Lavron's '64 Build Thread

[Jims65cyclone]

Ahhh! Forward progress again. Lookin' good!
Jim

[lavron]

Ahhh! Forward progress again. Lookin' good!
Jim

Thanks.

I got the front upper bag brackets modified, here is a before and after, I know I cut them down a lot but they were a cheap pair ($25) and they didn't give dimensions in the eBay ad, I took a chance they were at least thick enough, they are 1/4" thick.



I also got them welded in.



Well this might mean something significant, I believe that all the welding is done on the M2 crossmember install, there will be additional stuff like the inner fender filler plates etc. but everything else is optional

Heading to town right now to get bolts for bags and a few odds and ends, I also need more gas, I think I will get the bigger bottle, this time I probably used that much I may pick up another spool of wire just in case, it is hard to tell how much is left in the welder and I guess it won't spoil

More to come...

See Ya,
Mike

[Cobraguy]

I'm so glad I found this build thread. I'm just getting ready to weld in my crossmember on my 62 Falcon (250/C4). Thanks for the quick reply on the PM. Knowing that I need 5" from the pan rail to the top of crossmember is critical information. I think a pair of drop spindles is cheaper than a fox body v8. I get to avoid a "practice install" too.

[lavron]

Knowing that I need 5" from the pan rail to the top of crossmember is critical information.

It is actually from the top of the rack to the pan rail, if you can get a bit more it would help, you have to still have at least a little clearance over the steering rack.

Ok it is official the front suspension is done.



The awful green colored thing is the sway bar, I got it yesterday or the day before, I bought new bolts for it because I wanted S.A.E. bolts but they need to be a tad longer they don't really reach the nylon lock in the nuts.



I may have to do something with the end link, the bar came with a weld on tab but my lower arms already had tube welded to them for the sway bar link so I used it, it is a bit far out, I could go ahead and pull the lower arms and weld the tabs on but not going to for now.

Waiting on my temporary air valve stems to arrive so I can put a little air in the bags and see if it all falls apart, they are supposed to be here Friday, I am going to get the rear bags bolted in tomorrow, it shouldn't take me but a few minutes. I still need to install my limiting straps on the rear but have decided to forgo them on the front, between the sway bar and the shocks I don't think the bag will overextend

BONUS ROUND Not quite the end of the third month so I guess the next few days are a bonus round, going to try and get the steering column done, I will share my story on that when I actually do it I will include pictures of course.

See Ya,
Mike

[lavron]

I forgot to mention that added bump stops on the shock shafts, you can see one in the picture above (the lower picture) it is the black rubber thing sitting on top of the shock body, it may be too tall but I think I can trim it if I need too but it is a progressive bump stop for a more modern Ford strut suspension, I also bought some VW bump stops at the same time because they were like $2 each, they fit as well but are an ugly beige color. However they are softer than the black ones (I think the black ones are poly).

I also failed to mention that I had to mod the shock mounts as well, the shock body contacted the front of the mount (poor planning on my part) but it was a fairly simple fix to trim the mount back to clear. Today was supposed to be a quick install on the sway bar and then reassemble everything and then I had to mod those shock mounts so it took me a bit longer than anticipated, all was good because I still got stuff like my grass mowed

When I took my gas bottle to exchange yesterday, I think it is a 40#, I decided to up my bottle size and pay the difference for the bigger bottle, they don't carry the next size up so I had to go two sizes up, I think the new one 125# (a big tall bottle $105 one time up charge) but where as the 40# costs $20 to refill, the 125# is $39 which is quite a bit cheaper for 3X the gas. Hopefully I have slowed down a little on welding now, or maybe not

Big thing will be setting a goal for next month, I need to look through the parts I have on hand and decide what can be done, one thing for sure is to get the motor mocked up and build mounts for it and the transmission.

See Ya,
Mike

[tomb22]

Your coming along very nicely Mike. Thanks for the pictures. Your doing a heck of a job. I enjoy seeing your progress.
Tom

[Jims65cyclone]

Mike....it took you a long time to get started, but once you pulled the trigger you've been like a house on fire. You're making tremendous progress in a short time frame. Congratulations!
Jim

[poboyjo65]

He sure has & I figure you will do the same if you ever get started on it JIm!!! Yea Nice pace Mike just keep chuggin, do what you can, while you can.

[Cobraguy]

Looking good Mike. Here's a link to my 250 build https://fordsix.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t ... uy#p560803
Nothing fancy just shaved the block to reduce deck height and bump compression to around 9-1. There are no performance timing sets out there and stock ones are really hard to find. You'll want a 69,70 bottom gear for the better cam timing 71 on is 4* retarded. It lives on 87 octane and gets 17mpg all day long.
I expect to have my crossmember in and done in two to three weeks then start massaging the oil pan.
I took some pics and a bunch of measurements and now have a game plan.

[Cobraguy]

Hey looking at your pictures I see that the lower control arm through bolt is a grade 5. You might want to spring for a grade 8 there. Under heavy braking there is a huge amount of shear force applied to the rear side on that type (no strut rod) of set up. There was an instance of that happening here in San Diego recently with the result of 1 totaled T bucket and a dead driver.

[lavron]

Hey looking at your pictures I see that the lower control arm through bolt is a grade 5. You might want to spring for a grade 8 there.

Those are the bolts that came with the lower control arms, however it seems I am replacing every bolt with grade 8 stuff so I may as well change those too

Thanks.

I will check your engine build out today.

See Ya,
Mike

[Cobraguy]

The build thread is an unended story. So far I have 12,000 miles on it. It runs great. Pulls hard to about 75-80 then starts running out of breath, log head with a single RBS carb. Still gets 17mpg and will do a decent burnout.

[lavron]

There are no performance timing sets out there and stock ones are really hard to find. You'll want a 69,70 bottom gear for the better cam timing 71 on is 4* retarded.

Hard to find like everything else on a 250 thanks for that tidbit I will start looking for one.

Looking forward - I assume 3/16" is the correct size brake lines? And is everyone happy still with the copper-nickel tubing? I would love to do stainless but not willing to bend it etc. or pay for it

I got my valves in the mail today hopefully tomorrow I can be on air, crossing my fingers I don't discover any errors

See Ya,
Mike

[Cobraguy]

Stainless is as easy to bend as any other you just have to make sure your right on it doesn't like to unbend. Flaring it can be challenging unless you use that $700 one that I've seen on the hot rod tv shows

[lavron]

Flaring it can be challenging unless you use that $700 one that I've seen on the hot rod tv shows

That is kinda outside my budget I think the NiCor stuff will be ok with me, I really haven't seen anything negative about it.

To say I am beyond happy would be an understatement yet again, I got air in my bags today and to prove it here are some picts

All the way down (on the bumps 0# of air) and all the way up.




Nothing rubs, the closest thing is the sway bar link when they are fully collapsed so I may move it anyway and use the weld on tabs that came with the sway bar, they weld to the front of the A-arm so they would be far away.

A couple of big surprises, first I wasn't thinking about it and when I raised the car up off the jack stands well it rolls, so I quickly got the tires all blocked, I would hate for it to roll off the ramps Second is the air bags really react quickly, they will probably slow down when I put the 1/4" air line on which would be a good thing, also they don't take much air, completely raised they are at around 60# and hard, I know this will change some when the car has a motor, etc.

The car will also roll fully aired out on the bumps so I think I have enough of the rear outer wheel wells removed, I will check and see how close it all is. It is good everything clears on the bumps because the current valves will probably leak air, most likely I will raise it back up on jack stands for now.

OK, well I am stoked, I need to get back out and do a little real work.

See Ya,
Mike