Aussie Wagons HO!

Thanks for the info.

 

Not quite - our export markets are typically Asia & Africa. Argentina on the other hand, managed to grab the dies from you guys after Ford America were finished using them - and basically continued producing modified versions right up unto 1991. The difference between what they did and what Ford Australia did of course, is that they never progressed beyond that first generation archetecture. You can read about them here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Falcon_(Argentina) Not too sure about those later efforts tho - late model lights and grill just didn't suit the early shape in my opinion...

However, converting an Aussie RHD Falcon or Fairlane to LHD would be a walk in the park - as it would just be a matter of adapting components from your own Falcons / Mustangs - after all, a Mustang is just a rebodied Falcon remember! In Australia, I believe RHD Falcon parts are often used to convert the steering of those early Mustangs when they are imported over here.

Here is a link to a company that imports Aussie Falcons to the 'States - http://www.madmaxcars.com/ - I am sure they could answer your questions regarding legality of RHD / what it takes to do a LHD conversion!

The hardest part would be the dash - which in those first gen vehicles would also be pretty easy, since they were generally all steel, so it's just a matter of cut, swap & weld. After that, all you need is the help of a good dash-doctor (i.e. plastic surgeon) and you'd be away...

 

Awesome info! Thanks again!

 

The engine you really want is this :


It is the latest and most advanced iteration of the archatecture that started back with the 250ci six that you guys know. The bore spacing is the only link left to that original design - in what must be the ultimate definition of "grandpa's axe"! As such, it features DOHC, VCT, hollow core cams, ZTEC style oil pump, turbo and 310kw (416hp) straight out of the factory - enough to propel a 3850lb car to sub 13 second quarters!

However, I do understand the allure of having an Aussie 250ci crossflow EFI six under your bonnet as the ultimate factory pushrod 250 on the planet! These can be had nice a cheap, and even a going version should be available for a couple of hundred bucks. Maybe http://www.madmaxcars.com/ could help importing one for you? - They do whole cars, why not motors? Make sure you specify you want an "Unleaded" version - which were available post 1986 in the XF 'update' - that should help you as far as legalities go.

 

These Aussie Fords are fantastic! Man, why couldn't we get those high-performance sixes over here?

That early yellow Falcon wagon looks to me like it's the longer U.S. body. Would have to see a sideshot to be sure. The grill also appears to be a U.S. '60 Falcon grill. Instrument guage pod is the same, too.

Got a soft spot for the first Falcons. Learned to drive in one.....

 

I can assure you it is not "the longer U.S. body" - although from that angle I can see it would be easy to mistake the two. The grill for the XK is identical to the US version - so is not a good indicator of which of the two you are looking at. I haven't studied the differences in the dash, but it's highly likely that they are the same there too...

 

Thank God that I don't need a pacemaker! Just too awesome!!!

 

Maybe not but it jumped started my heart. WOW

 

We'd be in the poor house, paying fines or cleaning roadsides.:banghead3: I wonder if featherweight shoes would cure the lead foot.

What a sleeper that would be, eh?

 

Not if they don't catch you. Like in Johnny Cash song One Piece At a time.

 

Where XL does not mean "Extra Large"!

Where Ford Australia started the Falcon story with the XK, 1962 saw a new model with only minor revisions and called the "XL". As you will see from the following, this included the continuation of the XK's front sheet metal, with the grill taking it's inspiration from the US Falcons of the time - but without the use of the pointed front guards to match.

The XL also saw the introduction of the 'Squire' for the first time, which in addition to the obvious fake wood panelling down the sides, came equipped right from the top of Ford's equipment list.



Despite what it may look like from these photos, Squires were actually quite rare (even more so today). The hub-caps in the above pic are obviously, not standard...



I took these pictures at the 2003 All Ford Day in Geelong at Deakin University's Waurn-Ponds campus. If you're ever interested in seeing what Ford Oz produced in the flesh, this is one of the best ways to do it - and has to be one of the largest All Ford Days in the country - checkout http://www.allfordday.org/ for further information...



Unfortunately, the XL - like the XK before it - was only available in 6 cylinder guises (i.e. no V8) - however, that has not stopped plenty of people converting these to V8 power, although restricted to Windsor variants due to the relatively narrow engine bays - which I am sure you guys know all about...

All Windsor V8s were imported into Australia, we got the 289, 302 & 351 Varieties over various years. When Ford US stopped making the 351 Cleveland, Ford Australia picked up the tooling & machines to make them here during the 70's & early 80's. In the late 90's, Ford began reworking imported 5.0L Windsor V8s finally producing a virtually hand-built monster 5.6L stroker version, but that is another story for another time...




- Another shot of a fine-looking XL Squire - this time snapped at the 2000 Ford Home Coming Rally, looking for a park out the back of their You-Yangs based proving ground. This shot was taken on an old Minolta 101... Those are the original hub-caps this time.



Guess you're going to be seeing a lot of the XL Falcon Squire today - please tell me if you're sick of them?



I took this at the 2000 All Ford Day, before they moved to Deakin - back when it was held at the Geelong Race Course members carpark. It's funny how that the rarer a car is, the more likely it is to be preserved sometimes - ending up making it more common at car shows than the previously every-day varieties! Sometimes it's still nice to see a taxi-pack stocker every now and then, just to remind you of how they once were...



Don't ask me what those tail lights are out of - one thing's for certain, they are not stock! I took these photos at the 2008 All Ford Day, again at Deakin Uni.



Well, that's it for the moment - hope that hasn't bored you too much. Might have to include some for the GM fans next time...

 

Wow! Thanks for the pics and details! Any idea if the newer Aussie 6's would fit in those?

Those taillights look like they came from a 1955 Ford or a 1958 Thunderbird.

 

I know the EFi 250 is a tight fit, but it does go - as I've seen a few of them done this way. The DOHC motor is about 1" longer due to the move of the oil pump from it's traditional chain driven pre-OHC position to a direct crank drive (aka ZTEC style). This involved extending the crank nose via an additional spigot with two flats milled into each side, hence the extra length. If anything, this may mean the firewall has to be recessed slightly to fit the later model motor.

The intake manifold could also be another problem - finding enough width to fit it between the motor and the shocker towers. Over here, the problem of fitting wide motors into the early Falcon engine bays has been solved by removing the shocker towers and fitting aftermarket fabricated GM style double-wishbone suspension.

The other problem is that these motors came with a cast-alloy "structural sump" - cross bolted into the bearing caps for extra strength. Obviously, this is not as easy to modify as a normal pressed steel sump would be. I don't know how this sump would fit with the Falcon's steering / cross members, and could require significant modification to fit.

Electrically, the BA Falcon (2002) and on came with CANBUS meaning that it is much easier to fit the entire engine wiring loom including gearbox and instruments. The best way to do this would possibly to get a half-cut and transfer everything from there. However, compared to doing the swap into a late model, at least you don't have to worry about integrating it into an already existing loom or electronics regime!

I know this because I worked at Ford's 6 cylinder engine plant at the time they were doing the change from SOHC to DOHC in 2002. Having said that I have not yet see or heard of a DOHC Falcon 6 being fitted to one of these early Falcons yet - so there may be other issues still to be identified. Hope that helps.

 

The North American 250 has a taller head than our 200, so they don't fit without modding the hood by a couple inches. But it would be worth it for a turbo version.

 

From memory, the early Falcons I have seen with the crossflow 250 haven't needed anything doing to the bonnet to make them fit, so maybe our motor is a little shorter than yours?