1960 Ford Falcon Project Continues

Engine Disassembly Begins for this Ford Straight Six

After beginning my 1960 Ford Falcon project, hearing from you all, and thinking about it a bit – I’ve decided I do want to keep the original straight-six engine. I will quite possibly be hopping it up some as I rebuild it – but I like the idea of keeping the car original and just working with what I’ve got.

As I continue growing in my car knowledge and mechanical skills, I continue to be drawn towards performance and racing. Thankfully I’ve not only got the Falcon to work with, but also have my Studie. Since my 1955 Studebaker Coupe is already modified with performance parts, it helped in my decision to keep the Falcon original.

First things first, the radiator had to come out (after being drained first, of course.) Once that was done, I decided I’d go ahead and pull other front pieces off. Not that it will help very much with getting the engine clear (there’s a permanent bar in front that we’ll have to lift the engine up and over when the time comes.) But if I’m going to do a job, I want to do it well! This Falcon’s engine bay is going to look nice and clean when I’m done with it!

So I took off the bumper by unscrewing the six bumper bolts which affixed it to the chassis. While taking the bumper off, there were two bolts that I couldn’t reach with my extension because I didn’t have a straight passageway to it. I solved the problem by using this nifty jointed thing that I got from my Grandpa. It allowed me to get the socket in place. With the bumper off, I can give it a good cleaning and maybe straighten it out a bit (it’s been bumped!)

The Falcon also has a body piece across the lower front-end which the grill is attached to. This piece and the grill are both prime targets for some cleaning-up, so they came off as well.

Next up was the fan, carbuerator, alternator, and all the hoses and connectors. Afterwards I had a healthy pile of parts, hoses, and wires that have come out. If you’ve never torn apart a car or engine before – make sure you’ll know how to put it back together before you take it apart!

One thing that will help you get it all back together when you’re done is to take lots of pictures while you’re taking it apart. For example, I had never seen this funny bracket piece holding a couple parts of the throttle linkage together. I’ll be glad I’ve got a visual marker to help me when I’m scratching my head wondering what its for a number of months down the road.

Make sure you don’t lose any of your parts either! Have a special shelf (or a box is probably better) to hold all the parts you’re taking off. For lines and electrical wires, use tape to label where it connects to. And be sure not to lose all those bolts! I’m keeping mine in a jar until they’re needed again.

Here’s what’s left in my engine compartment!  I still need to drain the oil, then next up…this straight six is coming out! Any tips, comments, concerns? Leave a comment and let me know!

 

Vintage Front Engine Dragster with a Six!

Leaving hard at Speedworld’s Nostalgia Drags, this inline 6 powered Nostalgia Dragster’s different but so right!

I bumped into Wayne and this cool front engine dragster at the Nostalgia Drags here in AZ at Speedworld. Always on the lookout for something different, I couldn’t help but notice the the six cylinder, a not-so-obvious choice for an engine, let alone in a vintage dragster.

Travelling into Arizona from Alamogordo, NM for the drags, here’s some info about Wayne’s digger:

I decided to build an inline car because I raced my Flathead car with the Denver Flathead Inline guys and saw there weren’t many “Late inline” dragsters and when there were, they all ran Chevys… so I thought about the best engineered inline and came up with the Ford. (12 port head and very Strong bottom end).

• Chassis: 1968 Race Car Engineering (Woody Gilmore) 182″ wheelbase.
• Engine: 1975 Ford 300 cu in, bored .030 with Weisco flat top forged pistons with zero deck clearance.
• Crankshaft: is out of an F-650 which is steel.
• Rods: Crower H- beam.
• Cam and lifters: Crower (flat tappet)
• Head: From a 240 cu in Ford (much smaller chamber than a 300) that I ported and put in Chev. 1.94 and 1.60 stainless valves and added some BBChev. Crower roller rockers.
• Injection: Hilborn which came off a 351 Winsdor. Modified, by me to work on the six.
• Exhust: zoomies I made and are 1 3/4 X 18″ long.
• Ignition: Vertex Magneto with rare earth magnets
• Transmission: Powerglide with 1.82 ratio gears and 3000 stall converter and trans brake.
• Rear: Chrysler 8 3/4 with 3.91 gears with 11 1/2 X 31″ tires.
• Weight: 1190 lb. without fuel and driver.

Cars best time was 9.34 @ 134.

I couldn’t run under 10 sec. this weekend at Speedworld because the Chassis certification had expired in Nov. 08.

Unfortunately, I did a dumb thing… when I built the car, I never took any pics, not until it was done. Looking back, I bought the chassis out of New Brunswick Canada in 2004 and had to replace the right top rail as they had bashed it out to fit a Big Block Chevy. After that, I ended up rebuilding everything on the chassis.

I don’t have any history on the car but through other Std. 1320 members we have pinned it down to a 1968 or 69. I found evidence of old Chrysler mounts and I’m sure it was high gear only with a double disc clutch. That Chrysler rear axle appears to be original.

I’m strictly into nostalgia cars and don’t like the looks of a RED.

Thanks for the info Wayne! The six looks great and a 9.34 ain’t slow! Good luck with future races…

Got a front engine dragster? Whether you know the history or not, let us know!