Jim Richard's Ford Falcon

Cool stuff and am surprised "Minilite" wheels aren't commonly reproduced as they were sooo much everywhere in models for a few years. I saw the Jim Clark Cortina at a model sale recently, a rare thing in the U.S. Midwest, thanx for the fotos !

You're not alone re the "nose high" stance. It looks that way in the metal and on TV too.

And I wish I had the chance to see Jim Clark race- I was 8 when he was killed. Lakeside Raceway, where he raced in the 'Tasman' Series in the '60s is still active. Go there often.

Back on topic. She's starting to take shape- what are you going to do for the interior?

Cheers,

Chris.

DAD.... I was extremely serious about it.

I competed in the ANECCC (Assosiation of North East and Cumberland Car Clubs championship) which if I remember correctly, consisted of thirteen rounds in about 39 weeks. Then a three month break during the summer when I would compete in hillclimbs, autotests, autocross.... anything as long as it meant driving fast!!! LOL

I was working for good money back then and spent almost all of it on the car. Used to wear raggy old clothes way past their best and entertainment consisted of just one pint of beer per week at Tynemouth and District Motor Club.!!! LOL

Until two engine blow ups in about four months put paid to it all. Being a privateer, I was then forced to enter the real world and say goodbye.

Happy days though and I wouldn't change it  for the world.

Chris..... Jim Clark was a brilliant driver, cut short in his prime. IMO, I think he was the best 'driver' ever. He was a joy to watch and his car control was just something else.

However, by definition he was not as good a 'racer' as other drivers, like Senna and Mansel for instance. He didn't come from behind too well. His great forte was to stick it on pole, be first into and out of the first bend and control the race from there. Then he was faultless almost.

As for the interior, this is the only photo I have of the interior of ANY race Falcon, so I'm unsure as to wether or not the door cards should remain or be replaced with sheet alluminium!!

Al, try this link. About halfway down the page there's some engine & interior photos.

http://www.jimrichardsracing.com.au/JRGallery.php

Looks like you'll be making some door cards........

Chris.

Thanks for the link Chris. Much appreciated.

Hmmm.... a bit to modern for my taste though. I think I'll go with something of an old school look. Correct or not!! LOL

Yes, Al, racing and rallying wasn't (isn't) cheap.
I lacked the finance, the skills and largely the bottle to throw my cars sideways into every corner.
I started off with the Cortina and Anglias in my 20's, and then with the Fiestas in my late 30's.
To be bluntly honest I was just making up the numbers at the bottom of the entry list - but I thoroughly enjoyed it !



....But back to your thread - very interested in the subject.
I have found a set of minilites that were going on a model of my race beetle, but are too wide.
So I have just ordered a '66 Mustang from a certain Ebay seller and planning to build a car similar to your Falcon.
....I am very easily influenced ! Looking forward to the next instalment.

During the early years, a friend and I bought a front ended Anglia (notchback) and a rear ended Fiat 132. The idea being to place the Fiat engine in the Ford. Never happened though. He wouldn't stump up the cash!! LOL.

I'd watch out for that eBay geezer, he's a bid shady I hear!!! LOL

Looking forward to your build. Minilites on a 66 'stang...... now that is COOOOOOL!!!!

Ford Anglias were cheap and plentiful
- once they had served their rally purpose they were stripped and ended up at Aycliffe Stock Car Stadium !

Good info for the next person to give it a go.
Looks to make a great model !

It's been a few days since the last update but that's cos I scratch built a roll cage and rather than document it here, I wrote a tutorial for it. (See tutorials)

Squadron has these on sale for $22.50.

http://www.squadron.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=falcon&Submit=


Nice rollbar, Al.

Tonight I started on the race interior.

At first, I reversed the door cards, ground off the door hardware (now on the outside) and filled in the door handle recess' (now on the inside) Easy way to do it right.?

Wrong.

I faffed on for ages trying to get a smooth finish in the inside. No way. I just kept seeing the outlines of the recess'.

Finaly. I did what I should have done in the first place and make new cards. While I was on I also scribed door shut lines.

Then I paneled in the rear and added a parcel shelf.

Looking good Al.

I added the rear main hoop braces, so apart from modifying the dash, adding the seat and some other details, the main work on the interior is complete.

Looks good Al   I like the way you did the roll cage, might try your style on a couple builds. Side panels look great 001 

Excellent.

Very smooth fit all around. The care taken with roll cage connections shows your skill and patience. The door panel idea is one I had not considered. Probably less work than trying to sand off panel details. Thanx!

harron68 wrote:Very smooth fit all around.  The care taken with roll cage connections shows your skill and patience.  The door panel idea is one I had not considered.  Probably less work than trying to sand off panel details.  Thanx!

Seconded.001 

Thanks guys.

Next up was the dashboard.

The only photo I could find was of the car as it is currently racing and that has a 'modern' look to the dash that I don't particularly like. So I went more 'old school'. (nothing new there then!! LOL)

First job was to cut off the switches and knobs and drill out the holes:



Then I cut away the bezels and anything else that protruded:



Next I needed to make an infil panel. To do this I used the rear upper half of the dash to get the curve right:



The panel was then cut, shaped and glued in poistion:





Finaly the 'hardware' was added:



The 'big red start/stop button' is a turned down brass pin head. The flick switches I made from the stems of the same. The instument bezels are anglers 'rig rings' and are filled with two part epoxy. The MSD ignition box is AM resin and the 'fittings' on the cable ends are tiny beading beads.

Dash looks great !!!
Nice work !

Incredible!

That Dash rocks. Nice work AL.

Great work Al - although I have been building for years, it shows I’m still an amateur when it comes to detail.
Inspired by this thread (and I’ll be stealing all the ideas) I have bought a cheaper ’66 Mustang Fastback
to turn into a circuit racer, similar to the Falcon, - and I’ll try and stick with this one and get it finished.

Al, great work so far. One thing I need to bring to your attention though, that trumpeter missed. Falcons four speeds were side loaders, not top loaders. The Mustang used a toploader and the shifter came up through the top of the tunnel, on the falcons the shifter came off the side of the shifter and was not centered in the tunnel.

Thanks guys.

Thanks for the HU reminder Sam.

So it should be offset towards the driver something like this?



That's the interior of the 1:1 car. Now you know why I'm going 'old school'!!!