I have a 1964 Ford Falcon Futura 4 door that my mom bought in the late 70s as just a cheap around-town car. When I was about 13 or 14 Mom said she was thinking of selling it. Of course, that was MY car! I’d had my eye on it forever and I spent a lot of time playing in it while it was stored in the garage (not sure if my mom knew about that…). As such, I felt I had a God-given right to the bird, so I told my mom, “You know, it won’t really be THAT long until I’m driving and I think that’d be a great car for me!”

She took the bait!

Papaw and I dragged the car out of its slumber in the garage and spent a few weeks rebuilding the brakes, changing all the fluids, filters, belts, etc. and got the beast going. It was far from a beast in all reality as it only had a little 170 ci 6 cyl. engine, 1 bbl carb, and a 2-speed Ford-O-Matic (not kidding) transmission. It wasn’t fast, but it was mine.

I loved driving that car around everywhere through high school, then I enrolled in Tennessee Technology Center at Harriman (now Tennessee College of Applied Technologies) and the car underwent a transformation. I built a 302 bored .060″ over, put a .473/.497 cam in it, flat top 289 pistons, new valves, had the heads shaved a few thousandths, new crank, etc.

I had Randy’s Precision Machine in Harriman do all my machine work and bought most of the parts at Tri-Cities Auto Parts, a local NAPA store.

After the engine was built, I got a transmission from a guy in New York state off eBay and dropped the whole mess in. I tinkered around with it while I was in school but the little things nickled and dimed me to death! Fittings, hoses, bolts, mounts, etc. If you’ve ever had a big project, you understand. When I graduated, I towed the car home and it sat. And sat. And sat for several years until… Check back soon for part two!

P.S. thanks to some guy in Alaska for not buying my Falcon all those years ago when I got her.

Happy wrenching!