1963 Falcon Phase 2

[Karl Buchka]

Always love seeing builds where people aren't afraid to pick up the tools and build it themselves. Great job so far. Looking forward to seeing where this goes!

[craig510]

Originally Posted by Karl Buchka

Always love seeing builds where people aren't afraid to pick up the tools and build it themselves. Great job so far. Looking forward to seeing where this goes!

Thanks for the encouragement. I have a lot of fun building the parts, and I don't have the budget to pay to have it done. I am a mechanical engineer by trade so building parts just helps improve my skills. I have a great job with a full machine and sheet metal shop that I can use after work when I need to do some heavy work that I can't do in the garage.

Not worrying about re-doing work is one thing I have learned. Sometimes revision is the only way to find the solution.

Serpentine belt setup Evolution:

Rev 1: Junk bracket from Ebay

This blocked the timing pointer, and had junk hardware.

Rev 2: Custom Bracket



Test fitting mockup


Getto Break


Custom offset pulley, turned from 2 and welded.


.004" runout, at least as good as OEM


Dialed, 3 pulley setup.


Rev 3: Power steering added

Epic Fail, not enough crack pulley wrap = belt slippage and awful noise.

Rev 4: Added idler for 180 deg+ wrap = all good now



Stock 5.0 tensioner used for stock


Final setup works great

Don't forget to vent the KRC power steering reservoir if you are going to use a stock box. Otherwise the pressure will build and you will push a seal out of something.

-Craig

[craig510]

Ok Phase 2 officially begins.

I got one spindle cut down and tacked up to test for fit. Tomorrow I will modify the second one and finish blowing apart the front suspension.

With stock spindles and 1.25" spacer the wheel will physically bolt up to the car, but they sick out past the fenders and the rim hits the control arm well before lock.


I bought a spare set of '68 spindles back in August for this swap. I already had a 3D model from the first go around, so I modified it until it would tuck inside the wheel.





Upper ball joint clearance


Tie Rod clearance


17x9's with 255/40-17's on a Falcon.


I mocked up the rear a couple weeks ago. It rubs the leaf and has minimal tub clearance.

[Bryce]

whats your plan to correct the geometry after cutting down the spindle?

[craig510]

Originally Posted by Bryce

whats your plan to correct the geometry after cutting down the spindle?

I am planning on lowering the pickup points for the lower control arms and making a drop cross shaft for the upper arms. I am going to add offset slugs in the cross shaft and make offset drilled plates for the lower so I can adjust the roll center. My starting values will be to lower the upper shaft an additional inch. I already did a 1.375 "shelby drop" and moved them back .25.

The lower arm mount will get a vertical slots with some shoulders milled into it. I will make some offset plates, similar to the 67+ mustang eccentric eliminators, but turned vertical. Starting value will be down .75"

Overall, the arms will be about .75" longer to get the tires right to the edge of the fender.

[Bryce]

right on! I figures you had a plan.

Post up some suspension graphs when you get done.

Since I lowered my car a little bit more I have to remeasure all my pick up points and re adjsut everything if necessary.

[Karl Buchka]

I assume that you're working with a forged spindle. Looks like you could chamfer those two cut pieces a bit more to make sure you get good penetration on the weld.

That spacer you've got for the tie rod looks a little sketchy. Have you considered bracing that back toward the center of the spindle?

[craig510]

Originally Posted by Karl Buchka

I assume that you're working with a forged spindle. Looks like you could chamfer those two cut pieces a bit more to make sure you get good penetration on the weld.

That spacer you've got for the tie rod looks a little sketchy. Have you considered bracing that back toward the center of the spindle?

I will definitely chamfer for good penetration. I'll have one of the pros at work tig it and may add some fish plates. I think the tie rod spacer will be ok. Bear and tcp sell kits that are very similar.

[craig510]

Making painfully slow progress.

Upper Control arm mounts:

[craig510]

I actually got the car done in time for the Pleasanton Goodguys in March. I was still assembling on Saturday so I only got 3 runs in on Sunday. The car has so much more grip and better manners, I have some more tweeks to do but at least its back on the road.



The I did more mockup and took more measurements than I would like to think about to get it all to fit.

Rear fit better with no spacers, but the rim was making contact with the leaf, and my old 225's rubbed on both inner and outer fender wells. These wheels have about an inch more front space and back space than the old wheels. This puts them .400" more front space after removing the wheel spacer in the rear.

I spent several hours under the car with a square, plumb bob and string pulled taught to get all of the chassis suspension pick up points to use as a baseline.


I had picked up some extra spindles at a swap meet last August that were earmarked for this project. They were another set of 1968 mustang drum spindles so my big brake package would bolt up. A bunch of time on SolidWorks and I got the geometry back where I wanted and the ball joints to tuck inside the wheel to allow for 6.19” of backspace. The mockup can be seen in the earlier posts.

Then I started cutting and making parts:

Tires stuffed up in the fender:


Adjustable upper and lower arms:






I built some trick strut rods too, but they don't have enough clearance at the rod ends, so I had to put the stock ones back in. The mods to make them fit are in the works.


Hubcentric ring for the Rotor and wheels.


Spindles cut, fixtured, chamferd and ready to weld:



My buddy Bill welded them up for me. It took about an hour each.


I ground the welds smooth and painted them black for a stock look.

I'll post more about the mini-tub next time.

-Craig