1969 Falcon Build

[rixtrix1]

You need to run some angularity in the driveline as the pinion will rise on acceleration, how much depends on type of transmission, auto/stick, but having the pinion at least 2 degrees down in relation to the driveshaft with a matching angle at the trans junction is a good start. if you make everything straight inline at rest, it can bind on acceleration. There's tons of discussion online about this. I love this body style and it's often overlooked; great choice!

[rixtrix1]

You need to run some angularity, up/down, in the driveline as the pinion will rise on acceleration, how much depends on type of transmission, auto/stick, but having the pinion at least 2 degrees down in relation to the driveshaft with a matching angle at the trans junction is a good start. if you make everything straight inline at rest, it can bind on acceleration. There's tons of discussion online about this. I love this body style and it's often overlooked; great choice!

[rixtrix1]

You need to run some angularity, up/down, in the driveline as the pinion will rise on acceleration, how much depends on type of transmission, auto/stick, but having the pinion at least 2 degrees down in relation to the driveshaft with a matching angle at the trans junction is a good start. if you make everything straight inline at rest, it can bind on acceleration. There's tons of discussion online about this. I love this body style and it's often overlooked; great choice!
My S10 is lowered 4.5" in the rear and it took a 4 degree shim under the leaf spring to get the pinion low enough to achieve a 2 degree down pinion angle. as the pinion is now higher than the transmission( whose mount is also raised 3/4").

[Bradfords_garage]

Thanks! I've read somewhat conflicting things on that theory of angling the pinion down because it will wrap upward under torque. This was/is true of leaf spring cars but a few things I've read state that this is not necessary in a link suspension setup. Especially since I will be running some sort of rod ends on my 3 link. This is the reason I started to wonder if they could/should just be aligned. An article I found on drag racing builds stated that some cars are built this way but they are dedicated drag race cars.

Adding to that, though, my uncle came to see the project the other day and confirmed something I thought I had read before, but didn't quite understand what the writer was trying to say, which is that the slight angle in the u-joint is what causes the needle bearings to rotate inside the cup. Otherwise they stay static and will wear out faster.

Glad you love the car! Thanks again for your comments and for tuning in to the build. I'm enjoying myself thoroughly.

Brad

[Bradfords_garage]

Well things are rolling right along. I've welded a few components up and cut and fit a few more. I'm taking the opportunity to weld any joints I can before the pieces are fit into the chassis to keep warpage and tension down to a minimum. Right now I'm also debating using 2x4 tubing for the k-member or fabricating one from 10 gauge sheet stock. And leaning toward the latter.

Anyway, on with the build photos.

The exhaust will be routed through the rear cross-beam. It gets punched out to 4" and some sections of 4" (1/4" wall) tubing are welded back in place to bring the strength of the beam back.



I'm fortunate to have access to a machine shop. Not that this couldn't be done on a drill press. But, the mill is so much more rigid and powerful. I lowered the RPM down to about 80 and poured the cutting oil to it. Worked like a dream.



Working my way around. I clamped the piece to two other pieces of tubing to help with warpage, but it did pull up a little. I'll fix that when I make the cut-out for the drive shaft.

Fully welded. I'm no pro, obviously. But I'm doing the best looking welds I've ever done. Practice practice practice!

The rear cross beam and inner rails sitting in place.

Next was on to the front kick-ups. I didn't want to just weld the turn-ins to one side of the tubing, so I'm notching the kick-up around the turn-in and I'll weld it down both sides for some extra strength. It was a bit of work getting them to fit well, and I ended up doing one side twice, but I'm happy with the outcome.

And also decided to notch/miter the kick-ups to the engine bay rails this way for the same reason. It adds a few inches worth of weld and also a direction change, so the stress is spread out and handled in different ways. Just a theory. Like I said, I'm no pro...nor am I an actual engineer, haha. But I figure the more surface I can get touching on these, the stronger the joint will be.

Copying for the other side.

Fit is pretty good and the angle is right on with the rail level. I'm happy with that!



