Project BLUEprint, 1965 Falcon

[Bryce]

I also finished up my trunk release today.

Here is the attachment to the fiberglass trunk:


Here is the release mounted near my proportioning valve:

[Bryce]

My rear coilover shocks have started to squeek. Uggh. I am running spherical bearings on both ends so it must be the shaft seal.

[dusterbd13]

ive had spherical bearings squeek before. shoot a little silicone lubein there and bounce the car a few times. if it goes away, you found the culprit.

[Bryce]

ive had spherical bearings squeek before. shoot a little silicone lubein there and bounce the car a few times. if it goes away, you found the culprit.

I cleaned the sphericals and sprayed with penetrating lubricant. It is not the sphericals, unfortunately, also it has about 200 miles on them and squeeked at 20 miles of drive time.

[the dan]

anybody can make parts and put them in, but taking the time to do everything right and as clean as you is something else. Looking great!

[rustomatic]

I've got similar squeaking from my Panhard bar--it seems amplified a bit through the aluminum trunk block-off plate I've got (kind of like yours). If I just drive faster, I don't seem to notice anymore...

Really, I haven't adjusted the bar since I first installed it (and adjusted for weight). I figure that since the bar's aluminum, something's changed shape a bit under the lateral loads I've applied over the last month or so; maybe one day, I'll get a heater in my garage, and working out there won't seem like such a bad idea...

[Bryce]

anybody can make parts and put them in, but taking the time to do everything right and as clean as you is something else. Looking great!

Thanks Dan, That means a lot coming from a fellow engineer that knows how to use tools!

[Bryce]

I've got similar squeaking from my Panhard bar--it seems amplified a bit through the aluminum trunk block-off plate I've got (kind of like yours). If I just drive faster, I don't seem to notice anymore...

Really, I haven't adjusted the bar since I first installed it (and adjusted for weight). I figure that since the bar's aluminum, something's changed shape a bit under the lateral loads I've applied over the last month or so; maybe one day, I'll get a heater in my garage, and working out there won't seem like such a bad idea...

I hate working in a cold garage..... Do you have spherical bearings in your panhard?

[ATOMonkey]

A cold garage is one of the best places to work! Nothing worse than sweating all over your ride. Plus, I can wear my coveralls without over-heating. win-win.

I think it was 40 something degrees in my garage last weekend.

[GrabberGT]

That firewall looks pretty thin. I'm thinking about building one for my Mav since I already have the trunk apart for the fuel tank upgrade. What thickness material did you go with? How thin can I get away with to keep weight down. I'll likely fatmat it to help keep trunk noise to a minimum.

Thanks

[johnny68]

Bryce get one of those propane heaters that mount on a 5 gallon tank heats up the garage nice and the wife will prolly come out more to get warm and spend time in the garage shoot the garage is warmer than the house on some nights ( oh ya youll have to put tha tv on her channel out there tho)
john

[rustomatic]

Spherical bearings, yes--the thing has heim joints at both ends. It's the standard Maier Racing adjustable Panhard for a '65 Mustang. Much like with a Watts link, the joints move constantly when you're going down the road, with every upward tick of the axle-mine is a pretty low frequency squeak, but it's a frequent low frequency. I meant to insulate my aluminum plate a while ago (block the noise), but then I found myself buying a house over the past couple of months. Oddly, applying mechanical neglect to the car now has resulted in more driving--my new street is a 10-mile squiggly line. Neglect is my wife's idea of car maintenance...

I hate working in a cold garage..... Do you have spherical bearings in your panhard?

[Bryce]

That firewall looks pretty thin. I'm thinking about building one for my Mav since I already have the trunk apart for the fuel tank upgrade. What thickness material did you go with? How thin can I get away with to keep weight down. I'll likely fatmat it to help keep trunk noise to a minimum.

Thanks

Its .032" which is NHRA spec, .020" is you use steel. I dont care about noise, my car is too loud. No installation in my car....

[Bryce]

Bryce get one of those propane heaters that mount on a 5 gallon tank heats up the garage nice and the wife will prolly come out more to get warm and spend time in the garage shoot the garage is warmer than the house on some nights ( oh ya youll have to put tha tv on her channel out there tho)
john

HAHA, the garage is my man cave, the TV cannot be changed off of the SPEED chanel unless football is on. I like the idea of a heater maybe a NG heater, but its an excuse to go inside when its really cold....

[GrabberGT]

Its .032" which is NHRA spec, .020" is you use steel. I dont care about noise, my car is too loud. No installation in my car....

Thanks. I'll add this to my shopping list for the Steel Yard.

[Bryce]

Played with my flip camera and took some video driving around town. I mounted the camera to the driver side door handle.

[MIKE67]

Bryce:

Your PM Message box is full! I am going to be getting a suspension analysys program and was wondering which one you have and how you like it. I just downloaded Suspension Analyzer by Performance Trends. Looks pretty good before I have actually done anything yet.The other one I was considering was SusProg3D.Thanks for any feedback.

P.S. How is the little one doing?

[Bryce]

I autocrossed my falcon today! WooHoo.

It was my first time on an autocross I ran a 77.569. I ran X but they said I was SM class.
Corvettes were running 75-80 a 63 BP corvette ran a 69.xx a super modified sprite ran 64.xx.

I will post up a video after I upload it.

I had a blast, the car is driver limited, of course... I need a quicker ratio steering setup, that is my next big project. I was chasing the steering.....I think my tires rubbed a little. Brakes were great. The rear shocks seemed to get softer as teh warmed up. I think I need to something a little different with my oil pan baffleing. I think I was getting some slosh as my dad noticed that i was burning some oil after a hard turn. Motor was warming up in the staging lanes, so I an electric water pump to keep things circulating while the motor is shut off would be helpful. The automatic held up fine, I started in first and ran second the rest of the course. The trans temps were climbing at the end of my 3rd run I was seeing 200*F. I would like to keep that a little cooler. I really could have pushed the car harder. But that is a respectable time I think. The detroit locker was awesome. My tires were doing their job. The announcer said "that car is very flat through the turns for such a big car" He was talking about me, HAHA. I guess when you see miatas and S2000s all day my car is big.

[Bryce]

BTW, a big thanks goes out to my Dad and John (Johnny68), these guys did an excellent job as my pit crew! HAHA.

[Bryce]

SCCA autocross, the falcon can dodge cones.


Skip to about 2:50, I cannot edit videos...Yet!