Falcon
 

So where are we gonna see the
Promo shots?? Hot Rod, car craft or ??

Pretty cool deal

Bob

Where ever they want to use them. So far just on the Falken Tires Web site home page and there Facebook feed. They add a new picture about every 4 hours so they need a ton of cars to keep it interesting. Mike Maier arranged for several of his shop and customer cars to be models at and around the Crows Landing CAM event last month.

Been making some good progress on the bird. Finally finished the metal work from getting rear ended last May. Falcon is stripped down to the OE red oxide primer. Got my JRi's for the pending Mike Maier Inc MOD 2 Rear suspension. My garage paint booth is just about done.

The old girl had 2 full re sprays and at least 3 trips to the body shop. It is time for some new paint and weather stripping.

Repo and NOS trim
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps2jyiztsj.jpg

Got the body to line up fairly well with the 90's re-chromed bumper.
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...psypytbrhd.jpg

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...pssgk6hdvb.jpg

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...psnysvguer.jpg

A gallon of Jaco took it down almost to metal.
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...psuy59iu9r.jpg

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...pslcelreja.jpg

JRi's in the front
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...pszyuakl9m.jpg

JRi's for the rear
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...psmkvcpngx.jpg

I just hope I can get it done before the last Optima qualifier in October.

Gonna be a killer ride, man.

October is going to be here before you know it.

You are the god of Falcon's! You CAN do it!


Looking really good Craig!

it is amazing how strong factory primer is. I stripped some 69 sport mirrors and it was allot of effort to get the primer off.

Falcon is going to look sharp with a new coat of paint!

Craig I just re read the thread....there is so much badassery with this car! You've come a long way baby!

I spoke with Mike last week about the Falcon I bought and he mentioned you might have some drawing/ideas....is it to soon to call you the Godfather of Falcons?

Nice work! :thumbsup:

Thanks Dan. That falcon you got looks like a nice clean slate to start from. Working with Mike has been pretty good for my car. We work out the geometry and test every think on old blue or one of the other shop cars. Then I tweak the parts just enough to fit my car and design the fixtures to work with both sets of parts.

The new bolt in front suspension he sells is really sweet and we took 20# out of the rear rocker arm set up and made it look a lot better (I am not a fan of billet unless it makes sense).

Falcon
 

Craig,
New paint but I see you have some new shocks
Not messing around with just making it pretty
Love it.. would like to get some feedback on
the shocks once you get a chance to test them out

Bob

Thanks for the tease, Craig--stay safe (or just a bit happy) with all those fumes!

Looks great! I just did a garage re-spray on mine.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...y/IMG_0863.jpg

:bump:

Just checking in Craig, looking forward to hearing about all the newness!

:thumbsup:

:popcorn2:

Craig, was it ok with autox when you ran the stock gas tank? Just picked up a 62 falcon that needs a new tank.

...
 

Nice progress, always liked these more than the notch back mustang that came later.

I always had issues with gas leaking out of the cap, it was not too bad, but you would have a stain on the car after a couple of runs. You see it on all the mustangs as well. I never noticed any issue with leaking out of the vent with the stock tank.

The worse part about the stock tank on Falcons is trying to fill the car at the gas station. The shape of the filler causes them to back up and spill out. I never in 16+ years of ownership filled without spilling at least a little on the paint.

great. that may be why the falcon has the vent port next to the filler. the Mustang tank does not.

awesome car by the way!!!

I finished the kitchen remodel, got the garage mostly organized and a bunch of lights up. The unistrut solved the age old problem of how to mount lights under the garage door. It will also help anchor the walls for my spray booth.

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...psb67umcvh.jpg

Time to get to work!

That's a great idea there with the unistrut system, where did you get the brackets for the fluorescent lights? I may have to copy this idea!

Michael

Thanks, I just use the thin unistrut and unistrut nuts and washers to make the brackets. I welded spacers to some of them so they would all be the same height. To attach the lights I used fender washers and sheet metal screws.

I have a weak spot for Falcons! Great build. Mike Maier is an excellent fabricator as well. I've known him for over 10 years. They made the carbon fiber rear race hatch on my car that is only 6.6lbs without lexan window.

How are the JRi shocks on the street? What spring rates are you running? I'm doing a custom set of them on my Chevelle project. Filip over at Cortex Racing is hooking me up on them.

Sometimes you have too go backwards to move forward.

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps0sgfhcof.jpg
Pulled the 8.8.

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...pshf9jcvgk.jpg
Stripped all the hardware and pulled the axles

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...psujegmzdp.jpg
6 cutoff wheels later

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...pslfe1exhj.jpg
Ready for some new brackets

I think I know where you're going with this and am looking forward to seeing and hearing all about it!
:thumbsup:

Time to turn this into metal.

