You had better hold it right there Paul, I don't want hear of any other body changes you have made just to reduce the weight !
KH
You had better hold it right there Paul, I don't want hear of any other body changes you have made just to reduce the weight !
KH
Ha ha
Good point Ken, it could get very scary... real fast!
Back to sanding tomorrow to finish the shell off, had a few days away, very nice time!
Now you have done all this work Paul, its safe to tell you this story..
When I lived out in WestWorld, there was a guy I knew called Neil G.
Brother did he have a large collection of cars- this is mid 70s last century- in old massive chicken sheds....thats another story, so we wont go down this path.
Anyway, Neil made replica fibreglass guard for Toyota Corollas , HQ Holdens and many other types and brands when no one else was doing it and NOS was hellishly expensive.
This particular story is about his wifes 1964 Falcon Coupe e and decided to see what panels he could make for it.
Well, the chassis rails ,firewall were steel and just about everything else was changed.
Told me at the time lost more than 280 pounds- not kilos- from this exercise, as well as future proofing it against rust repairs. Also had enough pieces left over to make another Falcon Coupe
Why have I waited so long to tell you this......after all this work, heading towards the finish line, you are not going to undo all your painstaking work and try to replicate this weight loss ...or more.
Wow that is 127kg, they must have been made very light.
Neat story John, there are some clever people out there.
Cheers
Here is a great clip to fool you, actually filmed in 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...&v=o1MH9SwYVCc
Here is a great old clip from the 1960 Monte Carlo Rallye, good assortment of cars, great shots of France.
14.5 minutes long
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ov5brH94H4
1964 MONTE CARLO RALLYE 2700 MILES OF DRIVING (Old news paper article)Attachment 57706
Attachment 57707
Attachment 57708
Here is a good read also about the 64 Monte Carlo Rally
https://rallysportmag.com/looking-ba...e-ford-falcon/
This is Bill Meek in Perth, racing when he had his 1964 Falcon Rallye sprint, He built it 28 years ago or so. He won many events and holds many lap records in this car. This was the first Rallye Sprint Falcon built in Australia to CAMS specs and the car also holds Grandfather rights. Bill conducted a mammoth research mission to build this car taking him to Holman Moody in USA and interviewing Alan Mann in the UK. Over the years Bill has amassed a wealth of knowledge on these particular cars.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiUvPfeakvU
Update:
There has been a huge amount of sanding done to finish the car to final paint stage, it is almost finished, only 1 door left to finish.
The entire body inside and out has also been finished.
This was the Fiberglass hood with a powder guide coat applied before the 500 grit finishing sand,
Attachment 58018
This is the finished Fiberglass Fender & Door, a small amount of rub through that I will spot prime over and re 500 sand.
Attachment 58019
Attachment 58020
Finished Fiberglass inner fender panel that I had to make
Attachment 58021
And here is the finished body shell ready to go to paint
Attachment 58022
As mentioned earlier, it will be painted Wimbledon White, the factory colour of 1964
There will be some more paint finishing to do, dash, engine bay and blue side stripe, that will be done later after the paint hardens.
The fiberglass moves a little as it cures and there are some small low spots and 1 or 2 high spots that will make it look very original and true to how it looked in the day.... and I am just happy with the look and finish, its not perfect, but they never were.
Hopefully no one will notice as I hurtle down the front straight at a rapid pace of knots.
Not trying to tell how to suck eggs, but the Alpine had a plasticiser on the fibreglass bits to cope with the inevitable movement.
It is looking superb Paul.
Here is another Falcon Sprint recently built by American Muscle Motorsports & Services, in Germany. Although an Appendix K car, they've built it to Trans-Am spec, hence it has no bumpers. Looks cool.
Attachment 58023
Paul,
You may have these but I came across this 1964 US. Ford Falcon sales brochure and wanted to share some of it.
I hope that is ok.
Attachment 58024
Attachment 58025
Attachment 58026
Attachment 58027
( Ken H )
!964 Ford Falcon brochure continued.
Attachment 58028
Attachment 58029
Paul,
Will your car colour / color be similar to what Jim Richards had for his 1964 Ford Falcon Sprint in this 2010 photo at Adelaide's Parklands Circuit ?
Attachment 58030
(Ken H )
Thanks Rhys,
Its always nice to get a car perfectly straight for paint, after blocking this down over 4 times through all the sand paper grades, it is very clear that there will be some more movement in the race weight fiberglass. Albeit after 2 years the movement is a lot less now.
I also elected to use the resin manufacturers recommended formula and method. The inclusion of a plasticiser would have required too much testing and experimental work for me, that aside trying to find the correct plasticiser, so it went into the too hard basket.
The paint work should look very nice as the prep has gone very well, also being white it should be fairly forgiving.
I suppose this build is all about being original so the final finish will be just that.
I am really looking forward to assembly time, that when the good fun starts.
