Hi Paul, I see on their website it states that the switches are suitable for marine use and they are moister proof.....does not mean they are waterproof.
I have not seam welded anything at the moment, The rules on reinforcing etc will need to followed. I am wanting to keep this build as period correct as possible in everyway to 1964,5 & 6 when these were raced up to Group2 & 5 I think.
It will be really interesting racing this car as close to exact build with no "new add ons" to make it better than it was.
I like The FEs very much, that's a rare engine you had, is it still about?
I will build another car after this with a FE.
Cheers
I have done a heap of research on body reinforcing and welding that may have been done at Holman Moody and... I can't see in any period pictures or anywhere of any reinforcing apart from when the cars were built to group 5 and there was extra reinforcing added around the rear spring hanger chassis holes as some cracking occurred.... after 1964 and then 2 years of full on racing, they went to wider rims, more traction, more stress on the suspension, this is likely what caused the stress cracks.
Of course safety being what it wasn't in 1964 there were no roll cages in the 64' Monte Carlo Falcons.
The Falcons did not have the upper Monte Carlo rally bar above the engine, only mustangs were fitted with these.
The MCR falcons had a lower suspension brace bar likely H-M fabrication that fitted under the sump and attached to the engine bracket bolts. A very tight fit. Also had the export brace fitted to the upper front suspension towers.
Both 63 & 64 had long aluminium skid plates under the of the front engine and these were bolted to the front chassis and engine brace. Also in rear below the fuel tank there was another skid plate
Below is the 6 cylinder lower brace bar, this does not fit with the V8 engine mount configuration and quick ratio steering.
Attachment 43209
Here is an interesting link on Fords 427 SOHC engine, a fantastic piece of engineering at the time. 600hp straight out of the crate was the talk back then
https://macsmotorcitygarage.com/camm...d-427-sohc-v8/
Yes, the manifolds are red hot in this picture!, I believe that this was the test engine
Attachment 43340
That is a lot of timing chain
Attachment 43341
I think that is 1 piece of VERY COOL engineering. They had tunnel port heads
I had some help with the original steel rims and found a set from Neil, he has some great TBirds, including a factory 427 Tasca Bird!. These are the correct Kelsey Hays 5.5 inch rims.
Attachment 43375
I fitted the rims up together with the Kelsey hays 4 pot discs and a very nice fit.
Attachment 43377
The steel brake shoe access panel will be fitted with a split pin removal, very quick to change shoes
Attachment 43378
I also fitted the interior primary cut off switch and it fit very nicely where the cigarette lighter was.
In the background is the manual transmission steering column
Attachment 43379
Got back to longboard sanding the body down, to do this all the panels need to be fitted back up as perfect fit. Then long board sand the body and also across the fitted panel gaps to get the best finish.
I fitted up the bright work trim also to ensure all is lining up correctly. Too late to change anything after its painted!
Attachment 43380
Attachment 43381
There is only so much longboard sanding you can do when you would just like to play with some other parts... so I got distracted and continued engineering the final fit for the brakes, The Kelsey Hays rims gave much needed clearance for the Callipers and some room to breath too
Attachment 43422
The spindles will get a nice restoration soon.. after the fitting
The good thing about this build is there is so much room to fit brake cooling ducts it will be quite easy to do...That's later
I continued with the original in line brake booster and fitted that up, I needed to fabricate an outer bracket as best I could from original photos and fitted this.
Attachment 43423
Attachment 43424
Nice work Paul, That will be a very impressive car.
Thanks for the photos and updates.
Bruce.
I went back over the oil cooler to check the fit and measure up for the radiator
I was lucky enough to find an original photo of the black aluminium mesh (debris protection) for the oil cooler. It looked a bit crude but none the less same as original so that's how I built it
Attachment 43425
I need to also fabricate a new bracket to fit the Oil cooler
Attachment 43426
Attachment 43427
I moved on with the final pre-fit for the roll cage, I need to fit up all of the window winders, door handles and seats and the handbrake. Very easy to forget to pre-fit that part. It is a fairly tight fit but all fits snug.
Attachment 43428
Attachment 43429
The long weekends over Easter were great to get a lot of jobs done. I also pre- fitted the quick ratio steering. and need to final check clearances for the lower tower support bar
Attachment 43430
The original H-M built FIA car was 3.25 turns from lock to lock. Very good steering for 1964
Attachment 43431
I think I've run out of superlatives for this build.
This is turning into a "How to' for building a HMC specification car. I am looking forward to meeting and having a chat - maybe on 20th May at HD. Magnificent job Paul.
Thanks Bruce, Mike & Steve,
It has been super interesting researching the build and I think it makes it more satisfying for me having the correct parts in the correct place.
I had a big glitch with the diff, as it was a HD Lincoln Versailles, so I after a lot of searching I found a correct early Galaxie housing, I have the LSDiff head already so the diff build is next to follow.
Still waiting for the roll cage fit.
It would be great to catch up on 20th - working on it!
Cheers to all