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This is where Cass found the Falcon; In grandpa's back yard in Montana behind the shed....AtGrandpasHouse.gif (59581 bytes)

Although Dick had been driving the car daily up until about a year earlier, we decided to haul it to Arizona

 HaulFalcon.gif (50722 bytes)           The original Falcon...OldFalcon.gif (63396 bytes)  

After completely disassembling the car, we used a combination of sandblasting, chemicals, and sanding to strip all of the old paint and undercoating off.  Non of it was easy nor pleasant work.  Next time, if there is a next time, I believe I would invest in a rotisserie for working under the car.FalconSandBlast.gif (75754 bytes) BareFalcon.gif (64491 bytes)  

We had rust to repair on both rear quarter panels, front rocker panel, and most of the floor of the trunk.  FalconRemTrunkFloor.gif (79733 bytes) All rusted areas were cut out and repaired with new sheet metal.

Here we are checking the fit on the mustang gas tank (after narrowing it by about 3")......FalconTankTrunk.gif (129424 bytes)

The shock towers were cut out to allow for the installation of the cross member and Mustang II IFS kit.

 CutShockTower2.gif (51242 bytes)    CutShockTower.gif (51385 bytes)  

Early trial to see how engine was going to fit....  FalconEngineInstall.gif (90166 bytes) and after several attempts 

trying to get the transmission in I ended up cutting the entire tunnel out and rebuilding it...FalconTransInstall.gif (47943 bytes)

Fabricating the plate to hold the Mustang master cylinder/brake pedal assembly... FabFalconBrakePlate.gif (66978 bytes)

 At this time we had most of the metal work in the engine compartment done including moving the firewall
back a little, shock tower holes patched, pop-out for air cleaner on right side and new battery tray on left
side, plate for brake pedal assembly, and radiator area rebuilt.  I also patched the heater hole on the right 
side after this.

  FalconEngCompBare.gif (77904 bytes) 

We installed the engine and transmission as one unit...EnginePutIn.gif (89112 bytes)

You can see the difference in the radiator area in this picture compared to the earlier one...EnginePutIn1.gif (86677 bytes)

The electrical wiring was a pretty big chore in itself.  We used the Mustang wiring harness and adapted it to fit the Falcon while discarding all of the wires we didn't need (ABS, Air Bag, Electric seats, etc., etc.).   While on this phase of the work, my wife and daughter asked me at one point what was taking so long.  I showed them the Falcon electrical schematic which is all of one page for the entire car and then the Mustang schematic which was a book with 48 sections to it and said "Gee, I don't know."  The original Falcon had its fuse box as part of the light switch with about 5 fuses in it.  We now have a fuse box in the engine compartment and one under the dash with a total of about 30 fuses.  I went through about 20 packages (15/pkg) of butt connectors (hope they all hold...)

  FalconWiring.gif (121768 bytes)  FalconWiring2.gif (87059 bytes)

All we need now is to put the fenders, doors, and hood on...EngineElecDone.gif (81683 bytes) DoorsAndHood.gif (66777 bytes)

And, Yes, Cass did help....

CassHelp.gif (81580 bytes) CassHelp2.gif (83362 bytes)

And, somehow, Grandpa managed to be in Arizona in time for the first test drive...

BobCassGramps.gif (55199 bytes)      GrampsDrive.gif (70335 bytes)

After 2 years, the finished product... 113-1349_IMG.JPG (361132 bytes)