Project BLUEprint, 1965 Falcon

[fordsbyjay]

I always wondered how it would look with a full widebody like an 80's trans am car. Where they just move the front and rear fenders out a couple inches the doors are in the stock location. The other option (but a ton of work) would be to widen the car like you mentioned. The Falcon has that 'rail' that runs the length of the body (the top of the fenders/door) and I always figured that would be the place to do it.

[fordsbyjay]

Btw I really like the drawing.

[454bug]

Great rendering Bryce!

Nice color and stance!

[Bryce]

I say no on the radiused wheel well, if you look on my build post I took a few pics with Mustang flares taped on the car, radiusing the wheel openings takes away from what makes a Falcon a Falcon. I thought about the whole car widening, problem is that you get into thicker doors and they clearance issues trying to open them. The Falcon just seems to be a body style that does not lend itself to widening, now if you went to a full frame then you could widen the car down the center and make it as wide and mean as you wanted.

Now get that bad boy painted to we can see it in all its glory!

I agree I like the current falcon wheel wells. It can look okay with a radius wheel well. I have seen a few rancheros that look good.

Full frame falcon. that might just be my next project. I really want to build a 1800 pound, aluminum sbf car.

[Bryce]

Exactly why I connected with Shawn about my Dart. Didn't work on mine either. He is doing a wide body Opel Manta for me now, it's looking SWEET!

That rendering looks great, and THAT is the stance you should have! Looks awesome!

Yep, I was happy with the work that Shawn put into this. We discussed different ideas throughout the build and he made adjustments when I wanted them.

OOOOHHHHHHHH!!!! I wanna see your next project? What are you doing for a frame/suspension?

[Bryce]

Sweeeeet....

Thanks! How is your project coming? Did you ever get your r-valance mounted?

[Bryce]

I always wondered how it would look with a full widebody like an 80's trans am car. Where they just move the front and rear fenders out a couple inches the doors are in the stock location. The other option (but a ton of work) would be to widen the car like you mentioned. The Falcon has that 'rail' that runs the length of the body (the top of the fenders/door) and I always figured that would be the place to do it.

I will try to find some of the first trials with the widebody and post them up.

Your second idea would work. But I would just do it with a fiberglass body. You can buy everything but rear quarters in fiberglass.

[Bryce]

Btw I really like the drawing.

Great rendering Bryce!

Nice color and stance!

Thanks guys! I wish I could get the stance like that. But I think tires are more important than stance. I could go to a 23" diameter tire and a 6" section width then i could lower it another few inches.

[Bryce]

I got my rendering!

Shawns attention to details was amazing. this small piture does not do justice to the rendering. The background has as much detail as the car. There are wilwood brakes peeking through the windows in the wheels. Even the wiper blades and window trim is there!

[Bryce]

Due to multiple questions about my Watts link, I decided to do a complete write up instead of just pictures. Here is the first installment of my Watts link build. I looked into buy a Fays2 watts bell crank but decided I would build my own as it would fit my cradle design better. When I designed my watts link I calculated lateral translation during vertical suspension travel. With a 4” link to link spacing and a 14” arm I would have zero offset during normal suspension travel. I used ¼” aluminum plate as a starting point. I cut everything with a band saw and finshed them with a disc sander. I bolted them together when I finished sanded them to ensure they were exactly the same. Here is the picture of the start of the bell crank.
Next was to choose some rodends. I chose Aurora aluminum rod ends with ½” hole and a 5/8-18 thread. These are good to ~14,000 pounds.
These rod ends dictated the required spacing for the center of the pivot bolt spacer.

Here you can see the spacer that was used on the center bolt. This was exactly the same as the rod end thickness. The spacer is free floating, not welded or fastened to the bell crank plates. It is just held tight with the rodend connecting bolts and the center pivot bolt.

I used thin nylon insert lock nuts on the rod ends connecting bolts. This allowed me to make the two vertical plates of the cradle closer together. Like most of our cars we have packaging issues. I used grade 8 hex bolts, again to minimize the overall length of the bolts. I could have used countersunk fasteners but this would have weakened the bell crank plates and was not worth extra clearance.

Here is an overview of the assembly.

[johnny68]

sorry Bryce pictures dont do it justice looks a whole lot better in person how ya been bud hows the girls
john

[wellis77]

OOOOHHHHHHHH!!!! I wanna see your next project? What are you doing for a frame/suspension?

When I get there we'll be talking... Likely either fresh from the drawing board, or modified c5/c6.

[Bjkadron]

Well, the first part is good, but I had that much figured out from the pictures... ;)

[Bryce]

Well, the first part is good, but I had that much figured out from the pictures... ;)

HAAHA! I figured I would be all inclusive.

[Bryce]

When I get there we'll be talking... Likely either fresh from the drawing board, or modified c5/c6.

Cool! Let me know. I have been working on a monoshock pull rod setup. That isolates roll from spring rate.

[Bryce]

sorry Bryce pictures dont do it justice looks a whole lot better in person how ya been bud hows the girls
john

John,

Thanks buddy. Not many have been privledged to see my car in person. HAHA, just kidding.

The girls are great! My time on the car has been reduced. So I need to start working on smaller projects rather than something that will take me forever.

[Wesley J]

I know you wont take this the wrong way, and it is only my opinion. I love your car, as you know, but I find that the rear "bumper" doesnt fit with the clean and linear lines of the car. Seems "bulgy" and the sunken liscence plate is out of place. Not too sure about the front bumper either...

It looks frickin awesome underneath though ;-)

Wes

[Bryce]

HAHA, thanks Wes. No taking things wrong here. Maybe I need to make a plexiglass falcon. to show off the suspension. Hmm...... maybe my next project will be CLEARprint. ha!

I have some different ideas for the bumper that didnt exactly show up in the rendering. I plan on doing center exit exhaust if I get to that point of my build. But I want to lose the weight of the bumber another 30 pounds with brackets. I will do a cutup in the center to get rid of trapped air under the car. When I go to a fuel cell I might do a rear bellypan and diffuser. But that is a ways down the road.

Do you like the front bumper as it is now? I want to will the center cutout and maybe raise it up to the grill. I will have a cut out for my tow hook with aluminum trim ring. I will also be adding in some smaller cutout with vents in the center of the filled in bumper.

[coolwelder62]

I got my rendering!

Bryce Very cool.Scott M.

[Bryce]

Thanks Scott! Hope to see you at SEMA.