1997 Ford Falcon station wagon

Today I was suprised at what I found in a grabby old country second hand shop. It was to good to pass up



For $20 as it sits with all the wiring for all the lights and only 1 crack and 2 missing light lenses for the top I think its a sign that I am on the right theme for the car now.
So I will tidy it up, fit some new lights and some neons as well as changing the taxi logo a little bit and I think it will be a nice addition for shows

 

Loveyour drawing of the wagon. You definitely have alot of talent there.

 

They don't even let those Taxi lights go to the junkyards here.

 

Those axi lights are the same here. They are not cheap and they usually just reuse them until they are completely busted, so Ihave no idea how the shop got it and then how I got it so cheap

 

Well it appears that the plans for finishing the wagon before xmas have now changed again and the whole project might canned. The reason is a week long stay in hospital for a suspected stroke. So until the all clear is given and sensation on the right side of my body returns to normal the car is again on hold

 

I always understood that stroke pains are initially on the left side. I'll put in a good word with the Northen God. Get better.

 

depends on what side the clot happens as far as I am aware, although the hospital said it could be a migrane even through the symptoms arent right for that but it looks like after speaking to another doctor that I might end up at another hospital on monday to try get some answers

 

Today I had a chance to try work on the car by doing some lite exhaust work. I manged to fit 1 of the 2 FPV style tips to the drivers side as well as making 2 heat shield that bolt to the exhaust which will work with the sheet metal shield that I have to cover the fuel filler and fuel lines.

I have also got the tail pipe welded together ready to jion to the existing tail pipe once I can remove the lock nuts on the rear wheels. So hopefully by mid this week the twin pipes will be on and finished and ready to be tested on a drive with the Northern Rivers ford club next Sunday.

Also in the couple of weeks the factory bonney latch is going to be removed along with a little bit of sheet metal attatched to it to allow extra flow into the radiator from the upper grill. The bonnet is going to be secured with atleast a pair of lockable bonnet pins

 

So was it a stroke or bad whiskey?

 

They still dont know and because of that it could happen again so trying to push myself to get things done as quickly as I can as next time I might not be so lucky to only loose a bit of strength in my right leg

 

Here are 2 quick pics of the back of the car and as you can see the tips I bought off this site are near perfect match for the openings I had made. Please note that the drivers side of the rear bar looks a little funny as I managed to break the side mounts when driving the car off the ramps.

 

Well today was a great day except for burning my hand on the exhaust tip. I Have fitted up the passengers side tail pipe and got it all solid with no clearance or heat issues so far. The note and volume of the exhaust have surprisingly mellowed a bit so it has worked out well so far.

Also 4 large but extremely lite parcels turned up today curtiousy of a member of a local forfd forum, so I finally have my own set of 16 inch 3-piece BBS wheels which hopefully will be heading to the USA shortly to be completely over hauled with new inner and outter rims and all new bolts and possibley a colour change for the centers.

Anyways here are some pictures

 

Years ago, like 30 or 40 years ago, the car dealers used to sell 'pre-owned' taxis, without any indication to the buyer. My uncle used to walk into a dealer's USED lot, and yell TAXI, to see how many doors opened automatically. Did that happen down there?

 

Over here its usually pretty easy to spot ex cabs when looking to purchase a car but mostly they are sold at auctions and listed as an ex cab

 

Turns of these wheels are only 15inch, not the 16 inch I was told. On a good not after multiple phone calls and emails I can confirm that in theory these wheels will bolt on with no clearance issues at all, but to confirm I am fitting a spare tire I have that is the right size but wrong load rating so that I can fit a wheel and check everything out right.
Once I have done the physical checks I will then decide if I keep them like this and just pull them to pieces and check everything or re3place the outter rims to get a deeper dish