Homebuilt Ford Falcon by Greasegirl #3 Last night, we finished prep on the engine bay and started masking. With 9 days to go until Mooneyes Xmas Show, we completely masked off the rest of the car - as the engine bay and hood are the only thing we're painting. Our 1960 Ford Falcon still wears its original white paint which is in pretty good condition. The hood however, appears to have been replaced and looked ugly with just white primer on it. The ugly hood combined with having the engine out is why this whole paint job began. I've chosen a metallic-suede Hot Rod Flatz paint in a contrasting color for the task (you'll just have to wait and see!) After masking the car, we didn't want to apply primer that we'd be smelling all night while we slept. So instead Ethan turned back to cleaning suspension parts and taking apart the brakes while I shined the grill and headlight rings. I'd finished shining the grill with 0000 steel wool and was considering turning in for bed a little early when I remembered the hood. If Ethan planned on...

Homebuilt Ford Falcon by Greasegirl #2 The goal for tonight was to wash and clean the engine bay, apply rust remover where needed, and mask for paint. With a sudsy bucket of cleanser, I went to work while Ethan began cleaning suspension parts. It's amazing when you've done so much sanding and scraping - that you'll still find more! After I'd gone over the entire engine bay with cleanser followed by water - then dried and air-dried it - my husband came along and pointed out a couple of areas that I'd missed. Grrrrr! I went back over those after giving him a scowl. After one more wash and dry I moved on to the rust remover. Only small bits of rust are left, mostly hiding in corners. Bedtime was approaching, so the only masking that was accomplished was the holes in the firewall...but I'd say we reached our goal tonight. 9 more days to go!   In the Garage Until: 11:36pm Want to catch up? Here's where everything started:  12 Day 1960 Falcon Build #1   For more Falcon fun, check out Pikesan's project: 1963 Ford Falcon Wagon...

Homebuilt Ford Falcon by Greasegirl & Ethan The last time you heard about the Ford Falcon project, I was getting everything off the engine in order to pull it... that was nearly a year ago! In between here and there you've hardly heard from me. It's been quite a year - not only did I start a new job (in which I'm writing articles every day), I got married, and moved. Those things haven't kept me from the garage though - I helped build a demolition derby car with my car club and also took part in my first SEMA build project with the SEMA Businesswomen's Network. I can only make excuses for so long though - and the time has come to follow through with the Falcon. In bits and pieces over the past few months, the engine has come out, I've done my first bits of body work using hammers and dollies, and I've sanded the engine bay. Originally, this was to be a quick job - sanding just enough to lay some rough paint down. Well, the moment that Chicago Pneumatic sander uncovered bare metal I...

Drive your Hot Rod! Nebraska to Utah in a Model A Roadster Download image for your iPhone here.   Nick Hoesing's a cool guy. We met at Bonneville Speed Week 2009, my first year there. He was cruising a great looking 1962 Ford Galaxie he'd driven from Omaha, Nebraska to the Salt Flats in Utah.   As friends on Facebook, I caught a glance of the model A roadster he was building, but hadn't made it over to the HAMB for a full look. I wish I had before I shot these pictures because I missed some fine details of this roadster. I'll write a brief history of the build, but you should read the 40 or so pages of posts at the HAMB where Nick supplies details and photos of the build and fellow HAMBers encourage him and help when needed. That's a community to be proud of.   Build of Nick's Model A Hot Rod   In the shortest summary of Nick's supreme one-car-garage hot rod build... Nick started with a 28/29 Ford Model A Roadster body, then added a Blackboard Hot Rods 1932 Ford frame. The...

Must Have Mechanics Tools In my quest to learn about working on cars, I'm realizing that there's a lot I've learned about tools alongside learning about cars! When I first started working on my newly purchased Studebaker around five years ago - the only tools I had were neatly packed into an aptly named "Do-It-Herself" toolkit I'd received for high school graduation years before. Those got me by around the house - but weren't much help in the garage. Having a handy and helpful Dad, it didn't take him long to wrangle me up some spare tools from his garage. Soon enough I had a starter mechanics toolkit. A small assortment of sockets, wrenches,and a screwdriver were about all I started with. Its also about all hot rodding young people had back in the fifties! But as anyone who's worked on cars know - different jobs call for different tools. Sometimes you can make do with what you have and sometimes you've gotta go out and buy or borrow the right tool for the job. For everybody else out there who's learning as they go or just getting into cars - here's...

Engine Disassembly Begins for this Ford Straight Six After beginning my 1960 Ford Falcon project, hearing from you all, and thinking about it a bit - I've decided I do want to keep the original straight-six engine. I will quite possibly be hopping it up some as I rebuild it - but I like the idea of keeping the car original and just working with what I've got. As I continue growing in my car knowledge and mechanical skills, I continue to be drawn towards performance and racing. Thankfully I've not only got the Falcon to work with, but also have my Studie. Since my 1955 Studebaker Coupe is already modified with performance parts, it helped in my decision to keep the Falcon original. First things first, the radiator had to come out (after being drained first, of course.) Once that was done, I decided I'd go ahead and pull other front pieces off. Not that it will help very much with getting the engine clear (there's a permanent bar in front that we'll have to lift the engine up and over when the time comes.) But if I'm going to do a job,...

