falconvan

Nice job!

When I first really got into the internet and started looking at car sites, I was building a 63 Ford Falcon van. I welded in a Speedway front and rear crossmember and replaced the 170 six banger with a 350 Chevy and 700r4. I had an old issue of Hot Rod that told how to do the swap with a 289 and I just kind of worked off of that. My favorite part of the article said, " The rearend in the 63 Ford Econoline/Falcon van is a very weak unit that is only intended for use with the 85HP six. DO NOT attempt to use this rearend with the V8 setup! It will fail!" Well, I did anyway. I was running about 300hp and that thing was the burnout king. The rearend was still holding when I sold it.

I've got a fair amount done since last entry. I got the coupe body sandblasted and will be starting on the bodywork before long. I just finished putting the engine back together. I went with a ZO6 GM performance Parts cam & springs and a set of shorty headers. No intake yet but other than that it's pretty much done. Next order of business is to get the floor pans cut out of the 47 sedan body I have and get it out to make some room. Also I have to redo the rack & pinion; I tried using a MII with a crossmember but fatman's has a much better setup with a Cavalier rack so we're going with that. If anybody wants a patch panel from that 47, you've got about a week to let me know and then its off to the scrapheap. Youre welcome to it for free if you want it.

$3.59 here in Festus. $2.99 in Joplin???!! I'm on my way.

That cream colored P15 sure is a sexy beast. Anyone ever eliminated the rocker chrome? Do you have to modify the rockers (other than filling the clip holes) to make it look right? I was thinking of doing away with the rocker chrome and fender side spears when I put my coupe back together.

The only drawback to the Dakota I found was that ring and pinion sets are not as heavily supported by the aftermarket and were a little expensive for the 8.25. I paid $100 more for a 3.73 set for the 8.25 compared to a Dodge 8.75 or a Ford 8.8 set.

If you're looking for a close fit, an 87 Dakota 8.25 rear is identical in measurements and wheel bolt pattern; just have to move the spring perches.

Wow, really nice shape! That's a keeper for sure. Some A/C and a modern drivetrain and suspension and you've got the coolest SUV in town.

I used the same rearend in my 48. I did notice that ring and pinion sets were a little pricier for the 8.25. But you're right, it fit like a glove. Your 3.9 should be a great economy/power setup. How about a couple of pics? I'm using a 5.3 Gen III Chevy in mine.

Darn, if he only had a matching set of four, I'd jump on it.

Wow, $800 for a running V10? Always seems to happen when I dont have any spare $$.

That right hand drive is just too cool.

Kanters has them, I believe.

Motor and bell housing gone; trans still here if anyone wants it.

No luck, sold the old frame as a complete unit.

I've got a flat six and three speed trans from a 48 Plymouth coupe if anyone can use it. The motor is stuck but I removed the head and it looks like it's the valves. The cylinders look pretty good. The trans shifted freely, it's a standard three speed, not a Fluiddrive. It sat in a garage for the last 15 years so it wasn't exposed to the elements. I'm using a modern drivetrain, tried to sell this stuff and nobody wanted it but I hate to scrap it if someone can use it. Drop me a PM if you want to come get it, I'm about 30 miles south of St Louis, Mo.

It's looking pretty good, but I don't think i could be that brave. He must really want a 61 convertible REALLY bad. Kudos for perseverance, though.

I believe in Missouri anything with less than four wheels is considered a motorcycle; which is actually good because there are fewer restrictions on safety equipment. I'm looking foward to recieving the plans and looking them over.

It's become painfully obvious in recent years that the government cannot or will not do anything to help us on the gas prices, no matter which party is in office. On the same note Detroit will not release an affordable high mileage vehicle because they want to trickle new technology out and make a killing on it. There's a guy called Robert Q Riley who has been selling plans so build homebuilt small, 50+MPG vehicles since the 1980's and has had a decent amount of success. A local guy who built one called the Doran turned me on to him. The little car is really cool and it cost him a little over 5K to build it in his garage. I ordered my plans to build my own. I figure the only way to beat this is to take our car building skills and take matters into our own hands. Here's a link. http://www.rqriley.com/doran.html

Don't let that beast get away! Imagine a T bucket built around that. Store until I can talk my wife into letting me buy it from you! Seriously, that's a rare chance to find something like that. Even if you don't use it, I'm sure you could make a decent profit from it.

Contemporary Christian, southern gospel, and lots of St Louis Cardinal baseball.

Check your PM's, I sent you a response.

Nice engine; that built flattie is too cool.

And here's a few more.....BTW; I've got a complete 2 dr chassis in decent shape for sale if anyone is interested.

I figured there's no way I'd have time to touch my 48 until at least the fall, but here I was outside last week cleaning out the 48 and taking off body mount bolts. I'm starting a build thread on it just to keep myself organized and to get some input from you guys. That keeps me motivated more than anything. The latest plan goes like this; the frame is pretty much done although after having the front end setup looked at by a reputable shop, it looks like I'm going to have to redo the rack & pinion. They said the type of rack I used and the way I've got it mounted is going to create bumpsteer problems. So I'm going to try a kit from Fatman's fabrications. Engine is going to be a 5.3 Gen III Chevy with a MSD/Edelbrock intake and ignition kit for a carb conversion. Probably a bigger cam and some headers. Trans is a 700r4. My wife gets to pick the color and she wants 05' Mustang Redfire exterior, tan interior, and A/C. The body is off of the frame and on the body cart, soon to head to the media blaster. I have a 47 four door body to use for patch panels as the floor need attention. I originally started on the four door but ran across this two door after I finished the chassis, so since the chassis is the same, we decided to switch to the coupe body. I sold a bunch of the four door stuff and have a car fund going. So here we go, I'm going to shoot for about an 18 month completion date. Thanks for tuning in; I get a lot of great info off this site.