THE SONOMA COUNTY FALCONS FOR FUN
CHAPTER
OPEN TRACK FALCON
In 1984, at age 19, I bought my first car. Since childhood, I wanted a glacier blue 1963 1/2 Ford Falcon Sprint. Now I had one--and still do!
I’ve owned the car for fifteen years and intend to keep it for life. It was built at the Milpitas (San Jose) Ford plant on June 17th, 1963, and sold at San Jose Ford. Factory options included air conditioning (now removed) and a 4-speed manual transmission.
Over the years I’ve done several modifications to the drivetrain.
Alex’s Sprint parked at Shoreline Park in Mountain View, California
The engine is a 1971 302, bored .030 over, TRW Pistons, sealed power rings, S.P.S. rod bolts, Mellings high volume oil pump, 8-quart gated oil pan, crankcase windage tray, and an Iskenderian Mega-Cam w/.517 lift and 270/280 duration pushing Rhodes lifters.
The cylinder heads are World Products Dart Windsor cast iron. The 2.02 intake valves are stainless steel as are the 1.60 exhaust valves with dual valve springs, bronze guides, 7/16 " screw-in rocker studs, Harland-Sharpe roller rocker arms, chrome-moly push rods w/ guide plates, raised and polished exhaust ports, and 58cc combustion chambers. All this is topped off with an Edlebrock Performer R.P.M. Manifold and a 650 cfm Holley double-pumper 4-V carb.
The 400 horsepower V-8 is backed by a McLeod flywheel, Borg-Warner 11 in. clutch, 1971 Top-loader 4-speed, and is brought to life by a Tilton high torque mini starter.
Alex and his Sprint on the track at Laguna Seca Raceway near Monterey, California
Spark is delivered by a Mallory Uni-lite distributor and ProMaster Coil. Fuel is ignited by Spit-Fire plugs while the hydro-carbons exit through Pro Products Tri-Y headers and 2 1/2 in. pipes with Flowmaster mufflers. I’ve also installed a 9 inch rear end with 3.70:1 gears, Trac-Lok differential, and Shelby traction links.
I’ve acquired amazing cornering capabilities with some "over the counter" suspension mods.
The upper control arms are relocated, with Meyer 620 coils, Stambar adjustable sway bars (1 in. front, 5/8 in. rear), Koni shocks, and all urethane bushings, steered by a straight-line 4 turn steering box.
Most importantly, it’s glued to the road by Yokohama A-008 RS 205/50-15 in. tires and stopped by Granada discs.
This bird flies!!!