done, I will tackle a little bit of rust that needs to be sorted.

[Liam-B]

^ Cheers everyone for the comments, makes it worth my while posting up on here for you to all see

Thought I better check a few things after all the suspension mods. Bought a digital angle finder, cool little toy! Was quite cheap as well. Best thing is it reads upside down on the LCD if you need it to. First thing I did was measure my Pinion angle against the transmission, found it was 4 degrees pointing downward, so well with in spec for a street car. (ignore the reading, my garage floor is not level...) Because my car has a 250 engine fitted, its been shimmed under the front engine mounts a little so the sump clears the drag link. I think this is why the pinion angle is so close with my transmission and normally they are out from what I have read when you lower the leaf rear end quite a lot like mine. Might just be a fluke lol

Borrowed a couple of tools from work and carried out a quick DIY wheel alignment, checked the camber first, using this neat little Dunlop camber gauge. I had to use the wood adapter due to the tyre ballooning a little at the bottom, so was giving false readings. We normally use this tool on race cars that have low profile tyres fitted, so not normally a problem! Anyway, I was looking for 0.5 degrees negative camber on my car and surprisingly the RH side was in specification. The left hand side was showing 1 degree negative, so I fitted a couple more shims on the upper control arm to correct it.

Checked the toe angle next, using the trusty Dunlop tracking gauges, these things are surprisingly accurate, I use them all the time at work to quickly check the toe after straightening a off centre steering wheel etc. I set the total toe in to 2.5 mm for now, I will see how that goes but I will be doing it on a proper machine later anyway.

I need to check the caster of course but it will have to wait until I can take the car into work and put it on our Hunter wheel alignment machine (pretty high tech for an old Falcon lol) I was going to buy a caster gauge for home but you need the turntables etc to do it properly, so not too fussed at the moment.

[Guest Liam-B]

Pulled the interior out today and sent the seats and door trims off to be reupholstered, they are going to come up really nice after looking at the matching colours. I have chosen to keep the original 2 tone blue colour scheme. Should be all finished in a few weeks, along with new carpet. I will post some pics when they are all done.

But wait there's more!

Scored a complete running 302 windsor and C4 today, pretty stoked actually. I looked the engine number up and its from a 1971 ZD Fairlane 500, although it was removed from a XW recently due to it being written off. The engine has been recently reconditioned in the last few years and there are no oil leaks and its all there ready to run. I need to address the white manifolds though and I will paint the whole thing up nicely. It turns over though with great compression and the spark plugs are all burning clean. It has a Holley 2 barrel carb on there at the moment, I might get it up and running then swap it out for a 4 barrel and aluminum intake. Should be a bit of fun when I get around to fitting it.

[Liam-B]

Small update, This is how the interior is currently looking on the Falcon now, got the whole lot out to be reupholstered.

I thought I would use this time to clean up and repaint the floors (no rust at all luckily!) and thought I would install the seat belt mounts for the inertia reel seatbelts I have for it. The factory seat belt hole in on the floor pan and is kinda under the seat, not so good for mounting a inertia reel seat belt, so had to get creative to try mount it properly on the bottom of the B pillar. Ending up cutting a slot in the sill for the mount and used a magnet to drop it into the hole where I could then pop rivet into place, then welded back over the cut out I made.

Also set up my new toy, very happy with it so far, was a great investment! Lincoln 180C

Also made another major purchase, bought some headers for the windsor conversion.

Nearly have all the parts for the V8 conversion now

[Liam-B]

Because any true early Ford Falcon project would not be complete with out some kind of rust removal, I Decided to put my new mig to work and made a start on the rust. It only had a few small holes in the sills that did not look to bad but you know how it is, once you start grinding the next thing you know a big hole appears!

 

Started on the RH rear side sill first, found the bottom of the inner dog leg was also rusty, so cut that piece out as well.

 

 

 

You can see rust never sleeps on a 50 year old car and is always on the move, creeping along the bottom of the sills!

 

 

 

Welded a new inner patch and primed.

 

 

 

Bought a new sill panel from Craig Vane. I ended up just cutting out pieces to repair my sills. I thought about replacing the whole sill but decided it would be easier to just replace only what I needed to. All welded in nicely now, was pleased with the Lincoln 180C

 

 

Ground down ready for primer.

 

 

 

Moved onto the front end of the sill, I got a before photo on this repair to show the small ammount of rust I thought I was going to be dealing with but not so.

 

 

 

Cut that out till I had got rid of the whole rusty area

 

 

All welded in

 

 

 

Thought that was the worst of it but got to do the left hand side next. I noticed there was quite a bit of rust on the box section at the bottom of the left hand A pillar area which is going to be a pain to get to.

 

 

 

This kind of sucks, I am going to have to cut the box section open I think to get in there and clean that mess up. A big Job for next weekend, should keep me busy! Wish me luck

 

[Liam-B]

Quick update. Been a bit busy last couple of weekends chasing parts, I managed to find a factory 2 speed heater box (wow luxury!) and a later model Falcon XY 20:1 steering box for the V8 conversion, as the XP box is a slow 27:1. Also scored a reconditioned and re-chromed dash surround which was a good deal.

 

I am currently rebuilding the heater box at work in my spare time, it needs a paint and I have put new foam inside. Motor works great and heater core is leak free. will get some pictures up soon of that.

 

But got the LH side front guard off today. It actually been off before and someones already welded a patch in long ago but anyway, going to have to get busy here now!

 

 

 

 

I have ordered another couple of complete sill's from Craig Vane rust a problem. I am actually thinking about redoing the drivers side as I am not 100% happy with the outcome. Will see how the passengers side comes out first though!

[Liam-B]

Decided to bite the bullet and cut the rust/A-pillar/entire LH sill out today. Made a brace for the bottom of the A-pillar, seeing as I chopped most of it out! I will fold up some new box sections and then start re-welding it all back together tomorrow. I have definitely decided to replace the whole RH drivers side sill once I finish this side now.

 

Also thinking about pulling the front and rear screens and sending it off for a complete new paint job, seeing as its pretty much a bare shell now :lol

 

 

 

 

 

[Liam-B]

Well, things have been slow going last couple of weekends, I had to do some work on the house instead of the Falcon but anyway making steady progress and its been quite time consuming making the front sill section.

 

Using left a leftover section from the sill I had bought to patch the RH side, I basically reshaped a piece to match the old rusty front section, which I removed by drilling out all the spot welds and then welding back together, so I then had a mold to copy while refolding, welding the new replacement section.

 

 

 

 

plug welded back in :

 

 

 

 

I have got the sill sitting in nicely along the top,I drilled out all the factory spot welds around the bottom of the B & C pillars and the new sill fits snug.

 

 

 

 

 

I then had to hang both the passenger side doors back on, man that was a mission to do by myself! Anyway, once the doors were back on the car I realised how far the panel gaps were out on that side compared to the drivers side, so spent some time realigning the doors properly. 

 

 

 

Of course, the new sill is just screwed into place at the moment before I start welding it in, I need to align it a little more around the front door area... One thing though, I am not so sure on the bottom of the sill, there is quite a gap and I need to stretch it down to make it meet the bottom where Im going to plug weld it. Is this normal with the Craig Vane XK-XP sills to sit a little high along the bottom lip?

 

 

 

 

Looking forward to getting some paint on this side and moving onto the next rust step. (that would be the passenger front door, you can see its got a bit of rust coming through as well. Dam it!)

 

Also, got my Windsor C4 auto in at work at the moment, giving it bit of a freshen up in my spare time during the day with new seals and gaskets. Nothing worse than a leaky transmission! It actually seems pretty good, oil is nice and clean and everything appears to be fine. Gave it a steam clean on friday night, that made a huge difference to appearance! Going to start painting up the 302 Windsor after that, I've already rebuild the Holley carby and starter motor for it and have a new water pump, fuel pump and dress kit to tidy it all up. Its going to look excellent.

[Liam-B]

Made some decent progress today, pretty happy how good it all came out but its been quite labor intensive trying to get it looking close to factory appearance...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On to the rear dog leg and end of sill section next! Can get some hi fill primer on and paint the whole lot after that.

[Liam-B]

Finished the LH rear wheel arch and inner sill tonight. No body filler used, pretty happy with how good it turned out. All rust gone on this side! Nearly ready to get some hi fill primer and under seal on.

 

 

[Liam-B]

Got some motivation to get more rust repairs done. I feel the end is in sight now. Well, so I keep telling myself.

 

LH door, someone had braised a patch long time ago,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bottom of LH guard was also rusty where it bolts into the bottom of the sill, made up a new section and rust be gone!