'65 falcon 2 dr wagon resto

Just a theoretical thought. Most long fuselages on aircraft are pre-stressed on the length to handle landings without putting it all the exterior sheetmetal, by making them into a Torque tube. They do that by engineering a slight curvature from one end to another with the camel hump higher in the middle.

Before you cut out the structural stuff, why not place jacks in front of the rear wheels and behind the front wheels to move the weight toward the front and extreme rear. That should give the structure about a 1/32" or 1/16" hump in the middle, especially since the roof is already off.

 

apparently.....i'd have to tell your friends....

 

You could do a Tom Sawyer fence painting party from the parts counter, Rev. I'll bet you'd have a bunch of City slickers just frothing at the bit to get that fleet in pristine shape. Just keep the ricers away.

 

Today I started to fiddle around with the replacement torque boxes....ended up taking off most of the spot welds since I will be using the outer torque box not the inner piece (that attaches to the toe board)...these have been a pain in the rear and I have gone through (3) 3/8" spot weld cutters already...anyway hope to wrap up the other side tomorrow and get it prepped for eventual install

 

Where do you get those spot weld cutters, or who makes them?

 

Stormin Norman,

I get mine @ Harbor Freight.....cost $4.99 and are the 3/8" spot weld type...have found they are the best in price compared to going with eastwood which is double or triple that....have used them to take off the upper cowl and other metal work

 

Thanks! It's one of the toughest jobs on a restoration project and probably more frequent up here where roadsalt is a frequent flyer.

 

Here are some pics of the outer torque boxes that I finished today.....ended up cutting out about 40 spot welds between the two....all that needs to be done is clean them up and rust proof properly....the last pic is of me after finishing up cutting out spot welds on the torque boxes and the cowl

 

When you first joined some 18 pages ago I thought you were a little off getting in to a very rusty car.

Was I wrong or what? I love watching projects like this and glad I don't need the skills to save an old rusty wagon.

Nice work.

 

tbirdsps,

Yeah man this is my first major metal work project , and I don't have fancy tools or a lift.....been learning as I go along but what has helped is asking those who have more experience than I do....taking that and a little common sense goes along way

 

A great metal working site. These guys can build a whole car with hand tools.

http://metalmeet.org/forum/index.php

 

Thanks Bob Scott! That is an awesome site and will definetly help me out alot....I will check it out and learn

 

I second that! Awesome resource!

 

oh...he's off a bit alright
but he's determined

 

I picked myself up a standard wagon/ranchero gas cap....it is the one that matches the quarter panel lines of the body....these are getting very hard to find and EXPENSIVE! The only issue with this gas cap is that is very easy to steal and that is a common problem among falcon owners who have had it happen....the cure is to attach the glove box cable on the back to the filler tube.....not permanent but would give you enough time to deter someone...it is sad when people want to steal a gas cap...get a life people!