Now gotta cap those turn-ins. Just some 1/8" cold rolled set in flush, welded and ground to finish.



That's it. Tacked in place and ready to build the crossmember.


It seems to be moving along without any real snags, though we're in the early stages, haha. But I'm having a blast as always! Thanks for following along and let me know what you think! And also any guidance is welcome. Cheers!

Brad

[Peanut1959]

Looks like some great work, there! Carry on.

[Bradfords_garage]

Ah, thanks!

Looks like some great work, there! Carry on.

[Bradfords_garage]

Did a little cardboard mock-up today. I landed on a seat and drivetrain position. Now I can move forward on the chassis.

Those plastic blocks are stupid expensive. I'm not making any brackets based on this one here, but it sure gets the job done to visualize things. And is way easier to move around than cast iron ;)


Decided to scoot the engine back a few inches. It sits back under the cowl almost 3 inches now. I'll have to jockey some things around. But this should help with the weight split. It also means some rails in the chassis need to be cut out and moved around to allow the exhaust to pass by the transmission. Thank goodness for mock-up!


Also mocked up a masking tape bell housing and set the trans in place.


Sitting in the seat the trans feels like its in a good place, and is about 5" back from where the factory seat mounts were.


And the axle in place...sort of. The jack stands put it about .550" below where it needs to be. I need to fabricate something to hold it in its exact location. But for today this did help to sort things out as far as engine/trans driveshaft angle. And to decide how much needs to be relieved from the rear cross beam for driveshaft clearance.


As for my last question regarding driveline height/angle- someone reminded me that the height of the engine would ultimately be decided by the bell housing...which I am sort of embarrassed to say didn't even cross my mind. Not sure how, but it didn't. But, thats why these forums and friends are such a good thing to have in your corner when doing something like this. It's so easy to miss the forest through the trees. Building a car from the ground up, theres a million details to consider. And while this seems like a ridiculously simple detail, it was overlooked. I'm just glad to have you folks to help keep me pointed in the right direction. So, THANKS!!

Either way, I'm having the time of my life!

Cheers!

Brad

[jaybee]

Nice work. There's sure nothing wrong with your welding, but they say if you can't weld well weld a lot. A little more length to the joint always adds strength.

[andrewb70]

Did a little cardboard mock-up today. I landed on a seat and drivetrain position. Now I can move forward on the chassis.

Those plastic blocks are stupid expensive. I'm not making any brackets based on this one here, but it sure gets the job done to visualize things. And is way easier to move around than cast iron ;)


Decided to scoot the engine back a few inches. It sits back under the cowl almost 3 inches now. I'll have to jockey some things around. But this should help with the weight split. It also means some rails in the chassis need to be cut out and moved around to allow the exhaust to pass by the transmission. Thank goodness for mock-up!


Also mocked up a masking tape bell housing and set the trans in place.


Sitting in the seat the trans feels like its in a good place, and is about 5" back from where the factory seat mounts were.


And the axle in place...sort of. The jack stands put it about .550" below where it needs to be. I need to fabricate something to hold it in its exact location. But for today this did help to sort things out as far as engine/trans driveshaft angle. And to decide how much needs to be relieved from the rear cross beam for driveshaft clearance.


As for my last question regarding driveline height/angle- someone reminded me that the height of the engine would ultimately be decided by the bell housing...which I am sort of embarrassed to say didn't even cross my mind. Not sure how, but it didn't. But, thats why these forums and friends are such a good thing to have in your corner when doing something like this. It's so easy to miss the forest through the trees. Building a car from the ground up, theres a million details to consider. And while this seems like a ridiculously simple detail, it was overlooked. I'm just glad to have you folks to help keep me pointed in the right direction. So, THANKS!!

Either way, I'm having the time of my life!

Cheers!

Brad

Brad,

Great build. It's amazing how similar this body style is to a 67-68 Cougar.

