Worth Restoring My '63 Falcon???
Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2011 11:24 am
I've been dithering for the past few years about putting money into my '63 Falcon to get the body fixed, upholstery redone, etc. I've had this car for 13 years, and have had all the mechanical work done, so nothing to worry about there. It has a 144ci inline 6, a 2-speed Fordomatic, and about 164,800 miles (approx. 70,000 miles on the rebuild). I've personally put almost 92,000 miles on the car, including a recent 1200 mile trip to Toronto and back.
All the body and paint work would have to be done by someone other than me, but I don't know if it's worth doing. Besides some of the rust, there's a dent in the roof (see pic), and someone rear-ended me a few years ago and pushed the trunk it a bit (and bent the rusted rear bumper), and as a result the trunk lid doesn't quite close properly. So between fixing all that and doing some upholstery/carpet work, I'm probably looking at about $4000 (and that's not including any rechroming). I'd have to find a good used rear bumper, which from the looks of things online, are usually located in Arizona, and cost at least $300 + shipping. Upholstery-wise, the driver's side of the front seat is worn and dished from the years of me driving it, so at the very least the front seat would need to be fixed. The rear seat is excellent, but I'd love to replace the seat covers with ones that don't have that center velour (something more period looking is what I'd want). I've seen replacement cover sets on eBay for about $460.00, and then I'd have to get my upholstery guy I know to install them. It all adds up quickly, doesn't it!
So that's my dilemma, and I'm not sure whether to just keep driving it as-is, or to take the plunge and get it all fixed. The car sits outside and would continue to do so if I had all the work done, so I'm taking that into consideration. Plus, this is a 4 door base sedan (not a Futura) with the small 6 cylinder engine -- if it were a 2 door V8 Sprint or a convertible with even the 170 engine, it would definitely be more collectible and worth doing. But, this has been a great reliable car and has never let me down!
So I dunno....any thoughts???
All the body and paint work would have to be done by someone other than me, but I don't know if it's worth doing. Besides some of the rust, there's a dent in the roof (see pic), and someone rear-ended me a few years ago and pushed the trunk it a bit (and bent the rusted rear bumper), and as a result the trunk lid doesn't quite close properly. So between fixing all that and doing some upholstery/carpet work, I'm probably looking at about $4000 (and that's not including any rechroming). I'd have to find a good used rear bumper, which from the looks of things online, are usually located in Arizona, and cost at least $300 + shipping. Upholstery-wise, the driver's side of the front seat is worn and dished from the years of me driving it, so at the very least the front seat would need to be fixed. The rear seat is excellent, but I'd love to replace the seat covers with ones that don't have that center velour (something more period looking is what I'd want). I've seen replacement cover sets on eBay for about $460.00, and then I'd have to get my upholstery guy I know to install them. It all adds up quickly, doesn't it!
So that's my dilemma, and I'm not sure whether to just keep driving it as-is, or to take the plunge and get it all fixed. The car sits outside and would continue to do so if I had all the work done, so I'm taking that into consideration. Plus, this is a 4 door base sedan (not a Futura) with the small 6 cylinder engine -- if it were a 2 door V8 Sprint or a convertible with even the 170 engine, it would definitely be more collectible and worth doing. But, this has been a great reliable car and has never let me down!
So I dunno....any thoughts???