1968 Ford Wagon - Fergus

Yep, it's mine. It was one of those, "Some day I might need this." purchases many, MANY years ago!

I had a '69 pickup with that same engine/trans/rearend/brakes combo. God I miss that truck. I've always dreamed about using something like that as a tow pig, but it always turns into a nightmare when I have to use those brakes.

I think the only thing that would make this functional as a tow vehicle are modern trailer brakes. That or a disk conversion, but I'm going to try and stay drums if I can. Did I mention that the brakes aren't boosted? Another one of the really weird options on the car. It's got the 390 but no evidence of a hitch. It's got AC and a power rear window, both of which are options, but the rest of the interior is so basic that it just has AM radio and there isn't even a clock. Has power steering which I imagine had to be ordered as well. I can't quite wrap my mind around how the car was built. I'm hoping I find a build sheet under the seats.

Disk brakes were an option on 1968 Fords, so if you want to upgrade it's just a matter of finding a donor car in a salvage yard somewhere. However, I would expect the drum brake system to work pretty well if it's in good shape.

You can look at a factory brochure for 1968 Fords here: http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/Ford/1968_Ford/1968_Ford_Brochure/dirindex.html

Scarebird makes the disc brake conversion stuff for this

http://scarebird.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=65&product_id=88

He then gives you a shopping list of rotors, calipers and lines to use. Folks seem to like his stuff.

Thanks ditchdigger! I'm sure I'm going to be looking through this thread for all of this information over the years.
Tires will be ready to pick up tomorrow afternoon so if I get the new fuel line on I can finally take it out for a drive!

i really like this car.....the three on the tree is cool but it will get old if you try DD it and the clutch is heavy in them too and you couple it with no power brakes and 4 wheel drum brakes towing will be a chore with it........i know members will say i am crazy but i would start looking for 500xl and grab the bucket seats and console and a C6 tranny do the power brake and front disc conversion and then enjoy the car......sometimes handshakers are not the best fit for all cars

cutter67 wrote: i really like this car.....the three on the tree is cool but it will get old if you try DD it and the clutch is heavy in them too

I dded my 3-o-T for a year, plus lots of people did when they were new. Turns out my clutch return spring, easily swapped, was responsible for 75% of my clutch pedal force.

The clutch is lighter than the 911 and even my wife can drive that in stop and go traffic every day. What kind of sissy legs do you guys have?
I read through the brochures above and they assure me that all three gears are fully synchronized, so at least I have that. I should be able to take it for a spin tonight. In a related line of questioning, are there fuel additives that I should be using to account for the lack of lead?

I've never had any issues with old cars needing fuel additives. Chances are there are enough lead deposits on the valves left over from the old days that it will be fine for years to come.

Is it weird that I find this car to be just as cool as the awesome Porsche you just bought?

Wow, let me get this straight, you have the DD/rallycross/autocross Mazda 2, you've recently got your dream 964, now this too. what are you slipping your wife to get her to agree to all this? Whatever it is bottle it and sell it, you'll be able to afford a true 'exotic' in about 2 weeks if you do.

A buddy of mine's dad has an old Maverick ('71 I think) with a 302 that smokes and he attributes it to burned out valve guides due to a lack of lead in modern gas.

I've often dreamed of buying it, slapping on some Exploder heads and DDing the E36 M3 out of it.

In reply to sethmeister4:

I kind of feel the same way. The 964 is fundamentally a really cool car. It a true classic, it's fast, everyone recognizes it for what it is. The wagon is in a different kind of cool. It's a cruiser from another era. If you're old enough then you grew up riding in them. If you're younger then you wonder why anyone ditched these amazing pieces of iron for minivans. Also, you see 50 restored Mustangs and Camaros for every one of these you see around.
And yes Adrian, I have the 2, the Porsche and now this. Tonight I get to take the wagon out for a drive. Tomorrow I'll take the kids to school and then go grocery shopping in the Porsche and then on Sunday I'll take it out for it's first autocross. Right now I'm sitting in my truck waiting for my daughter to get out of school and then we'll pick up the tires for the wagon on the way home. Next weekend is a rallycross practice event for the 2. I'm in an automotive heaven. I might someday get a true exotic, but my wife really wants a Cayman S. Even though she's driving the 964 to work four days a week, I think she gets to pick out the next new car.

mazdeuce wrote: In reply to sethmeister4: I kind of feel the same way. The 964 is fundamentally a really cool car. It a true classic, it's fast, everyone recognizes it for what it is. The wagon is in a different kind of cool. It's a cruiser from another era. If you're old enough then you grew up riding in them. If you're younger then you wonder why anyone ditched these amazing pieces of iron for minivans. Also, you see 50 restored Mustangs and Camaros for every one of these you see around. And yes Adrian, I have the 2, the Porsche and now this. Tonight I get to take the wagon out for a drive. Tomorrow I'll take the kids to school and then go grocery shopping in the Porsche and then on Sunday I'll take it out for it's first autocross. Right now I'm sitting in my truck waiting for my daughter to get out of school and then we'll pick up the tires for the wagon on the way home. Next weekend is a rallycross practice event for the 2. I'm in an automotive heaven. I might someday get a true exotic, but my wife really wants a Cayman S. Even though she's driving the 964 to work four days a week, I think she gets to pick out the next new car.

Dude, you must have been Mother Teresa or something in a prior life, you've built up a E36 M3 load of good Karma to be living this life. Go for it.

Before I get to drive Fergus I need to deal with the giant fuel leak mentioned earlier. It was as simple as a hard line that had given up the ghost while in transit. Time to figure out how to deal with it. Let's start with the fuel door.

