Disassembly Begins…

Inside my garage still sits the Falcon. After 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. Since I also have a modern “daily driver” now (although I drive Stude as much as possible,) I feel more freedom to take some risks with Stude. Stay tuned for what may come under that hood!

Meanwhile… under the Falcon’s hood I’ve started the process of pulling out the engine…

How to Replace A Radiator

First comes the radiator. For those of you who are still beginners, this is a super simple job! You’ve just gotta make sure to drain the fluid out of it first. Most radiators have some sort of a drain plug that can be unscrewed on the bottom edge. Placing a catch-pan underneth it, open that screw and give it a few minutes to drain.

While that’s going on, you can use a ratchet to loosen/remove the bolts holding your radiator to your frame (Falcon had four bolts.) You can also loosen the hose clamps with a screwdriver. Once your fluid has drained, close the screw.

Then get the two hoses off all the way. Sometimes this takes plying a screwdriver between the hose and the metal it’s attached to. Keep at it and it’ll eventually come off! Now you’re set – the radiator should be ready to pull straight out of your engine bay! (When replacing a radiator…do all of that stuff in the opposite direction.)

Further Dismantling the Falcon

Once the radiator was out, 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, I want to do it well!

So I took off the bumper by unscrewing the six bumper bolts which affixed it to the chassis. While I was doing this, I was very thankful that my toolbox has been expanding and I had the right tool for the job!

When first starting to work on cars, I began with a basic mechanic’s tool kit. For many things, this is all you need. But inevitably during a job… something’s in the way or you encounter a problem. The more tools you have, the more likely you’ll be able to get past whatever obstacle comes up.

While taking the bumper off, there were two bolts that I couldn’t reach with my extension because I didn’t have a straight passageway to it. I solved the problem by using this nifty jointed thing that I got from my Grandpa. It allowed me to get the socket in place. With the bumper off, I can give it a good cleaning and maybe straighten it out a bit (it’s been bumped!)

The Falcon also has a body piece across the lower front-end which the grill is attached to. This piece and the grill are both prime targets for some cleaning-up, so they came off as well.

Next I’ll continue by taking all the other things I can detach from the engine – like the alternator and fan. As well as all other detachable parts inside the engine compartment. If you’re only changing an engine, you don’t need to entirely clear the engine compartment – but I’d like to restore this entire area while I’ve got the engine out.

Stay tuned for more progress on this Falcon project- and keep wrenchin’!

Happy Trails,

Kristin

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