1963 Ford Falcon Futura

Tore in this morning. Welded up the frame then started laying it out. I used a trick I learned from an upholstery guy we work with. It is also in Don Taylors automotive upholstery book. The coil springs at the sides tend to wear out so jam them full of foam to give them some more support.

Burlap installed with hog rings

Jute felt pad on top of the burlap.

The drivers ass groove was the only worn part of the foam so I only replaced a section of it.

I bought this pro foam cutter years ago and rarely get to use it so even though I could have done this with scissors I plugged it in anyway

Cotton batting on top of the foam

Those rods that poked through the side left these holes.

And here I got lazy. You know those iron on denim patches they sell everywhere? Yep. That is what I used

grassroots bitches

Stretched the old cover back on and hog ringed it in place

Looking clean under there!!

Since that went so well and only took an hour and a half I tore apart the back.

Oh yeah. There is the source of the bulging.... sigh...

And here is why. It is missing all the horizontal springs on the drivers side.

I racked my brain for a while trying to figure out something that wasn't jamming all that foam back in there. Upstairs in the garage I found an old chair and sacrificed it to the Falcon gods for its springs

These were cut down, bent to shape and put in place with more hog rings.

Fingers crossed.

I ended up replacing the foam on the left side. Again new burlap, batting and the old cover. I also replaced the sagging and broken cardboard panel ont he back with a piece cut out of 1/8" birch plywood.

All back together and in the car.

That was a lot of work actually. About 8 hours in total. The seat is comfy if a little firm but gone is that sliding towards the door feeling. Sadly the new girth has me sitting a bit too close to the wheel so I will need to mod the seat tracks to get me back another inch or so.

Total spent was $34 which isn't bad.

Outstanding work! Who needs Recaro's anyhow?

Nice work on the seat! How's the fuel injection going?

Injection is on pause while I work out a plan. I am switching TBI units. The Ford SPI even with the "big" Taurus injector can't provide enough fuel for my needs.

I wish this was a more supported or played with TBI unit. Then I would have a better idea how much fuel it could flow with fuel pressure increases and how high that could reliably go.

I have some irons in the fire though gimme a little time.

Gm 2bbl tbi is thoroughly supported...

Indeed it is.

The issue is transitioning from two 1.5" butterflies to a single 1.375 opening in the log. Without resorting to a crude funnel shaped adapter. Hood clearance is kinda tight.

I actually went through the Rochester unit with a rebuild kit a long time ago and it has just been sitting on a shelf since then. It is ready to go on just as soon as I have my solution in place.

I have ideas, I have acquired parts. I just need a bit of time and money to make it happen.

Could you cheat a gm tbi injector into the ford unit?

Hmm..... If I machined the Ford SPI hat for one of the GM big block 81LB/hr injectors and bumped the pressure up to 26psi it could (according to the megasquirt calculator) support up to 200hp. That is close enough to my goal.

I wonder how it would perform at idle?

Its a high pressure tbi injector. As long as you can get the setting in megasquirt short enough, I'd think you'll be fine. Don't know for sure, as I've never seen it done. But I have seen dual tbi on a tunnel ram 305 idle just fine, so I'm almost certain you can do it. You're a hell of a lot smarter than that guy.

In reply to Jumper K. Balls:

Did you see this page: http://www.turboford.org/faq/injectors.shtml

It state's the CFI injectors for the 2.3 HSC are either 56 or 64 lbs/hr. The MS calculator says 58.8 lbs/hr for two injectors and 200 hp.

Single barrel adapter at Summit for less than $20: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/trd-2025?seid=srese1&gclid=CPXFoMaMrcUCFcKHaQodv7cA-w

Mechanical fans are lame.

I finally got around to finishing the $10 aluminum radiator upgrade. I ended up notching the top tank to set the cap and neck an inch and a half lower.

Clearance was too tight to mount the water pump driven fan, so I pulled the grille and cut the hood latch support until I could fit a 13" pusher up front. Wired up the rabbit fan switch to a relay, filled it with fresh coolant and headed home.

I was anticipating a theoretical difference in the motor without the fan. It is definitely noticeable. Like I am anticipating the missus asking what I did next time she drives it. Smoother all around and pulls much better above 3500rpm.

When I got to the house I let it idle for five minutes in the 90+ degree driveway. The fan cycled twice for about a minute each time. I am leery of pusher installations but it looks like this will work.

All the welds are holding pressure too! can't say I am displeased with that.

Went to the shop today to clean up my mess from Friday. Poking around under the hood revealed the passenger front motor mount with a broken bolt and the other fairly loose and the driver side mount missing a bolt and the other about to fall out. I thought that the shifter was moving an awful lot when I accelerated.