There is no fuel cap or filler neck. Interesting. Let's check where the fuel tank goes on these old wagons, in the rear quarter.

Nothing but air and rust. Now I'm starting to understand that picture that BBC sent me that showed what looked like a gas tank under the floor in the back of the wagon. Let's check and see.

And that's where the car is drawing fuel from. It goes from this tank, through some new rubber line, to some old rubber line, to the really really old crusty hard line to some old rubber line to some new rubber line and into the new fuel pump. I decided that the best course of action was to keep what is good on the ends and get rid of everything bad in the middle. Oh, and I thought I should add a fuel filter while I was at it.
So that's what I did. I ran the line and used about a million zip ties to attach it to the old hard line which was surprisingly solidly mounted considering how leaky it was. This isn't a permanent solution, but it is one that I'm pretty comfortable with for now. If I had a fuel pump in the tank then I'd have to worry about pressurized fuel, but since I just have a mechanical pump sucking gas, it's not as terrifying.
I ended up putting the fuel filter on the inner fender. I already had a joint, there was a screw hole for me to use to clamp it, and it all worked out well. Let me know if any of this is really really wrong and should be changed.

I had a few other things to fix before driving and eventual inspection. The positive terminal was broken which made it difficult to start. I replaced it.

I also had one license plate bulb that was out. I had a little trouble getting it out of the socket, but once I did I was happy to find out that I still had 12v. I replaced the bulb and put dialecric grease on when installing it.

Oh yeah, don't run the fuel line like that. Please. I did it for a while when I was young(er) and stupid(er) but it's really not very safe.

I also got my tires back. They're Primewell PS850 in 225-75-15. I got all four, plus a matching about half used spare for $450. I would have liked to spend less but I was trying to use the local tire guy and that's what he could get me. He showed my kids how the tire balancer works. I'm not unhappy.
With that all done, it was time for a drive! I fired it up and went through the 3-4 minute warm up period. Once warm it idles well and runs great. Finding reverse was fairly easy. It required more RPM than I thought before it wanted to move, but move it did. I backed onto the road and.... put it in third. Dammit. I found first and moved on my way. A few practice stops. Brakes work though they feel pretty terrible. At 4400lbs with 460 tread wear tires and drums, stopping is not what this car is good at. Something to keep in mind. The car also had no steering feel at all. It does track straight and just floats along. Changing direction is not for the faint of heart and no maneuver is to be taken lightly. I need shocks. Badly. Even then, I'm not sure how much less wallowy the car will be, but you know what, that's fine. The car pulls nicely and shifts well. Second and third are easy to find, first, not so much, but I'm getting it. This is clearly a car that is meant to exist in a world from 0-60 mph. It can go faster, but why would you? Nothing you can do at a faster rate of speed will make the world any better. In it's comfort zone, it's sublime. It's so different from any of my other cars, I love it. It needs less muffler. Perhaps headers. It needs shocks, like I said. It has a front sway bar but there is a much bigger one available and a rear one as well. There are a few holes in the firewall where bits and pieces pass through that blow hot stinky air on the driver. Those need to be sealed up. Rust needs to be addressed. The car is a wonderful beautiful project. If I have time I'll take it to get inspected tomorrow, everything works. Then I'll just start driving it around town and see where this adventure takes me.

tuna55 wrote: Oh yeah, don't run the fuel line like that. Please. I did it for a while when I was young(er) and stupid(er) but it's really not very safe.

Hard line is forthcoming. I promise. I need to make some decisions about the fuel tank. The one there holds gas and delivers it, but it does not make me happy.

My local tire guy beats discount tire and tire rack every time.

I'd say get those shocks replaced ASAP and get some bigger sways front and rear before going too far - it probably needs suspension bushings like the dickens, too. It may be better than you expect with everything fresh.

The manual drum brakes on my old truck were....exciting. They stopped okay, but the pedal pressure required was just short of unbuckling the seatbelt and standing up on the pedal. And then they pulled. You never really knew which direction it was going to pule from stop to stop, but it always pulled. and then they'd lock id pushed, but never evenly, so it always started a slow pirouette by locking one rear or the other first. The manual steering box never got less than 1/8 turn of play, even after swapping in a good used box.

The 390 pulled like a beast to about 60, and the truck topped out at 80-85. It got 13mph as long as you kept it under 70.

Hey, if you'r interested I still have a 3spd + OD manual trans that I was going to put in the truck. The input shaft size/spline/ bolt pattern is identical so it's a bolt in replacement for the 3 speed, but it's a tad longer so it requires shortening the driveshaft. Also, it's a floor shift. It came out of a '78 302 Granada. The stick is a tall chrome piece with a faux wood knob, but I'm missing the linkages. I'd make you a deal, but shipping would suck.

I can give you a somewhat useful data point. I have a 67 mustang fastback, 289, now 4V, power steering, manual brakes. Tie rods and tighntening the adjustment on the rack will help some of that lack of steering feel, but given the big wheel and power assist, mine still has a fair bit of float feel to it.

Wow, this is a neat car.

Oddball as hell, but very neat.

In reply to ultraclyde:

I'm going to pass on the transmission though I really appreciate the offer. For now, other column shift is really part of the charm of the car.

In other news, the state of Texas has deemed Fergus legal to travel on the highways and byways of this great land. Now all I have to do is transfer the title and drive it. Driving the Porsche to the store and then hopping right in Fergus to drive to the inspection station was a pretty interesting sensory experience.