Flying Monkey Bus - ‘67 Falcon Wagon Content

One thing to look out for, is if you have a king pin inclination and/or caster that means you really should compare the dots to an inclined line, instead of a vertical one.

Usually the difference is really small but it might be worth checking.

Interesting that you mention that.  It had also occurred to me between my two tests but I decided not to worry too much about it, and kept the same methodology for both.  You’re right there are likely some small flaws in my results, but I was probably as interested in the delta between the two tests as anything else, so it was instructive from that point.

In the end though I’m sure you’re also right that I’ll reintroduce some toe after I tune based on feel.   Give how sketchy the car was prior to this I figured it makes sense to adjust it hard in the other direction (reduce as much bump steer as possible) and then walk that back after I get some more seat time. Thanks for the encouragement!

I agree, don't worry too much, but it's nice to be aware of the possible limitations in the procedures.

I usually point the laser forwards and that means that any track width changes (and sometimes camber changes, depending on where the laser pointer is attached to the hub) have an impact. But you get a feel for what the suspension is doing and usually that's good enough at this level. It's when the pointer leaves the board totally you really know you have work to do :-)

Gustaf

With all the wheel fitment and suspension adjustments worked out, nothing was standing in my way and I was finally ready to button everything up. Well, almost. Just when you think you’ve got all the angles covered, life finds a way to throw you a curve ball. In this case Mrs Sarcastic and I decided it was time to make our move (off of the island) and pulled the trigger on a new home in Western Washington. 

For the last few months between house hunting and packing for our move I have not had much time to work on the wagon. Instead a new directive is to wrap it up fast, because there are more pressing maters. As I write this our move date is 10 days from now, so it’s a good time to get caught up on the build so far since I’ll be busy with other stuff for the foreseeable future.

Since I’ve had to button things up in a hurry there was not as much time for photos, so this update will be a little text-heavy. On the other hand I was mostly duplicating work I did on the passenger side so there was not a lot of new material to cover anyway. First up is getting the wider wheels/tires to fit the driver side fender

Predictably, unlike the passenger side (which looks a little rough) things went very smoothly here. I had a plan of attack, experience with clearancing the other side, and went straight to it with no futzing around. It’s true what they say: Experience is the best teacher.

Also final assembly on the suspension went without too much drama as well. One thing I had planned on was upgrading to some nice adjustable shocks, but since plans changed and I needed to wrap things up fast I went with some “cheap and cheerful” KYB Gas-a-just shocks.

On the Mustang forums these get a fair amount of hate mail for “riding like a dump truck” but in my shakedown runs I found them to be stiffer than stock, but with fairly decent ride. I suspect the added weight of the wagon (vs. a lighter Mustang) as well as my softer springs balanced things out. I think these will serve me well until I have time to get into the suspension again.

Once I finally had everything assembled and wheels on the ground, one concession I had to make for the sake of expediency was a quick and dirty toe adjustment. I went totally old school here and broke out the tape measure and took measurements off the tread blocks.

It’s obviously not the most accurate way to go about this but I have no plans to run the car in anger until it’s in Washington. The most I’ll have time for is a drive to the docks, where all it has to do is make it on/off the container ship. I’ll revisit this when I get the chance but for now it tracks pretty straight and is close enough for government work.

Speaking of getting things straight, the steering wheel was at a weird angle when the wheels were pointed straight.

So out came the hub puller (off camera) and I got things back to level again.

And the last task was to paint those dang wheels. Primer grey was not a good look, and I was already starting to see some rust coming though so some rust prevention was in order. Since I didn’t have a deck of playing cards to speed up masking, I just used short pieces of painters tape instead.

This actually worked out well, and made painting the wheels pretty painless with no overspray to deal with.

As for color I reached into my paint stash and picked a similar “soft iron grey” as I had on the 14” wheels. I was considering semigloss black but in the end I just like this color better.

And finally we’re at the end (for now) and here’s how it looked after a quick shakedown run around the neighborhood.

I have to say that despite the abrupt end to this project, I’m stoked with how it turned out. I think (hope) I struck a nice balance between looking stealthy and hardcore at the same time.

Can’t wait until our move is complete and I can take some time to revisit the front suspension from the comfort and shelter of my new garage. It’s going to be quite and upgrade compared to this dusty, breezy, mosquito-filled carport I’ve been working in for the past few years.

Aloha, and see you again once I’m on the mainland! \m/

Whelp another quick update but no work to the wagon at this point.  The good news is the Mrs Sarcastic and I arrived safely in Washington with our pets and stuff intact.  The cars made it too, which is also good news.  The last bit of good news is that after years of working out of whatever space my rental provided, I now own a proper and spacious garage (with very nice house attached) which will make working on my stuff much much nicer.

Only one piece of bad news out of this.  In order to use this shiny new garage as intended, I’ll need to “dig myself out” of this:

If you squint you can barely make out the windows and roof of the wagon.  So it’ll be a while til I can reach it again, but l can’t wait to be spinning wrenches in my own dang garage! \m/

You got here just in time for the heat wave!

You’re not kidding. I grew up outside of Sacramento so I’m no stranger to hot summers., but you expect it there... it seemed otherworldly to have it be that hot in the PNW though. 

In reply to jerrysarcastic (Forum Supporter) :

I was asked to paint a glass top table by a friend.  I didn't have cards that I was willing to give to the project so I bought a pack of index cards.  It worked great.  A pack of 500 costs 3.00 at Office Depot.  That should last me for a lot of wheels or glass top tables.  I also have a roll of painters paper that I have had for years.  I used that for the center of the glass.

Congrats on the move Jerry.  Have fun unpacking!