Cheers
Paul,
Will your car colour / color be similar to what Jim Richards had for his 1964 Ford Falcon Sprint in this 2010 photo at Adelaide's Parklands Circuit ?
Attachment 58030
(Ken H )[/QUOTE]
Ken,
Thanks for the posts, they are great, I like the old brochures, my garage walls are covered with them.
The paint (Wimbledon White) will be a creamy white colour and the blue stripe is a iridescent blue, Guardsman Blue. This is Lars's Car and will be the same as this.
Attachment 58055
Thats what I thought too Paul.
Attachment 58064
Love the colour schemes and the Dan Gurney Cougar. You must be getting excited now Paul. As always a superb job.
Thanks Mike,
The Wimbledon white is a very creamy colour and certainly fits in the period. I watched the first coats being applied today on the body panels. I am aiming for a very "original" look with the paint.
I am very pleased to see colour finally going on. Very happy at this milestone.
Cheers
Now you can let your finger prints get back to normal....well done Paul.
Looking forward to some coloured photos when we get to Manfield mate.
Finally the paint day has come!
I Have taken many step by step photos, (will be at Manfeild see you there) Here are some pics of the Fiberglass panels straight out of the spray booth. The panels have not been cut or buff polished yet.
I actually quite like the "straight off the spray gun" look as it pretty much reflects how the original cars would have looked so I may leave it like this. Open to feedback on opinions of course.
Front fenders
Attachment 58130
Attachment 58131
Hood
Attachment 58132
Attachment 58133
Trunk /boot
Attachment 58134
Attachment 58135
The doors will be finished hopefully tomorrow as they were a two colour spray with some interior colour on the inside frame.
Superb...
good to see correct terminology...hood, trunk etc.
Soon it will be a car, cant wait to see you at the track with it and see this Falcon fly.
Fantastic Paul, the panels look great, I'm with you on having the period 'texture' to the paint, it needs a certain amount of orange peel.
As nice as some of the over restored cars are, and they can be absolutely stunning, they are over restored as far as period correct and proper finish is concerned.
I love the Wimbledon White too. the perfect colour.
Holy macaroni, I think we all knew this would be superb, but this is really a whole new level of attention to the right details. Brilliant, and totally in keeping rather than a silhouette car. Total admiration Paul.
Thanks Spgeti, John, Bruce & Rhys,
So nice to see the fruits of toil and labour come into fruition.
Here are some pics of the fiberglass doors I made, (Pics in earlier posts, pages 8 & 9), the interior colour is red so the tops & bottoms of the original car doors were painted the trim colour, in this case Rangoon red. More pics to follow
Cheers
Attachment 58142
Attachment 58143
Leave it the way it is Paul - it looks superb. If it gets any more glossy we wouldn't be able to see the car for reflections but then again you might well be able to dazzle the opposition at race time. I am sure a lot of us are thinking 'do you really want to race this car'.
Same thing could be said about the Team Cambridge Monaro...it was always to go on the track, same as this Falcon.Track is a safe place so long as you always look in your mirrors and hold your line.
Be cool to follow this around the track, watching its cornering stance,,,was an Aussie one here some years ago, but that was like it was on rails.
Paul has been to enough Historic meetings to know that our racing is about respecting other peoples cars.
Worst part is cleaning the black tyre marks off the side of the car....no, that didnt come out right....hot tyre pieces flick up onto white paint leaving long black marks, needing cleaning off.
Thanks John & Mike,
It will probably be safer on the track than the road to be honest. I am surely going to look after it, but it sure won't hurt to stretch the old girls legs a bit around the track. And it will be good fun, really looking forward to driving this one.
Yes, I also agree I will leave the paint as it is
Cheers to all
Hi Paul,
It's looking superb mate! Can't imagine how you could have improved anything so far. BTW did you notice that Lars's car has '65 tail-lights?
I might have to cross the ditch to see this beast when its finished.
Cheers.
Thanks Bill,
I did spot the 65 tail lights on Lars's car, I actually prefer the 64 tail lights.
Bill, you would be very welcome if you wanted to come over when the Rallye Sprint is finished!
Maybe when an Historic race meeting is on too.
Cheers
I picked up the fiberglass doors yesterday from the paint shop. Mega hours of work making these and preparing for paint has really paid off now.... don't really want to make any more fiberglass doors for a while!
Attachment 58174
Attachment 58175
Attachment 58176
Woohoo! I love fresh paint! Awesome stuff Paul.
Good to see I'm not the only one who has car parts inside the house!
I have a dedicated room for car parts now that my son has left home.
When I was in my 20s, flatting, my house looked more like a garage. Engine block as a coffee table, chrome side trim on the walls, tail lights for light shades and the list goes on.
Those were the days!
Thanks also Steve, Hope to post up the painted rolling body in the next few weeks.
Cheers