Originally posted by hotrodfords
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'65 Ford Wagon - barn find
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Here are a few petina shots. Here's the ancient NRA sticker on the passenger side windshield:
...and here's the bullet hole on the driver's side rear door. The bullet changed trajectory because it ended up going though the aft door sill. When we were wet sanding dad wanted to "clean this up". I said don't you dare! I taped it over until the buffing was done.
Last edited by hotrodfords; March 26, 2017, 09:39 AM.
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ITS ALIVE!!!
Fired first crank! It's so much nicer to fire an engine that doesn't need a camshaft break in... We have one vacuum leak to solve and I did manage to puke power steering fluid on the driveway owing to an unsecured return hose :P
Next project is fix the pitiful bench seat. I picked up a seat in much better condition out of a '66 Ford Custom 4dr being parted out on Craigslist for $40 (Looked like a good deal until I saw address - middle of the 'hood! I got in and out unscathed after braving scorpions and gangbangers hanging out at the house across the street). We'll clean it up and put an Indian blanket cover on it.
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We got as far as we could before our shakedown trip. We got new carpet in and squared away the plates and registration, cleaned it up and are ready for the road. We leave tomorrow early am for the Knott's Fab Ford Show in LA. We haven't driven it more than 20 minutes but now were heading out 200+ miles across the desert, LoL!
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So the Knott's Berry Farm adventure is over, and it seemed to go by in a blur. It was a great time and I'm glad I did it. Dad's 76, he's still spry and game to do stuff like this. Do it while we can. Here are the take aways...
I'll start with the "goods" rather than the "bads". First off, the wagon made it down and back and didn't break down, didn't leave us stranded, and I don't think we dropped any parts on the road! That was success by any measure. The car had a grand total of 20 minutes of road time since 1982 before we fired it up for 400+ mile round trip, including the always precarious LA traffic. Second, the Borg Warner 3 on the tree with Overdrive worked flawlessly and it's awesome. I don't have a tach in the car, but my calculations say at 60mph it drops the RPMs from 2,200rpm to 1,600rpm. It's cool to be able to floor the throttle to pass and have it auto jump down to high gear no OD. On the I-15 it was cruising at 75 no effort. This isn''t a forum about MPG, but the car generated some pretty amazing numbers on the trip back, with the last leg I calculated from Victorville to Baker getting 18.4 MPG(!). The previous leg from Victorville to Buena Park and back to Victorville was 16.5 MPG so I'm confident it's turning the number. 4500lb wagon with a low tech 390 FE.
I also dig wing windows, and I have a 'farmer tan" on my left arm that's noteworthy from hanging the left arm out the window. It was cool to go flying by "nig-nogs" in environmentally encapsulated comfort of Prius' while we're ball-walking and hanging it out with drum brakes, no a/c and spewing them with spent hydrocarbins un-tamed by catalytic converters.
For the "bads", the fuel gauge was a no show from the beginning and we'll have to figure thing thing out. Wipers work, but no washer fluid 'cause the pump's dead and the bag is shot. We drove at dusk/night on the way back and the window got pretty sketchy with bugs, but I didn't dare hit the wipers. Front seat needs a re-do prior to any long distance trips. Mouse turds continue to be found as they work themselves out of everywhere.
But finally, the exhaust. OMG! I sawed off the useless, and sure to drop on the pavement tailpipes, a while back and bailing wired up what was left of the mufflers. But the exhaust smell was nasty. The tailgate weather seal is totally dead and I think it was sucking up the exhaust being carelessly dumped in front of the rear axle. We would have had new pipes on, but the warped exhaust manifold and the time to remove it replace it twice during our troubleshooting, (then finally getting it surfaced) stole the last bit of time we had at the final thrash.
I still have a smile on my face!
On Rt66 at the Bottle Tree Farm:
At Emma Jean's, an iconic and classic old school Diner on Rt 66 in operation since '47. Sit up at the bar and order the Brian Burger with fries, and cap it with the "made from scratch" cobbler ala'mode with coffee or maybe a strawberry shake:
Good times:
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What a great adventure! So cool that you and Dad (BTW, he's not THAT much older than I am) enjoyed each other. You might want to invest in a pair of aftermarket cats just so you don't gas yourselves - they aren't all that expensive. Just put them as close to the engine as you can as they need heat to light off. They don't have much backpressure and you might find you can use them instead of mufflers (had a friend who did that). And the tailpipes will be a good thing, too. New weather seals will also help, no doubt - Steele Rubber Products, maybe?
Dan
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FiTech or a Holley EFI kit Ill bet you get over 20 mpg ... and fix the exhaust ... fumes killyour kids can have their own racecar www.aasbd.org
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Originally posted by derbydad276 View PostFiTech or a Holley EFI kit Ill bet you get over 20 mpg ... and fix the exhaust ... fumes kill
Yep exhaust is bad...we drove with the windows down but you couldn't drive it if they had to be up. We didn't really figure it out for about 10 minutes at the beginning of the drive but we weren't turning back. Windows went down and we pressed on.
I had the original and virgin carb rebuilt by the last carb guru left in Vegas so I don't think i'm swapping EFI just yet...but I've done it before so who knows? Maybe next year. Mileage still blows me away...
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Originally posted by DanStokes View PostWhat a great adventure! So cool that you and Dad (BTW, he's not THAT much older than I am) enjoyed each other. You might want to invest in a pair of aftermarket cats just so you don't gas yourselves - they aren't all that expensive. Just put them as close to the engine as you can as they need heat to light off. They don't have much backpressure and you might find you can use them instead of mufflers (had a friend who did that). And the tailpipes will be a good thing, too. New weather seals will also help, no doubt - Steele Rubber Products, maybe?
Dan
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Love the car, and the trip, I need one of these.
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