1UZFE into 1973 Falcon Hardtop

[GTLexus]

Have been a memebr for a while and I thought you guys might be interested in a little conversion I did three years ago. It is a 1973 Custom Ford Falcon Hardtop. The 1uz went in pretty easily, I just had to modify the lower cross member, sump and engine mounts. Tranny is a Supra 5 speed and rear end is a triangulated 4 link with a 9 inch diff. The rest of the car has received a fair bit of "rodding", fibreglass dash, dakota digital guages, Toyota drift handbrake oh yeah the drip rails have been shaved and Supra tail lights have been fabricate dinto the rear.

The hardest but most in your face part with this conversion was to make it look old school so I have modified the plenum and installed an Enderlie Injection bug Catcher as my throttle body.

The car has been a daily driver for the last three years and been a fantastic performer. It has driven my family Sydney to Mackay 4 times, been to Townsville, Sydney to Melbourne twice, raced at Palmyra, entered drift and burnout comps in Mackay, basically my wife and I are having a ball in this thing and it's mainly due to the engine we put in

Hope you guys like it

 

[1uzvl]

Nice,how does it go pulling that around?I like the bug catcher on it,from the outside you would not be expecting that engine undernieth.

Just a side note,you have your top/bottom hoses back to front.

 

[Beato]

Not normally a Ford fan but I love this thing. Well done mate, SMIK conversion!! Glad to hear its a regularly driven street machine. After all that work you gotta enjoy it.

 

[GTLexus]

It goes really well, i used to have an original 351 hardtop with a toploader, and I would easily say this one drives better, handling and straightline speed. I have done a 13.7 at Palmyra and i want to try it Eastern Creek, as I have rebuilt the gearbox and a new clutch.

I know about the hoses but it sits on 88 deg C all day, so if it's not broken don't fix it. I will do it in the next few months as I rebuilding the 4 link and putting in new diff.

I have a to do list an arms length of little changes/repairs/improvements.

The joys of modifying everything at once but it's all worth the fun

 

[GTLexus]

thanks Beato, the whole idea with this car was to take all the bits we liked about the original GS and then modernise it. The lexus engine was a natural choice, as the car was always going to be daily driven.

It's only now that I have another daily driver that this one has sat in the garage for a record 6 weeks, but I fired it up on Sunday (just to keep the battery charged) and I had to take it for a two hour drive

 

[webbie]

Just another post to say top job mate. I love to see really clean cars, inside and out. Nice tail lights and dash.

Cheers.

 

[rivmasta]

very nice!

Wouldnt replacing the clevo with a 1uz get you beat up ona reg basis by the blue oval brigade?

 

[GTLexus]

It is very funny to watch their reactions, but its usually the tail lights that get them going.

I had the car on display at Dee Why beach and there was aguy who owns a couple of enrestored falcons, and he walked away swearing about how the owner of the hardtop had ruined it and put a Nascar engine into it, and I walked up to him and said you think the engine is bad you should see what the idiot has done to the rear. When he walked around to the back he nearly fainted.

 

[rivmasta]

LMFAO!!!!

Thats hilarious!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mshawari1]

Very nice and clean ... keep going

 

[deankdx]

Brillient

hey thats fantastic
i have the XE with supra box
just wondering a few things for comparison.
by the way. even though mine is a common by comparison XE ghia, i got a ppr reaction from the ford boys, even though its quicker than the new fords and holden V8s lol

anyway look here if interested in My conversion http://www.lextreme.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2340

what diff ratio do you use? what exhuast? what management(obviously aftermarket going by lack of AFM)
whats your fuel economy

i sort of abandoned prject due to body rust + engineers process
half tempted to refit it to My tidy XF, but i dont need it really.
the car looks nice, i think i prefer the ford lights, but it still looks great
have you got any Video or sound file to hear? mine sounds nice, there is a vid in My thread.

great reading this thread, gives me some inspiration to keep mine.,
thanks Dean

 

[GTLexus]

I am using 3.7 diff ratio with a LSD, but am wanting to change it to a mini spool as I find the LSD to unpredictable.

The exhaust is made up of tri-y extractors into twin 2.5 inch cats, going into a 10 inch X pipe and then splits into dual mufflers. After the mufflers the exhaust enlerges to 3 inch. I will post a piccie and sound files for you later.

Engine management is Microtech LX-12.

Fuel economy is running around 14l/100km. My economy is probably a little high as I have to richen up the mixture when the throttle is just carcking as the TB is too big and I like reving it alot.

Don't lose hope, these things are great and it's not just performance it's also improves your handling as there is less weight over the nose with the 1uz compared to a cleveland

 

[deankdx]

Don't lose hope, these things are great and it's not just performance it's also improves your handling as there is less weight over the nose with the 1uz compared to a cleveland

sounds like a great setup,
i know what you mean with the handling, i'd choose a 250 crossflow over a ford V8

i think i'll sell mine, its good fun but i have different priorities now
thanks and i look forward to the Vids
Dean

 

[madhun]

Mate thats a seriously sweet ride.

I could imagine the ford fraternity dry wretching with the thought of anything but a windsor or clevo under the bonnet, but that thing seriously looks the business.

Big fan of the Dakota Digital dash!