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...pss3aui76s.jpg

^^^ this is going to be sweet

Someone finally decided leaf springs are evil . . .:superhack:

I'm interested....

Spent the rest of the day programming and cutting on the Plasma table...

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps3pc8rvun.jpg

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...psf2p8mu73.jpg

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...psorg8hnlh.jpg

This build has got me thinking of getting crazy with my 65 Ranchero's suspension. Just did electric power steering. So i'm making upper control arm with 6 degrees caster built in. then I was planing to build spindles using 2010 crown vic wheel hubs.
But now I realize I need to stop and make a plan.
So thank you.

I got a new toy yesterday. Now I can finally get good at TIG.
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...pscwamoapv.jpg

Not bad for the very first bead
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps3lpl9ssc.jpg

Nice toy!

Making good progress. Finished a fixture and bent up all the brackets. I started tacking them together late this afternoon. I need to practice inside corner joints and learn how to tell how much heat to use.

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...psydqhqsfd.jpg
Turned up a ton of spacers. No CNC here.

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps75owbtnh.jpg
Don't try this at home kids. Hanging it way off the mill.

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...pslykpe8td.jpg
Added some extra roll center adjustment to a down rev part.

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...psuxebxslw.jpg
I love my vintage Di-Acro brake. I saved it from the scrap metal guys and restored it several years back.

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...psxvwzk2of.jpg
Its little details like this you could never get in a modern piece.

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps7c56tvxy.jpg
The dowel pins fit into reamed holes every 15 degrees. There is an additional adjuster screw on the hard stop that will bridge the gap. The result is very repeatable bends. You understand their name, Die Accuracy.

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...psldlzsqlu.jpg

Sometimes you have to get more creative.
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps8wsdzz0n.jpg

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...psyo1kga7b.jpg
Is that 3.5" exhaust tubing for the Falcon?

Table full of parts ready for welding.
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...psylypsy9b.jpg

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...psljigu7c8.jpg

Looks great, Craig!
:thumbsup:

Been making steady progress.

Working on the TIG, I am getting better, most of my early issues were due to contamination from poor surface prep.

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps1ocxvlr6.jpg

How's that go... Do your best, Grind the rest?
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...psgpaobnc6.jpg

The MOD2 Kit comes with an awesome bolt kit.
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...psrbwnbmtc.jpg

Careful marking, drilling and cutting go a long way toward a clean installation.
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...psxlhe11gt.jpg

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps4k7ogoz5.jpg

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...psqvqpng5f.jpg

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...psxghcpkm6.jpg

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...pshupwsbus.jpg

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...psn00d2zjb.jpg
Not quite laying dimes yet, but improving.

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...psb5jmidts.jpg
Everything just clears.

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps4ixmexe3.jpg
Its all starting to make sense.

If I don't get the links anodized I may have a roller this weekend.

Very nice work!

All that work looks great! Love the mill setup with the torque arm hanging waaaayyyy off the table. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

I've never used a DiAcro brake. That looks like a really nice piece. I love my old equipment, you're right that the detail, fit and finish exceed any of the new stuff.

A couple things that really helped improve my TIG welding (beyond practice) were to switch over to a gas lens setup and to go to smaller diameter rod. The gas lens allows for much better gas coverage than a standard cup, which really helps the appearance of the welds. Smaller rod, like dropping from 1/16" to 0.045" diameter will allow you to better control your heat because you're not overheating the material trying to melt big filler rod. For me it makes the difference between bright, shiny welds and dull gray ones.

Outstanding work, I'm looking forward to the next update!

Looks great Craig -- WOW! That's a LOT of work. People don't realize how much effort making everything from scratch like that takes.


RE TIG:

What happens to beginner welders is their travel speed is too slow - so with the machine "set" - the heat builds because of the slower travel speeds... as you get better there will be less HAZ. It's something to work on.

great progress!

Amazing skills:thumbsup:

Nice work, Craig! Keep it up.

Keep making slow progress. Finished up some extra special lower control arms, checked the pattern of the gear set (before welding on the housing and installing the locker). Made some aluminum rods shiny, added some style to the hex rods and added the grooves to indicate the LH heims.

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps9xsroanz.jpg

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...psgmnlhvxl.jpg
The gas lens definitely helps with seeing the weld and keeping it clean.

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...psrvrj8bdb.jpg
No real geometry change, but they look a lot better than my garage built ones.

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...pstxid6hqz.jpg

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...psrnei2zh5.jpg

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...pseau8elb2.jpg

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...psxdyyzaci.jpg

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps3ddqjd8f.jpg

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps7fmpblet.jpg
Just need to match this. Most of the time with 8.8's the factory shims drop back in and you are good to go.