New Member - 1960 Falcon Two Door Wagon

Thanks OrthmannJ for the feedback and positive comments.

 

The door handles on my wagon are original and show their age as the chrome has nearly worn off from use. These NOS Falcon handles, without push buttons or hardware, are currently available on eBay for $300.00. If I were building a Concours d'Elegance contender I could justify the price.



The great thing about 1960-63 Falcons is 1965-66 Mustang parts can be modified to work and are usually much less expensive. I found these complete Mustang door handles with excellent chrome for $20 on eBay.



The following reviews the simple modifications required to make the Mustang parts work on my Falcon wagon.

The Falcon push pin attached to the button that opens the door is longer than the one for a Mustang. A vise and pliers made easy work of removing the Falcon pin from the button. The great part is the Mustang buttons pictured already have an unused hole drilled in that accepted the Falcon push pins perfectly. The original Falcon spring replaces the Mustang's and the original Falcon retainer the pin moves through is installed upside down which completes the modification. It was quick and easy to modify the Mustang door handles to work on my Falcon and saved me $280.00 in the process.

 

My pleasure.

The Mustang Door handles look great. They should work well. I know from my experience rebuilding the 63 Ranchero that the Mustang/Falcon interchangeability can come in handy.

 

Great advice and info! Thank you!!!

 

Love the Buick taillights!!! Had a '62 Falcon 2D wagon way back but rust ate the front subframe and they just werent worth fixin back then. Hindsight tells me it was worth fixin. unc

 

I am definitely using 1965-66 Mustang parts as the prices are often much lower than 1960-63 Falcon parts.

When I rebuilt the front suspension of the Ranchero, the Falcon-Mustang interchangeability proved incredibly cost effective. Moreover, the engineering of the 1965 Mustang V8 suspension is considered superior to the 1963 V8 Falcon's and is recommended on Falcon specific websites.

For the Ranchero I used 1965 Mustang V8 spindles, upper and lower control arms and related suspension components. With the exception of the center link which is shorter for the Falcon than the Mustang, all the parts are readily available from multiple Mustang vendors and at a much lower cost than sourcing '63 Falcon V8 suspension parts. I also completed the Shelby drop which further improved the suspension geometry for the Ranchero.

I am certain 1965-66 Mustangs will continue to contribute parts to both my Ranchero and Falcon wagon projects. I already found a rare 1965 Mustang bench seat but am uncertain whether to use it for the Ranchero or the wagon.

 

Thanks uncledave for the comments.

Your '62 2 door Falcon wagon had lower production numbers than my 1960 and would have been great to have been able to keep. Even in California, rust can destroy cars if left to the elements. Fortunately my Ranchero was found in the California desert and was 100% rust free. However, there was sand everywhere so I always wore safety goggles whenever I turned a wrench underneath the truck. Here is a picture of my Ranchero's sandy interior when I first brought it home.



I am with you on hindsight as it has a way of turning into 20/20 vision years later. 20 years ago no one wanted a Falcon, much less a wagon, so they were dirt cheap. Today they are incredibly popular and the prices have gone up considerably.

Thankfully I bought my wagon from a motivated seller at a great price with nice upgrades like front disc brakes, dual master cylinder and 10 inch brakes on an 8 inch rear end. The Mustang 200 engine and C4 transmission were recently rebuilt and the minimal rust in the toe boards was repaired with new floor pans. As noted previously, my wagon will have 1960's design cues but nothing too radical that will prevent driving it on a regular basis.

On a related tangent, these Falcon wagons were built with different design directions but all look great.

 

With the day off for the President's Day Holiday, I installed the NOS grill, and new bumper on the wagon.
NOS F-O-R-D letters and NOS turn signal lenses completed the refreshed front of my project.

 

Looks very nice!
I am wondering if you would like to move some of this from the "Welcome" forum and start a thread over on the Station Wagon Projects forum (under cosmetics & restoration)

http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/forums/station-wagon-projects.32/

Just an idea.

Either way, I enjoy seeing you progress.