[John W.]

Things have been pretty slow with school, work, & life in general. I was able to make some serious progress today, though. I have the brakes *almost* done. There's a single section of ~12" of hard brake line I have to replace, then I can bleed everything, and I could even drop the car off the jackstands! The new front U-Joint arrives on Monday, so I have until *at least* then.



The original rear drums FIT INSIDE the Cougar rears. Now that's SAFETY!!!



The fronts are together, but the location of the bleeder screw means I can't really put the wheels on until it's been bled. Since the small section of the rear is still pending, the front it still up in the air.



The rear wheels are on, and looking good! Everything left on the rear can be done with the wheels on. I could even put the back seat back together! Wowza!



The old shocks are a real flash-back! They've gotta be 30-years old? The air shocks haven't held air in a LONG time, and the fronts are NAPA "Heavy Duty" in red? My local NAPA guy remembers selling them back in the '80's, but he can't be any more specific than that. They're trashed! Even though the new Monroe's are just $25 replacements, they're going to ride like magic compared to this setup.



If the weather holds, this might be the last week of solitary confinement for the little Falcon. God, I hope so, because the MN weather hasn't been very promising.

[47Austin]

Oh by the way that is a 10" convertor i have not 12. Pictures didn't come thru, must be photo bucket thingy.

[John W.]

Well, the last quart of gear oil is SLOWWWWWWLLLLLLYYYYY pouring in. It's cold here in MN, so it's flowing like a dry turd. BUT - when it eventually finishes, I should be ready to test drive & it's supposed to be 40-degrees on Sunday. Hoo-Ray!!!

While lying under the little sedan, I realized it's well-past time to invest in some floor pans for this thing. *SIGH* --- Well, maybe I can have them do the floor & the motor mounts at the same time? (Same shop that did the rear frame patches.)

Because the "S" is for "Savings."

[John W.]

It's back on the road! For the most part, at least . . .



The brakes are absolutely great. Along with the new shocks, it drives like a completely different car.

The brake pedal is riding a little too high, which causes the brake light switch to flake out a little. And there's a strange vibration every once in a while, which I think is the new U-Joints settling into place. It's also so cold now that the borked choke really makes me wonder if it's any faster with the new gears. It no longer does 1-wheel wonders in the rain, though!

Next goal, I want to get the 2.3L to bench-run! If the weather holds, maybe over Christmas break? We'll see!?!

[John W.]

2 of 3 finals complete, but the choke on the 200 doesn't operate at all. So, now, it's either full-choke or WOT. Not particularly useful.

I'm still working on a few small brake leaks, but for the most part the new setup is AWESOME! Would recommend CSRP for any '60's Ford Front Disc conversion you're considering. The kit is fantastic!

I have this week off of work to study for the last final. Once that's done, I hope to get some finishing work done on the 2.3, maybe even get it cranking! Classes start again in late Jan, and I want to have it bench-run at least once before then.

[TurboRay]

Originally posted by John W.:


I'm still working on a few small brake leaks.....

Brake FLUID leaks? :eek: <font color=navy>

[John W.]

Yup, brake fluid. Nothing bad, just some small leaks, all on the rears.

I know one is the prop valve, & to fix it I'm going to have to loosen the MC again. While I'm doing that one, I'm going to replace the brake light switch on the pedal - it seems to be a little flaky, lighting up only when you really hammer on the pedal. The wires running to it were really cracked and scary, so they're going to be new.

I'm also considering replacing the main rear run, front to back, with a single piece. It's currently three pieces coupled together, and I think the end piece is a homemade (not by me) doo-hickey that adapts the 3/16 line to 1/4" line for the axle rubber line. Since the whole point of this conversion was to improve the brakes, I should probably finish that first!

[John W.]

Not much happening these-a-days. It's bitter cold in the North & we've been hit with a LOT of snow. I have a lead on another '68 Falcon, maybe in better overall shape. So the ENTIRE project might . . . ummm . . . move laterally? We'll see . . .

That said, I'm setting 3/1 as my new drop-dead date for getting the 2.3T to run. I actually just ordered up a bunch of fuel conversion stuff & a new intercooler. Why 3/1? Why, I'm glad you asked.

3/1 is my personal "MAN DAY." A day when men, like me, unite to shrug the confines of winter and do something manly (read: stupid). Last year, I bought the Falcon. The year before that, I replaced a good portion of the gas line in my house, by myself. The year before that, I replaced the intake manifold gasket on my Ranger - because I can (and it was leaking horribly).

This year, I'm going to start an engine outside of a car. For fun.

[47Austin]

Is your new one a 2 door ,John ?

[John W.]

Of course not! In fact, the "new" one wasn't even an auto transmission!

It's a 4dr in really faded dark blue, with a light blue interior and horrible beige "bucket" seats that look more like captains chairs out of a conversion van. Been sitting since 2003. It's not great, and the stink factor is off the charts, but there's very little rust and almost no bondo. The shiny parts are shiny and the body is really straight. It's going to mean a lot of rework, but save me a TON of metal work.

Keep you posted . . .