New Pictures

Wheels On!

Wheels look great. Keep in mind that the engine will drop the front end a bit and I do plan on removing one coil from the front spring. I need to bring the axle 1/4 inch to the center, and even then I'll need to trim some of the wheel well to avoid tire rub. Luckily I won't need tubs, just some sheet metal. I do plan on replacing the majority of both rear quarter panels. This will be a solid car and have a slight slant forward. The rear tires from the back look awesome because you don't see this wide of a tire on a stock looking car very often.

Falcon Progress

I've been working a lot on the car late at night and thought I'd throw some pictures up. I've stripped quite a bit of paint, rust and dirt off the side and bottom of the car. I've also started to put the rubberized undercoating on the car. The major accomplishmnet has been the measuring, welding, cutting and assembling involved with installing the 4 link rear suspension. You wouldn't believe the trouble it was to cut out the bushings in the front leaf spring pockets. Now that it is all assembled I can see that the brackets on the axle housing are spot on and the pinion angle is within range. Last night I rebuilt the brakes and put the wheels and tires on. I need to cut out 1,4 of an inch from the lip on the inside of the wheel well for proper clearance, but the wheels tuck right into the welss perfectly. After the cutting and minor panhard bar adjustment I'll post pics of the new brakes and tires installed. It looks amazing! At the bottom you can see my little apprentice--he's the future Mikey Tuttle of my shop! Kidding--he did an awesome job sweeping up the dust and keeping me company.

Heidts Mustang II Suspension/CISCO CUSTOM WELDING

Well, I haven't done much with the car this summer because I'm studying for the bar. However, because I removed the entire front suspension; I at least have to get this thing in rolling condition before August 1st. The pictures at the side show the installation of a Heidts Mustang II suspension. The tubular A arms, hefty cross member, power rack, Disc brakes and 2" dropped spindles look amazing. One picture shows the panels for the engine bay supplied with the kit and you can really see how much more open the engine bay is without the shock towers. I got everything installed but the dust covers--I lost patience and dented them (at least it's a cheap fix). I began boxing the frame and realized the job was too big for me, so I called Franscisco, the owner of Cisco's Custom Welding. He and Juan showed up and did an AMAZING job mig welding the new frame components to the car. I really can't say enough good about these guys. Fast, clean, professional and definitely skilled! Finally, the rims I've chosen are the 17x7 front/17x8 rear, one piece cast aluminum with black centers and polished everywhere else. This car is going to be awesome.

Garage Project

Last week I spent some time helping a friend organize his garage and make it available for use. It's amazing what 3 light fixtures and good white paint can do to a space.
BEFORE andAFTER

Finished trailer and sold it...

Trailer pulled the car great. I sold it yesterday to a Navy pilot who will be taking it to Pensicola this fall. It was a great project and I made a few hundred bucks. It was worth the work for the education alone, so it was nice to make a little money on the deal.

Trailer Progress

Yesterday I got the trailer primed, and painted. I got up early and finished up the welding, going over each weld to make it strong. I haven't decided if I want to weld stake pockets on front sides or weld on 4' steel length to bolt wooden sides to. I'm now wondering if I should have shortened the rear a few feet to increase the strength of the trailer--we'll see. I like the John Deere green and a new fold up jack will be installed next week along with the rest of the wiring--trailer brakes will be wired after our move this week. Hopefully by Wednesday the Falcon wil be sitting on the trailer ready to roll out.

Trailer is official

It took some finagling, but in the end the DMV was very helpful and the trailer is titled and registered!

Trailer meets cutting wheel

Yesterday I started to prepare the trailer for the trip to Fillmore, where Bill G, Scott G. and myself will put the wood on and paint it John Deere green. The wood will be stained dark. For now I think we'll take it slow down to Fillmore as I don't have time to wire the trailer brakes. The Durango will need a 7 pin conversion, but I don't plan to do that until I'm done with school.

I wire wheeled the entire trailer yesterday and cut out the cross members that weren't structurally sound. I also cut off the overly built rear bumper. In terms of new steel, I'll be welding in at least one 2x4 cross member and five 2x3 support sections. Economy Steel down in Spanish Fork is going to cut the sections for me as well as sell me some fenders. The trailer surface will be exactly 22' and 88" wide (72" between fenders). Also, next week I have to see about getting a temporary registration for the trailer to be towed to Fillmore. The plan is to make enough of a surface to haul the material on and then take it apart on arrival. I would buy the lumber in Fillmore, but I doubt they have any sort of selection. They don't even have the parts to build a potato gun down there. Below are the pics of the trailer after my work yesterday. you'll notice the clean metal and the missing cross members. (just click on the pics--they get a lot bigger).

Car Hauler

I scored a 22' old camper trailer frame for $300 yesterday and spent the evening tearing off the rest of the floor--including the toilet and waste tank. The trailer was lived in by a drifter related to the family who owned the property where the trailer sat. It sat for a few years and the man never emptied the waste tank. Needless to say there was a nasty mess, but you can see the final frame in the pics below. the plan is to weld in additional 5-6 extra "c" channel cross-members, add fenders, and 1' extensions on both sides of the trailer excepting where the fenders will be. That will give me a surface area of roughly 8'x22'. Plenty of room to haul a car and our small estate when we move. We'll see if I can keep it in the class III weight specs so my hitch can handle it.

Both axles have electric brakes, we'll see how they work when I wire in the lights. Hopefully in the end we'll have an asset that's value is significantly above what is spent to create it. Currently a used 18' car hauler goes for $1800-$3200 depending on condition. I hope to keep this under $1100, obviously not counting my labor.

Hitch Install

Yesterday I took some time to install a class III hitch on the Durango. I wired it last week, so just the hardware went on yesterday. It was pretty straight forward, but I did break the drill bit on the last hole through the frame rail--a minor setback. Here's the result:

Here She is !!!

I've done it now...

Well, I've found my daily driver. She is a 1964 Ford Falcon Futura. Not currently mobile but with a little persuasion and some time it will. The previous owner dropped in a 351w and a c4 trans. Everything else is stock or missing. Luckily, the purchase included a Ford 8.8", 5.11 ratio rear end-- along with newer leafs and shackles. In order to run, it needs a shortened drive shaft, and ignition setup. The interior needs a lot of help, but the body is straight with very minimal rust. I'm pleased with how solid and straight the car is. The doors close nice and square and with time she's going to fly.
My plans include:
IFS (2" drop spindles), 4-link rear setup, POR 15 underbody, 17x7" rims up front with 17-18x8" rims in back(will need mini tubs), eliminated shock towers and a cleaner engine bay, Insulated and completely redone interior, Bucket seats
Haven't decided the final color yet.

*The pictures were found on google and are representative of what my car could look like when finished.