Just Bought A Crusty Old Falcon For $50

[markbt73]

I went in to the local hobby shop to get a new Holiday Buggy, and left with this instead:

It was in the consignment case for $50, including an old Magnum Sport radio and a box of spare parts. It's old and crusty and dirty and I just had to have it. It's all there, but it's beat. It will be a runner, eventually.

[merckx]

SCORE!

[markbt73]

Got a chance to take a look at this today, and ended up tearing it completely down. It's actually in pretty good shape.

The front uprights are seriously worn out, but all the suspension parts look good. No damage to any plastic parts except the tub, which is cracked in the front in the usual place. I have an old Stadium Thunder tub that is scratched but intact, so I'll just use that one.

The whole chassis is coated in some kind of clear waxy stuff, like somebody sprayed it with something to make it shiny. Hopefully it washes off; I don't think it's lacquer or anything. I was quite surprised when I opened up the gearbox; it has a brand new gear set, including a nice hard-coated aluminum pinion gear and a new set of ball bearings. Rear axles and outdrives are new, and it has these metal aftermarket dogbones. (Anyone know who made them? CRP, maybe?)

It has an older Futaba Magnum Sport radio, not quite period-correct for the car, but not far off. It works fine, so I'll use it. The mechanical speed control is fried, so it will go away and be replaced by a TEU101BK, just to keep it in the family.

Wheels and tires are original, and too nice to use. I'll save them for the shelf. I have a set of front wheels and tires that will work, and I ordered some rears to match. The body is, of course, dead. It's a mass of cracks and flaked paint. I'll probably order a repro body for it after I finish the chassis.

This is my first attempt at restoring a secondhand vintage car, so wish me luck...

[Jim the wookie]

nice score, keep up the good work be great to see another falcon fly again.

Jim

[30cms]

teambluegroove do a great repro body for this, and tamiyoman on here is the dude for excellent repro decals!

[markbt73]

Got the rolling chassis back together last night...

After a complete teardown, washing, and inspection, the only parts that needed replacing were one front shock tower, the rear suspension arm mounts, the front uprights, and the tub. I had a tub, and the uprights were $8 from Tower, and all the other necessary parts were included. Pretty cheap resto so far.

Next up is electronics: the original Futaba radio will go back in along with a new surplus-from-another-kit TEU101BK. I have no desire to deal with a mechanical speed controller again, no matter how "authentic" it would be.

[commiedoor]

looking good ..i remember racing them in their day !

[tonysmini]

I have great fun with my Falcon, I messed around with the shocks and springs to get the suspension subtle enough to glide over the bumps. (Four hole damper disks, softer springs and very light weight oil in the back)

Add a CRP alloy brace under the front end and away you go.

[SteelRat]

Falcon's are the underdogs of the first 100, imo. You can pick 'em up cheap and with only a little bit of work they can be very capable and durable bashers.

I love mine!

[markbt73]

Thanks for the comments. My brother had a Falcon when we were kids, and I was always irritated by how much better it went around corners than my Blackfoot (though I could smoke him in a drag race).

This one won't see too much bashing, because I just got a new Holiday Buggy for that purpose. But sometimes it's nice to take one of the oldies out for a spin.

[simondo]

It`s looking good!

I really should drag my project falcon out and finish it. I am going to do it in my old colours, so will end up buying a ***** shell sometime.

Keep us all updated on the progress.

[markbt73]

It's alive!!!

I re-used the old Futaba radio and S148 servo that it came with, and installed a TEU101BK. Still needs a couple tweaks: shocks need rebuilding, and those metal dogbones are a hair too long; they bind up the suspension in the middle of the travel. I didn't notice it with the old worn-out rear arm mounts. Might try to make the drive cups a touch deeper so they fit better.

I'm going to run it with the old body shell, with all its "patina," for now, until I get around to ordering a ***** reproduction.

Here it is with "kid sister," waiting for the rain to stop so they can go out and play: