Author: System Administrator

Cleaning up underneath

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Some cleaning and undercoating before things start going back together.

Got Paint. It’s Orange!

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After 7 months at the body shop, it’s home!

Really disappointed in the work that was done.  But life goes on…

At The Body Shop

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Finally. Dropped it off at the body shop!

There aren’t any emblems going back on when it’s done so all of those holes are getting filled. Same with the antenna. While they’re at it, some of the body seams are getting smoothed out.

The biggest job is to replace the lower rear quarter panel, and rebuild the spare tire well.  Those were the only spots with rust on the car.

More Sand Blasting

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Before dropping it off at the body shop, there were a few more things I wanted to sand blast. Lots of places they wouldn’t be able to easily get to with sand paper…just trying to make their job easier.

It’s Alive!

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Got the motor back together, put it back in, and fired it up. Kinda of loud with open headers but it runs great!

Cleaning and Rebuilding the 302

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Usually, engine degreaser would clean an engine up. For this, I got out the sand blaster and made sure it was clean.  For being 35 years old, the 302 was surprisingly clean inside. Since I already knew the engine ran well, and didn’t smoke, there wasn’t much reason to tear the bottom end down so I just did some cleaning and put it back together.

The transmission went out to be rebuilt, it should be done one of these days….

Ooops, I dropped it

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The springs out of the Lincoln donor needed to be cut down a bit.  Will probably go lower before I’m done with it all…

Ford 9″ Rear End In The Falcon

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After lots of measuring, it seemed like the 9″ from the Lincoln would fit in the Falcon. It fit, but, didn’t have any wheels laying around with enough offset….back to the drawing board.

Front Brake Lines and Suspension

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Running the front brake lines, which will most likely be redone later….

And getting the front suspension back together.

Pulling The Rear End From The Donor

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The Lincoln had 4 wheel disc brakes that would be nice to have in the Falcon, and everything measures ok but still not sure if we can use the Ford 9″ rear end. Only way to find out is to get it out and see what we’re working with…

Cleaning Up The Inner Fenders

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Got the front suspension out and decided to clean up the inner fenders while they were empty.  Using a wire wheel on the drill, got it as clean as I could before painting and adding some fresh undercoating.

Sand Blasting and Painting Engine Bay

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With the engine, fenders and everything else out of the way, we pushed the Falcon outside and did some sand blasting. Got it down to bare metal, threw on some seam sealer, and spray bombed it Satin Black.  Not professional, but MUCH better than it was…

Stripping it down again

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Knowing that the engine, transmission and headers fit without any problems, they can come back out so they can be rebuilt and we can do more work. Then, stripping the car down so we can do some sand blasting and start making look more presentable. Might be nice to know where the shims were for the fender in case they have problems lining it up again later, always good to have original pictures to reference when needed.

Motor Mounts and Headers for the 302

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The motor mounts for the 302 went in and bolted up without any problems (after I figured out left vs right).

The Hedman 88400 shorty headers slid right in from underneath and bolted up. Kind of tight with the shock towers but no modifications were needed. Still not sure if they will interfere with the shifter linkage but will deal with that later sometime.

Taking Front Suspension From The Donor

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Caught the old man doing some work. Taking the brakes and complete front suspension from the Lincoln to see what we can use on the Falcon. Not sure what’s usable at this point so we’re just pulling it all off.

Test Fitting the Motor & Transmission

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Yay, it fits! No cutting needed, and there’s room for the headers  🙂

V8 Motor Mounts and New Crossmember

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Nothing special going on here, just fitting the new motor mounts and crossmember that we’ll need to drop the 302 in.

1980 Lincoln Versailles – The Donor

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  This car had been sitting for almost 10 years.

With a little work, I got it running again and drove it around the parking lot a bit before deciding the 302/C4 combo would be ok to use.

It also has a nice 9″ rear end with disc brakes that would be nice to use, will have to see how it fits.

The motor and trans are now out and ready to test fit into the Falcon.

This is how it starts

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For the past few years, the Falcon has been sitting in the shop and was being used for storage.

Time to start stripping it to see what we’re working with…