Early Falcon Car Club

of Western Australia

Hunting Falcons

Thinking of buying an early Falcon? Join the club. The XL and XM are the most well appointed, while the XK was the first and the XP has the largest cult following. They all have similar good and bad points. The most important feature to look for is a complete car one which has all its chrome work, the right seats and wheels etc.

The general condition of everything will play a big part in the price you pay but make a special point of examining the die-cast MARZAC fitting for pitting, the door handles, window winders, headlight surrounds, horn-push and any bonnet ornaments. Damage to these parts, in the main, falls into the throw away and find replacements category. Finding them can be very time consuming.

Rust, the sore spots in Hardtops, Utes and Vans is mainly in the rear quarter panels between the door and the front of the rear wheel arch but often include the entire wheel arch. The rocker panels, or sills, on Hardtops for some reason last pretty well. This is not the case with all the other body styles. Check the sills well. Another point on all models to take a good look at is the plenum box. This is the chamber below the grill that's in front of the windscreen where fresh air enters the car. See plenum box fix-it Restration Hint The best test is to pour a jug of water into the grill vent before taking the car for a short drive. Then with a torch look under the driver and passenger sides of the dash for water leaks. The front door pillars too must be checked from top to bottom for rust and the outside lower corners of the windscreen.

 

(Above) The top of the plenum box removed reviles the full extent of the rust damage and some attempt at repair, bog at 9 o'clock of the floor vent.

Look for telltale rust-spots and/or bog between the lower chrome windscreen surround and the clearance gap of the front guard.
(Above) Corner of the windscreen with bog removed damaged 'A' pillar and double-skin areas are almost beyond repair.

This is serious rust damage and only worth considering for repair in rare models. A complete body swap would be a better option on a four-door Futura or Fairmont.


Check the floor in the footwells on both the driver and passenger sides, the area in the boot around the fuel tank and the parcel shelf in Utes The bottom and outside skin of doors and the window frames, particularly at the point where they enter the doors and the bottom and outside skin of tailgates. Check in the engine bay at the top of the side-walls between the suspension towers and the firewall, inside and out of the front lip of the bonnet. The floor below the fuel tank in Utes and Vans is particularly at risk if the rear shock absorber covers are missing. Use a fridge type plastic magnet to find the bog areas.

Around the front suspension look for split and worn rubbers. Unless the car has had new rubber or urethane parts fitted, plan on replacing them and all ball joints, trackrod ends etc. sometime in the future. Shock absorbers are readily available and sagging leaf springs can be cheaply reset but it's best done after the front-end rebuild has, settled in.

The steering box is normally trouble free. Check for excessive play at the wheel. If there is it can generally be readjusted with the locking nut on the box. Quite often the steering box will have run dry of oil, remove the top and re-packed it with Molybdenum Di-sulphide grease eg Castrol LMM.

The XP auto gear shift control hub, or coffee pot, should show no signs of wear as the original replacements, ones with a light, are very hard to obtain. After market hubs are available for the other models and will fit the XP but don't buy the cheap ones. Sloppy and worn gear linkages can be fixed up by welding and grinding the control arms and replacement bushes are available for clutches.

Electrics, check the looms for nonstandard wires, over heating, excessive insulation tape, cable joiners etc. Make sure the indicators self cancel and the lights, wipers etc. work. Heaters and or original radios are worth paving that little bit extra for. Look for cracked lenses and deep scratches or dents in the tail light buckets. Shallow ones can be polished out and the buckets re-anodised. The instrument cluster too can be re-silvered but again look out for deep scratches and cracks.

Brakes, linings and wheel bearings are all serviceable but rear wheel brake cylinder cups for Fairmont Wagons are hard to get and overhaul kits for the Girling brake servo are very expensive.

Vehicles that have been altered, mag wheels, bucket seats and wrong motors, can pose problems. The split front bench seat from the Deluxe Hardtop is very hard to find but can be made from a Sedan bench seat. The original 14 inch 4 stud wheels, also from the Hardtops with disc brakes and Fairmonts, along with their respective 10 inch full wheel trims and the 13 inch 5 stud wheels for Utes and Vans are as rare as rockinghorse poo.

Motor Diagram

Fig 1. Points of interest with inter-changed engine parts.

 

The 5 main bearing 144 - 170ci engines are also getting hard to find bits for, with pistons and un-bored blocks high on the list. The "Super Pursuit" 7 mains 200ci is the best replacement but also hard to find, followed by the 7 mains 221ci with a couple of thick washers under the mounts so the sump clears the tie-bar. If you want to stay with a six the only thing left that looks somewhat right is the 200 - 250ci. It requires modifications such as using XR - XT mounts to clear the sump. The water pump shaft shorterned to allow the fan to clear the radiator, or maybe fit and electric fan. A thinner air cleaner is also required so the bonnet can be closed.

Remember that the manual gearbox and 2 speed auto have a narrow bellhousing and only fit 144 - 170ci narrow-end motors or the wide-end motor using an adapter plate. Likewise 3 speed Borg Warner autos will not fit 144 - 170ci narrow-end blocks at all without changing a whole load of stuff, like flywheels, starter motors and ringgear etc.

Front and back glass, window rubbers and bailey channels are available but pricey particularly the roofrail rubbers for the Hardtops. Door hinges can be re-bushed, scuff plates re -anodised, locks adjusted and windows re-aligned.

Depending on your skills it’s sometimes better to buy at the top end of the market with all the work done to a proven and tested high standard. If you can do the work, or get someone to do it for you, buy at the cheap end of the market and spend the difference doing up the car.

Never buy a mid to high priced car that's been done up with intention of fixing the things wrong with it. It's all or nothing. Unfinished projects are an exception and are quite often a good way to pick up a bargain. You can see what's been done and how well, and in some cases it's just a matter of taking it to the bodyshop for some putty and paint then putting it back together. If the car is in pieces make a list of all the internal and external parts from photos and reference books or someone who knows about the model and check the bits against the list before you buy.

If you are buying interstate contact the early Falcon Club in that state to send a member to check it out. You have to be very brave or foolish to buy a car sight unseen

© BigH 1997

DISCLAIMER While this method has been tried and works, NO responsibility will be excepted by the Author, the Club or any of its Members.

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