1960 Ford Falcon Project I recently pulled my Ford Falcon into the garage with plans of figuring out what’s going on with it. This weekend I dug in and really enjoyed myself! For years, most wrenching days have had a deadline. When Studie was my only car I had to get things fixed right away, which meant some stressful times in the garage. This weekend’s job was nice and relaxing (albeit dirty!) Here’s what I did… I began with a good solid de-greasing of the engine. Boy was this a messy job! Every inch of the engine and oil pan was covered in oil and grime. One can of engine gunk, one can of brake clean, a good amount of Purple Power, some wire brushes, a scraper, and a roll of shop towels later… The engine was clean but boy was I greasy! Once the engine was clean, I figured a good place to start was the plugs. Not knowing the history of this engine, I have no idea what’s been done to it! As I pulled the plugs things didn’t look too bad until I got to spark...

As it ends up, Pikesan's not the only one with a Falcon project on their hands. I'm ashamed to say it - but Davey, my 1960 Ford Falcon 2-door sedan, has been sitting on a side-yard gathering dust since I finished Studie's transmission over a year ago. The above picture was taken at the last event, and come to think of it the only event, Davey ever attended - the Mooneyes 2010 Summer Show. I had been depending on the Falcon to get me by while Studie was stranded with transmission issues. Falcon got me through, but just barely. Falcon had been giving me worries and semi-breaking down for a couple of weeks by the time Stude had gotten back on the road. The above picture was taken in October 2010 before I had a garage and had to find crafty ways to comfortably work! I was so happy to have my Stude back, and busy with a million other things in life, that Davey just sat... and sat some more. I intended to bring the Falcon over to my garage months ago, but it never seemed to happen. The...

How To Metal Flake Your Car Just because I love grease, doesn't mean that I don't love sparkly things too! Before going to Viva Las Vegas this year, I wanted to add a little bling to my 1955 Studebaker Champion with a metal flake paint job. Studie and I have been through a lot together in the five years I’ve owned and drove her. I’ve become attuned to her original patina’d coral and white paint job. So originally the thought of changing her exterior in any way made me nervous. But the more I thought about adding a subtle sparkle to Studie’s white roof portion, the more I liked the idea. Not knowing the first thing about how to paint, I was lucky to have an expert nearby. Pati Fairchild is the newest member of my car club, the Gasoline Girls. She also happens to be a professional paint and body chick who teaches the subject at El Camino College. After polling friends on Facebook and looking through various paint samples, I paid a visit to Coast Airbrush in Anaheim for my final selection. I went in knowing I wanted...

Custom 1953 Studebaker Coupe Altered Into A Fastback Studebaker folks are unfailingly interesting. So when I met John Saltsman at the 2011 Grand National Roadster Show this past January standing by his amazing Atomitron, a highly customized 1949 Studebaker pickup, I wasn't too surprised to hear that he had other Studebaker stories to share. However, when he produced the few pictures in existence of the 1953 Studebaker Coupe he modified as a teenager, I couldn't believe what I was seeing! The first unbelievable thing about this custom... It was built by John while he was still in high school! The year was 1970 and Fastback Mustang's were all the rage. He liked 'em, but couldn't afford one. What he lacked in cash he made up for with a wealth of car building knowledge in his family. Looking at the lines of the  '53 Coupe he figured it could be built into a fastback all his own. The main modification was creating the fastback. To do this, he took the trunk out of a 1949 Cadillac and covered the whole trunk section and back window with it, integrating it into...

Car Interior Restoration One of the first jobs I did on my 1955 Studebaker was restoring the car’s interior. Even though I didn’t know what I was doing – I had a pretty good sewing background and figured I could handle it. As it turned out, it was a terrific first job for me. I had a lot of fun, met some challenges, and learned along the way. I’ve since had the chance to learn a few secrets and have been looking forward to another car interior restoration. Well…the time is here. When I picked out the materials to use in my Stude, I knew they weren’t very sturdy but I didn’t really care. A few years of daily wear later, my driver’s seat-back has been torn to shreds. Before embarking on this next car restoration adventure, I thought I’d ask for your opinion. Car shows are great places to look for what you like and might want to incorporate into your own project. So that’s just what I did. While trying to keep my head on straight while looking at all the amazing customs at the Long Beach...

How-To Fix Engine Overheating Problems on the Roadside What do you do when your car overheats? With temperatures reaching the 80's this past week in LA, the 383 small block Chevy in my 1955 Studebaker got hot in protest. Thursday was my first problem. After 30 minutes of freeway driving and 30 minutes of stoplight-and-street traffic, I lost power and came to a stop. After letting Stude cool down, the only thing I noticed upon inspection was that my fluid was a little low. I filled up the radiator with a coolant/distilled water mix and was back on my way, hoping maybe this was all I needed. I got home fine that evening and through the 25 mile drive to work the next day without a glitch. This made me feel better, but I was very worried... Studebaker had a date as a wedding getaway car for some close friends of mine on Saturday. I didn't want her to miss out on the excitement! As I pondered what was going on with my overheating, I knew the most likely candidates were the radiator, water pump, or thermostat. I’ve dealt with...