'63 Ford Falcon Aggressive Street Car Build Help

[NorthFalcon]

Hey guys, new to the forum as well as muscle cars. I have grown up racing motocross, racing R/C cars, and generally around cars. I recently sold my Subaru WRX that I had the usual stuff like ecu tuning, downpipe, coilovers, swaybars, bushings etc. and now my Dad and I will be building a autocross/road course/street machine 1963 Ford Falcon. We picked it up this weekend for what I believe is a good price with 89 foxbody 302 with a t5 5 speed (60k miles). The motor has never been swapped into the car but I think it will be a good starting point to later swap something else in. From my little research on the motor it has an aftermarket intake and I think a holley carb. Can someone help ID the carb? My main question that I have for all of you is suspension. I have a good understanding of suspension geometry and engineering behind it so don't hesitate to use the lingo. My main goal for the car is to reliably go road racing. I want a three link rear end with a watts link preferably and an advanced front suspension geometry that will be able to grow with the car. I have heard mustang 2 front end can be limiting and from my research the front suspension can be modified to be very good. All the suspension transfers over with the 64 mustangs. I know the standard in pro touring is a ford 9 inch rear end but the car currently has a ford 8 inch with a posi-trac that I am sure will be adequate in the meantime. I found Street or Track suspension that I think looks very good and is in my price range and want to know what you would go with or what you have heard about it. I'll post a link below. It looks very advanced with a lot of tuning capabilities and of course the Bilsteins can be upgraded later down the line. Its a three link with a watts link and is essentially bolt in, I would go with the frame mount to get increased link length as well. I would also go with their front end coilover conversion unless a better option is presented. Also if I purchase this kit, do I buy a 9 inch rear end now or upgrade later? Is free floating with it? I also am looking into the brake man brakes if we can afford them now.

Rear 3 Link

http://www.streetortrack.com/Street-...-pr-24572.html

Front

http://www.streetortrack.com/Street-...-pr-24491.html

Thanks in advance
-Nick

Here is what we are starting with.

[79bird]

Looks good, and somebody already started to radius the rear wheel openings. Should make the decision to finish them that much easier!!

I was looking at SOT for my Comet, quality stuff. Also check out Mike Maier Inc, they make Falcon / Comet specific upper arms that apparently fit into the strut towers without needing a big hammer.

For the front, everything but the centerlink from a mustang will work with the Falcon. I think the Mustang is something like 2" wider in front.

As for the rear, the 3 link is most likely not a direct bolt on as the width of the rear frame rails are different Mustang (wider) VS falcon. I'm sure with a little fab you can make this work. Keep us updated with what you do!!

[NorthFalcon]

Thanks, yeah the previous owner had cut the fenders which I probably wouldn't have done but I'll be finishing them.

I spoke to Shaun today about some things and he had a lot of good information and gave me more confidence in the kit. Although like you said there may be some modification to make the 3 link work as the rear end is narrower. Heidts makes a 4 link specific for the falcon but I really think the 3 link is a better design especially with the watts link. A proper pan-hard bar will arguably perform better but I think I like the tuning capabilities of the watts link. I also dont have a problem modifying the 3 link to make it work.

I was looking into Maiers suspension but I think the problem with his suspension design is all of the force that is kept on the top A arm mount. Also his rear end still uses leaf springs which I am not in love with.

After my conversation with Shaun I am worried that my original idea to use the stock 8 inch rear end will either break, or I will have issues with the wheel bearings. He mentioned under high load the inside brake pad will be pushed by play in the bearing and when brakes are applied there will be no pedal feel or a long pump. Which is just one possibility of many failure points.

I still have no idea what brake system I want to use, a mutual friend has a brake man setup that is very impressive. I'll have to give them a call and see what kind of price it will be for a complete kit. Ideally the front and rear brakes will be under $2500 but for my specs it may be difficult. I want a complete brake system I can do track days with and not have to worry about brake fade or any other problems. Also I want them to be streetable, so no race pads.

Thanks for the help.

Nick

[Craig510]

Check out my build thread if you have not already. I have a pretty serious 63 hardtop. http://www.lateral-g.net/forums/show...=39876&page=19

I have Mike Maier Inc suspension with JRi coilovers.

[NorthFalcon]

Hah! I just got through going through the entire thread, great work! Very nice fabrication work. I visited Mike Maiers website that looks recently renovated and didn't see that rear cantilever suspension option? Looks like it might be out of my budget but definitely a nice product. Do you think you could have gone bigger on the tubs?

[Craig510]

Thanks. The rear tubs are up against the frame rail so without notching the frame that is about as much as you can mini tub these. I know Mike has done some more budget friendly MOD2 kits that are less assembled or MIG welded so that might be an option but you would need to talk to someone there. The main thing with the design of the front and rear suspension is motion ratio. The front is 73% and the rear is close to 100% at ride height with a raising rate. The rear also mounts the push rods as far out as possible so the rate is nearly the same under bump or roll. All the other systems move the shock pickup points inboard so the rate is lower under roll than under bump which forces you to use a higher spring rate to control the body and ultimately reduces traction over bumps while cornering.

Shocks are a big deal as well. The JRI are very good and can be upgraded as your program allows without needing to buy new ones.

In the front, check out the shaft kits. MMI uses a solid shaft with Delrin bushings and a thrust bushing. This creates a very stiff arm va ones that have heim joints.

[NorthFalcon]

So I just got off the phone with Ken at speedway engineering discussing a pro touring free floater rear end. He seems to have the best price even though it doesn't come with a third member. My dilemma now is determining how wide the rear-end needs to be. Also should I order wheels and tires in the size that I want to work and adjust the rear-end accordingly? I'm also skeptical about notching the frame as I am sure it will mess with the suspension geometry of the three link mounting points. hmmm what to do first. Let me know!

[Psydwaze]

Here are some options from Chassisworks and Total Control Products.
Each of these will fit. Last two torque arm setups are custom-fit systems.

http://totalcontrolproducts.com/fcoc-fd.html
http://totalcontrolproducts.com/rack.html
http://totalcontrolproducts.com/tower.html
http://www.cachassisworks.com/c-1387...ustom-fit.aspx
http://www.cachassisworks.com/c-1534...ps-custom.aspx


I work for Chassisworks. Feel free to ask any questions.

[NorthFalcon]

Thanks Psydwaze for the links. I have looked into TCI and that front end looks almost identical to that of street or track but I think I am more inclined to go with the bilsteins. Also the torque arm setups would be ideal but may be a little bit to extensive to cut the entire rear chassis out.

Also, small update. I am away at school so real building hasn't begun but my Dad started buffing the car and I am blow away by the small patch of paint he has already buffed. I'll post an after picture when the entire car is done.

[nimblemotorsports]

Sweet, I had a 63 Convertible "Roadster" with a 506ci BBF. I put a 240Z front suspension in mine, converted it to coil overs. Was drag car though.

I would suggest taking a mold of the front fenders and then graft the wheel opening into the rear so it matches. This looks great.
I shortened an 8in rear for mine and left the rear openings stock, but it was not easy to remove the giant meats, basically to get them
off I had to remove the shock mounts and rear leaf spring mounts so the rear end would swing down enough to clear the body.
It was street driven too, so forget changing a tire on the side of the road!

[Boosted Falcon]

Looking to watching your project come together.