Andrew

[Bradfords_garage]

Thanks!! I appreciate that! I've been working hard on it. The consistency of the bead size and overall aesthetics can improve, but I'm confident in the welds themselves, structurally. But yea, that's kinda where my head was at, as far as length of the weld seam.

Nice work. There's sure nothing wrong with your welding, but they say if you can't weld well weld a lot. A little more length to the joint always adds strength.

Thanks, Andrew! This body style is so much less prevalent than the earlier year Falcons, but I love it, and how it's so relatively uncommon that you can't help but see other cars in it when you look at it.

Brad,

Great build. It's amazing how similar this body style is to a 67-68 Cougar.

Andrew

[Tsaints1115]

Very cool.

[Bradfords_garage]

Thank you!

Very cool.

[Bradfords_garage]

And another update! Things are still moving along nicely. I'm about a day away from actually starting on welding the whole chassis up. I'm a little nervous, to be honest. I've been reading up on weld sequencing and what not, but I'm still pretty concerned about warpage. Any tips there would be greatly appreciated and accepted with open ears!

So here's where we are-

The drive shaft relief cut out and the new cap made up.


And fully welded.


Finally got to use my shop-made press-brake to fold up some 3/16" plate for the torque boxes. It worked great!!


And the K-member welded up and sitting in place.


One of the welds. I decided to weld the miter's fully, then tack the bracket plates in place and weld them fully once in place on the chassis. But, I'm happy with that one, even though I wish the dab consistency were better! Gotta find the rhythm.


And the gussets I added to the sides of the k-member to stiffen against fore/aft stresses. The chassis tubes are 1/8" wall so I thought it would be a good idea to spread the load from the k-member and stiffen that area with the extra plate and gussets. It will be in-line with the lower ball joint.


Well, thats where we stand today. Tomorrow will be finishing up the rear section of the frame so I can start the weld-up process. Thanks for watching!

Brad

[Boosted Falcon]

Great build.

[Bradfords_garage]

Well, sure has been a busy summer! Firstly, my second son was born! Among other things, I've been busy with track days and making small upgrades to the Mustang here and there. So the Falcon has been sitting idle for a bit. But I closed the track season out a couple weeks ago with a bracket race that was a ton of fun. And now I can get back to the task at hand.

I realized that I actually have some photos that I never shared from where I left off a couple months ago. Where we stand now is that I have the chassis all welded up and I'm ready to start fabricating links and brackets for the suspension. I have flat stock, R joint rod ends, PU bushings and a pile of DOM. The plan for the rear links, because this is not a dedicated race car, is to do R joints on one end for the extra articulation, and a PU bush on the other end. I'm going to start with the rear, get the car sitting on the chassis, hang a fender and then fabricate the front arms and pickup points. I have some freedom with wheelbase, as I'm cutting out the wheel wells for the flares, but I want to retain the OEM wheel base or at least very close to it. More to come on that, but for now, here's where we left off.

Here are some photos. Though, if a picture is worth a thousand words, how many is a video worth? Here's a link to the last episode I was able to post on my YouTube. Bradfords Garage- Falcon Restomod Episode 3

Rear subframe rails. As identical as I can possibly make them.






Underside of the front torque box


Torque box, top.


Finnagling the inner rails around to make room for the exhaust to be tucked up next to the transmission. I don't want anything hanging lower than the chassis.


Before the finnagling...mockup and marking out the sections to be changed.


Once it was all fitted I went to work welding it all together. As mentioned in the video, I found a guy on YouTube who made a video on the weld sequencing for minimal distortion in square tube, picture frame style frames. I followed his advice and sort of filled in the blanks on the rest. In the end, the chassis is still square, so I'm happy. Here's a few weld shots.




TIG welding overhead while sitting on your butt is hard...I definitely left the garage that day with a neck/headache.




Overall, I'm very happy with how the chassis and welds came out. I think once I get it on the rotisserie for paint I may grind out some of the welds on the bottom and go back over them, just for the sake of cleanliness. A few of them came out rather gross, I'll be honest.

That's all for now. More to come soon.

Brad

[chunger]

Any updates on this project?