Falcon Spring Clean – Our Shed

By: Glenn Torrens

Date: 29.11.2023

New spark plugs fixed misfire. Plus, I reckon the lack of a firing ‘hit’ on the piston rings due to a dead plug, was allowing oil through the engine and out the exhaust, causing smoke.

The fuel tank is moulded plastic - no corrosion problems! However, it will be dropped and cleaned. Cracked left tail-light will be replaced with good second-hand unit.

Old oil – yuk! But oil being a nice black is better than having bits of shiny metal in it, indicating internal engine damage.

After a thorough de-grease and pressure wash, the Falcon's powerplant cleaned up rather well.

I get a lot of satisfaction from giving a new project car a thorough pressure-wash to reveal components’ condition, before the big jobs begin.

These new shockies arrived on magazine deadline day. I’ll fit them during the next chapter, when I do a lap of the Falcon’s underside.

I’d not noticed this rust patch until I cleaned the car. Luckily, it's an easy fix.

New spark plugs fixed misfire. Plus, I reckon the lack of a firing ‘hit’ on the piston rings due to a dead plug, was allowing oil through the engine and out the exhaust, causing smoke.

The fuel tank is moulded plastic - no corrosion problems! However, it will be dropped and cleaned. Cracked left tail-light will be replaced with good second-hand unit.

Old oil – yuk! But oil being a nice black is better than having bits of shiny metal in it, indicating internal engine damage.

After a thorough de-grease and pressure wash, the Falcon's powerplant cleaned up rather well.

I get a lot of satisfaction from giving a new project car a thorough pressure-wash to reveal components’ condition, before the big jobs begin.

These new shockies arrived on magazine deadline day. I’ll fit them during the next chapter, when I do a lap of the Falcon’s underside.

I’d not noticed this rust patch until I cleaned the car. Luckily, it's an easy fix.

Glenn Torrens scrubs his saved-from-certain-death 1980s Ford Falcon and creates a hit-list of bits.

For me, resurrecting or restoring any older car is a matter of working from a list.

To create that list, you need to take a good hard look at what’s in front of you and assess what needs to be repaired or replaced.

If that sounds obvious, why do so many people get it wrong by stripping a car to nothing and then becoming overwhelmed by the process?

After towing this 1980s Falcon home from its 15-year slumber at Flynn’s Wreckers in Cooma NSW, I began my list of parts and processes to get it back on the road again.

Some of the list is blatantly obvious, such as the need for new tyres. But under any car there is a multitude of parts, – especially suspension and brakes – that may or may not need attention, depending on condition and age.

The only way to be sure is with a methodical inspection. So as I usually do with a new project car, I give the underside and wheel wells a thorough clean, this time on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

I was pleasantly surprised with how tidy the car was underneath. A clean and degrease of the engine bay revealed just a tiny spec of rust in the plenum area – a notorious Falcon rust trap – with the engine bay components and plastics (such as the cold air intake pipe) were unexpectedly in good condition … Usually they are gone!

There was a dark, damp oil streak along the underside of the car, probably caused by the engine’s rear-main seal leaking. I’ve had success with oil additives in other engines over the years, so hopefully a $15 bottle of goop will fix the leak.

Thankfully, the engine’s first oil change in nearly two decades didn’t reveal any horror stories. After we tipped-in some fuel and started the car to drive it from its long-term location in the wreckers, the exhaust was smoky and the engine was loping on five cylinders.

This led me to believe it was going to need internal work, such as a set of piston rings. Happily, installing a fresh set of spark plugs and changing the oil has reduced the smoking too, so I’m kinda confident the engine will be a good 'un.

More good news: I’ve only driven slowly for just a couple of hundred metres but the front disc/rear drum brake-system seems to be working quite well.

Hopefully, some long-overdue maintenance – such as fresh fluid and maybe a set of new pads and shoes – will see the brakes fit for further duty.

Not so good is the condition of the suspension. The car has lowered springs at the front, meaning there is only around 30mm of front suspension travel to cope with bumps.

Being so close to bottoming-out, this car would be horrible to drive on typical Aussie rural roads, so a set of standard front springs will be found and fitted. At the same time, I will fit four fresh dampers and inspect and replace the rubbers, bushes and boots as necessary.

So after a good look at the car’s condition, my ‘list’ of necessary parts for the resurrection of this car isn’t too scary!

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