Project 'Chicken Nugget" - 65 Ford Falcon Hardtop

[LowFast]

I promise to get some more progress pics posted. My wife has the camera with her and is out of town, but she should get home this afternoon. Thanks for the compliments. I never viewed my project as inspiring, frustrating sometimes maybe, but I am happy to see others are interested in the Falcons and turning them into serious protouring machines. I can say, and this is just my opinion, when you get a Falcon hardtop down with the right stance, visually, it crushes any Mustang I have seen.

[Z06killinSBF]

Hey, I copied your rear frame rails! Chock that up as inspiration.

[LowFast]

Hey, I copied your rear frame rails! Chock that up as inspiration.

Yeah, but you only have a mustang.

[Z06killinSBF]

Yeah, but you only have a mustang.

[Blues man]

Benn at it for a month and today I got it fully stripped and rollin around on some wood and trailer jacks. Hows yours coming along?

[LowFast]

So a couple of weeks ago I broke out the good old Eastwood bead roller. My wife and son got it for me almost 2 years ago and this is the first time I had a chance to use it. It is a little tricky but I am happy with my results for a newbie. It does give me ever greater appreciation for the guys who are artists with this craft.



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Here are a few progress shots of the results.

Built a frame for the trans tunnel out of 1/2 square tube.



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Built a mounting plate for the TR3650 remote mount shifter. I am using an MGW unit, carzy awesome quality, too bad I have to cover it up.



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Started making panels



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I will get some more pics up shortly of the more finsihed product.

[LowFast]

There are pictures of how it sits now. I still need to complete the area up by the firewall which will take some creativity with the compound bends.













Also added an access gromet to reach the hardest of the shifter installation bolts, trying to plan for future needed access.



Like I said, not perfect bead rolling, but it will be painted over with bed liner so I think it will be fine. No too bad for someone who has no idea what the heck they are doing.

[Z06killinSBF]

Looks great

[LowFast]

Thanks.

[Dave B]

Looks pretty good to me.

[fordsbyjay]

That looks great for the first time. What gauge steel are you using?

[LowFast]

Thanks, 20 gauge.

[Jetfixr320]

Very nice! You have some skills with the Bead roller!

[Doodler]

Looking really good! What do you plan on doing for the rear seat area?

[LowFast]

Looking really good! What do you plan on doing for the rear seat area?

Plan on buckets but not sure how to accomplish that. Might just have to take it to an upholstery shop and see what they could custom build. I have to keep the rear seats so there is room for my two boys.

[fordsbyjay]

Plan on buckets but not sure how to accomplish that. Might just have to take it to an upholstery shop and see what they could custom build. I have to keep the rear seats so there is room for my two boys.

Ooooh, I'll be watching for that. I want to do rear buckets as well. I set my procars back there and they are too long in the seat area without some type of recessing the seat into the back package tray there would be minimal leg room left.

[LowFast]

Ooooh, I'll be watching for that. I want to do rear buckets as well. I set my procars back there and they are too long in the seat area without some type of recessing the seat into the back package tray there would be minimal leg room left.

I have the exact issue. Which Procars do you have? I plan to go with the Smoothback Rally's in the Maroon color for the interior. I also thought about using them in the rear but they are just too deep for a car the size of a Falcon. My thought is a good upholstery shops should be able to come up with something that will compliment the front seats.

My interior materials will be pretty basic. Maroon vinyl seats and arm rests, black bed liner floors and anything else will be bead blasted aluminum including the dash and a strip down the center of the console and the door panels. Also thinking of building a custom "eyebrow" for over the gauges and forego the stock Falcon dash pad. I want it to be comfortable for long drives but have a race car look, easy to maintain materials.

[fordsbyjay]

I have the exact issue. Which Procars do you have? I plan to go with the Smoothback Rally's in the Maroon color for the interior. I also thought about using them in the rear but they are just too deep for a car the size of a Falcon. My thought is a good upholstery shops should be able to come up with something that will compliment the front seats.

My interior materials will be pretty basic. Maroon vinyl seats and arm rests, black bed liner floors and anything else will be bead blasted aluminum including the dash and a strip down the center of the console and the door panels. Also thinking of building a custom "eyebrow" for over the gauges and forego the stock Falcon dash pad. I want it to be comfortable for long drives but have a race car look, easy to maintain materials.

I have the Rally seats. They are nice but I am a big guy and they are little small for me. That's what got me thinking they would be great for the back seat. The front seats in a Challenger SRT8 are the nicest seats I have seen for bigger people.

http://procarbyscat.com/seats/Rally

[fordsbyjay]

I'm 6' but my top 1/2 is a little longer than my bottom 1/2. lol. What I find in my 06 Mustang for ex. is my shoulder blades end up being squished a bit. It has been awhile since I test drove the Pro Cars but IIRC my shoulders were higher in the seat than I think they should be. My uncle has an SRT Challengers and those seats were very comfy for my size compared to the others mentioned. The procar seats are cheap compared to others so I wasn't expecting the world when I bought them.

[LowFast]

My guess is that the Challenger seats would look huge in a Falcon. They are not small and the Challenger is a much larger car than the Falcon. That is the delima, affordable period looking seats that have good support, fit bigger guys and are not too large for the car. Custom upholstered Recaros would do the trick but they would cost almost as much as my whole car.