Onto the lift with the post jack under the motor I extracted the broken bolt and torque them all up with new hardware. Then I noticed the transmission mount was suffering the same fate. It was hokey, made in a hurry when I did the T-5 swap using shock bushings for isolators. I dug up a C4 mount and bolted it to the transmission. Then I cut a plate that fit the C4 mount bolt pattern and filled the gap with whatever steel was in the scrap bin until it lined up properly. It is ugly and only slightly less hokey than the last but it is much more solid.

Note to self: I need to build a proper rear mount in the future. This one is embarrassing.

Lots of squeaks and rattles are now gone but the firmer mounts now make the windows rattle in the worn out channels. I guess that goes on the list too.

I love this build and seeing what can be done with some basic engineering and re-purposing. One thing; I see a red wire going under the radiator mounting flange and I assume that's the + side of the fan. It kind of doesn't matter; that looks like a chafe point. Can this wire be extended & re-routed? What's the max amps the fan pulls vs. the gauge of that wire?

Just trying to ask helpful questions.

Funny you should mention that. I was standing there with several spools of wire and loom on my bench intending to clean up the mess that is the bay when I noticed the mounts.

Everything is tucked back more than it looks and there are lots of these where needed

But the general state of the wiring is appalling. The plugs for the old voltage regulator are just hanging out, "temporary" relays sitting with yards of excess wiring connected to them ziptied to things.

There is nothing more permanent than a temporary solution. I know this yet still think I will go back and fix things later.

Sorry for badgering you about the fuel injection but I had one of those moments where I think I might have had a good idea. Well good in theory maybe, but probably not!

http://classicinlines.com/logmods.asp

If you follow the link, they show that they machined the top of the manifold for a 2V adapter. What about machining the other side of the 'log' for ... say 3 DCOEs? Of course there would be a magical adapter plate like they did for the 2V. That log looks kind of small.

Again sorry for muddling up your build thread. Keep up the good work! I'm always excited when this thread comes to the top of the pile!

Car started wandering around at high speeds. Feels scary. Put it in the air to give it a look over. Drivers side inner tie rod is loose? How would that even happen.

Last year I bought a ball joint taper reamer because, well it was on CL for cheap and I have in the past abandoned project ideas because it would have required one. I finally used it today.

I took very light cuts, cleaning it out and inspecting often until the entire inside taper was smooth and mirror finished. Then I drove it together and torqued it up.

Whilst I was under there I also noticed this

I am pretty sure that control arm should be centered in the socket and NOT rubbing on the frame. Luckily I purchased new lower control arms a while ago.

Reinforcing these seems to be a thing people do so why not? I am replacing sections of frame on an Austin Healey 100-4 this week so I have plenty of scrap 14ga laying around.

Cut, cut, poke, prod, dimple and weld. I realized my error as I finished the second one. Too late to go back. Not like dimple direction matters or anything.

Deffo something wrong there

And back together.

Perhaps I will get to the other side saturday.

Fantastic work. Please keep it up! May purchase this today and I'll join your crazy world.

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/cto/5194817431.html

Teh E36 M3 wrote: May purchase this today and I'll join your crazy world. http://sacramento.craigslist.org/cto/5194817431.html

WoooHooo!

Damn if I was two states closer that would be in my driveway today.

Was wondering if you just did a couple spot welds on the bushings to keep them from drifting to the side would work. That way it wouldn't heat up the metal to much and melt the rubber.

I also years ago saw a three single barrel kit for the 170-200 6 on a mustang. The center one bolted on to the original opening and all the you had to do was drill 2 holes on the top. One between the first 2 cylinders and one between the last 2 cylinders. The 2 end carbs bases were curved to match the rail. All there was mount it was a U bolt and a rubber gasket. You could have the linkage static or progressive if you chose. When I talked to the owner about the set up he said it worked great. He would run it in the progressive mode on the street and when he tracked the car he had it static so they all opened at once.

Tri-power kits for the 170/200/250 inline do exist but I like the direction the OP is going with the CFI setup. I wanted to try that on an old Fairmont I owned.

Bushings and ball joints were press in affairs similar to yours on an old Corolla I raced in ITC back in the day. We always tack welded those press in sleeves for safety. Easy to grind/remove when the time came.

Perhaps it's been discussed earlier, but what's stopping you from drilling the log for port injection?

Kenny_McCormic wrote: Perhaps it's been discussed earlier, but what's stopping you from drilling the log for port injection?

http://image.hotrod.com/f/35559217+re0+ar0+st0/hrdp-1960-may-cover.jpg

I think ITBs would be deemed too radical. Maybe cut half the log off, port it out, add injector bungs and braze a sheet metal box (or a flange for an aluminum box) to whats left with a more modern sized throttle body? Though I imagine such work quickly makes a imported Australian head seem reasonably priced.

Success!

According to the dude in the coveralls operating the magnaflux the combustion chambers in this head are crack free!

Found it on Seattle CL. Had a buddy grab it for me and deliver it next time he was down this way. Off an 82 Capri so it is the last of the US small six motors. Larger valves and intake log than the current head.

Now to hack it up