1963 ford falcon V8 conversion

Just tried mocking up a V8 into a 64 Ranchero today. I figured Mustang hardware would work, like a lot of other people. The mounts are about an inch to far apart when using 66 Mustang hardware. Each mount is a half inch off. We have a Ranchero sitting next to a Mustang so I measured a few things. Turns out the mount holes for the engine mounts are an inch further apart on the falcon. Now I am debating between drilling new holes or spending a few hundred dollars. Will probably drill new holes. This things getting an AOD too but that will require floor modification. It was a rust bucket so don't get upset about butchering a good body.  

for brake upgrades the newer mustang gt calipers are best and easy to swap.... there is a falcon fairlane site that shows how ..very easy... the granada calipers tend to wear off one side of the rotors. V8 falcoln used to have a lot of bump steer.  when you put on the power and the front end lifts the front wheels turn to the left, at least mine did.  

If you still need the front suspension, pitman arm to the idler arm for a 63 V8 I have it. I bought it for my 65 but it wouldn't fit. It needed to be from a 65. If needed contact me at tomdw55@hotmail.com. Good luck  

Too bad I am not taking some course in college that required writing a paper. Let's see, Ford started producing V-8 powered Falcons back in late 62, which was "several years" ago, and people have been putting small block Fords into Falcons ever sense using the SAME, readily available parts the factory used.

And we still hear from these people who never bother to notice the chassis of the early Mustang is slightly wider then a Falcon's. USE THE SAME Falcon/Comet PARTS THAT THE FACTORY USED TO INSTALL THE V-8 into the Falcon and stop "falcon" around!

Some of us want our grandkids to enjoy an early Falcon, if only we could keep the cars away from the people who can't follow instructions.

LOL!  

A big headache but not a migraine.  I am currently doing the swap in my fathers 62 Falcon.  We have already switched to the Granada spindle and disc brake setup, using 65 v8 Falcon center link,idler arm, steering arm and tie rods. we are using a 65 mustang 8 inch rear.  We purchased the motor mount kit from one of the Falcon parts suppliers, but they can also be bought from most of the other Falcon suppliers, shop around for the best prices we saved over $100.00 just by looking around. we were told 65-66 Mustang mounts would work but they seemed really low with our engine mounts. they bolt in the same holes as the six.  i would suggest using an automatic tranny.  we are using a 4 speed manual tranny and are installing a clutch cable for a fox bodied mustang purchased from summit racing equipment.  we had to make our own brackets for the cable but the quadrant can be installed between the clutch pedal factory bracket.  the rod for the pedals also has to be replaced.  if you have stock manifolds i suggest using them.  headers can be used but some manipulation of pipes will be required. i hope this has been of some help.  

I just did the same conversion on my 63 comet. I have terrible bump steer and can't set the tow. I even bought a bump steer kit, but the angle of the tie rod when the suspension lets out is so severe, it binds up the heim joint! The only thing i think i can do is buy a set of csrp custom granada spindles with corrected geometry for the early cars. This is strictly a drag car and pulls the front end off the ground, so I need full suspension travel. Any experience with this yet???  

I put a 289 hi-po in my 63 Ranchero with a top loader 4-speed and a Mustang 8" about 10 yrs. ago..it did have a 170 in it with a generator so I had to get a guy over here to re-wire from generator to alternator..I kept the 6 cylinder front end and just had it re-aligned and it has not worn the tires off..I also put a Mustang 3-core radiator in and used a longer spacer for the fan so I could get just one finger between the fan and radiator..it does not get hotter than 190 even in town..if you would like me to send you some pics, e-mail me at bathouguia@aol.com
Good luck,  Buddy  A. Tucson, Az. Forgot to tell you about the eng. mounts..I did use 65/66 Mustang mounts, both pieces and yes like the other guy said the eng. did sit a little low where the fan hit the bottom radiator hose..I either trial fitted different Mustang bottom mounts or put spacers between the block and the top mount to raise it enough to clear the hose..  

Some early Falcons were equipped from the factory with small blocks, so it will fit without major surgery. Do you have a torch and a wire gun? Probably not or you wouldn't be asking.

Go to to a Falcon web site those guys should be able to tell you what mounts etc you need.  Otherwise befriend someone who has fabrication skills and equipment, or contact me, Scott at 541-317-8468 in Bend OR you can ship your car to me in a box, I can give it back to you ready to drive home.  

The Aussies are good at doing that conversion, the Mustang mounts and cradles will help you solve the problem. Anyway why do you need to change the diff at the moment, yeah sure the stud pattern is different, but your dreaming if you think you need a 9 inch in everything. What are you doing......roll backs......you got a super HiPo motor......Its a little Winsor, yeah they are a great little motor, but not enough to screw up you little 6 cyclinder diff. Sure if you do them up but if you just want to drop in a stocker and slowly change things from there,it will be cool.  

what the easy way to remove and install front coil springs on 63 mercury monterey?  

this is easy - use 289 motor mounts and brackets from a 64-66 mustang - hooker used to make a header kit for the falcon -- fab a trans mount - use a mustang radiator. bamm done.  

I assume the set up is the same as a early falcon, since we didn't have them in the land down under. If so I like to use the spring compressor that has the shaft that goes down the inside of the spring, naturally you will have to remove the shock. The other other outer style are a pain and generally don't give you much room.Some times you can be lucky and allow enough drop for your lower A-arm to pop the spring out. Some people like to undo the lower spring cradle and lever it away from the A-arm.  

Just finished reading this, again, a few months later. Someday I am going to write a book covering all the stupid things people have said in regards to installing a small block V-8 Ford into an early Falcon.

Here is an example: mounting holes in the engine block are off 1 inch. Then turns around and admits that he "has to drill new holes" to complete a conversion that many, many have done simply bolting the correct parts together IN THE CORRECT ORDER!

For some reason certain people think they are always "Correct" and it is a problem with Ford that the parts do not assemble in the fashion that they "know is correct". Well, and I hope to say this for the last time, there are "other ways".

You can sitch the upper mount, the part bolted to the block, end for end ("reversed"). You can switch the upper mounts side to side (right side on left, left on right). You can switch the upper mount from side to side and bolt one or both on backwards.

Or you can use the parts Ford used and assemble them in the order that FORD INTENDED. If you do that it works every time...  

In regards to my offeering copies of the Car Craft article:

I receintly received a request "writen?" using some sort of text message jiberish that a typical person wouldn't understand if their life depended on it.

My reply stated that I spead "English" and if the writer contacted me in that language then I could figure out what they were asking.

I received the basic "You are an *** message in return.

Hey, GROW UP! If you REALLY want something you need to be able to COMMUNICATE! If you can't get your message across then you really don't want whatever you are asking for. The English language is THE standard form of communications in the U.S., believe it or not, and there are more people out there with the information you want that DO NOT use text messaging then some of you want to belive.

Any message I receive asking for something that is writen in something other then English will be ignored. The next person that sends me the information I am an *** will discover that I have forwarded their message to the people behind this web site.