The Falcon is presently being painted, inside and out, Viper red at Maine Auto Cosmetics.  They are stripping the old paint, repairing rust damage, straightening the body lines, and then using a Spies Hecker base/clear coat system.  The entire car has been dissembled.  All of the glass, doors, fenders, and trim have been removed.  The rust around the rear wheel wells is being repaired with patch panels from a donor car. 

All of the trim (stainless, anodized aluminum, chrome has been either replaced with new or re-plated.  However, at this point I have not refinished the grill, but hope to soon.  The ugly chrome falcons on the sides of the front fenders have been re-plated.  All of the other chrome pieces have been replaced with new (door handles, mirrors, emblems, etc.).  The stainless pieces have been polished with jewelers rouge.  I removed the anodized finish from the headlight doors and taillight buckets, polished them, and then sprayed with clear coat.

The factory antenna has been replaced with a generic aftermarket power unit.  This really cleans up the lines of the car.

The original chassis was removed from back seat to the rear of the car, from outer fender to outer fender.  A 2x3 box tube frame was run from the front frame rails to the rear of the car.  The opening was then closed in with Summit Racing steel wheel tubs and sheet metal.  Since I wanted to keep the back seat, I designed the frame crossmember to pass under the driveshaft.  The center section is removable so that the driveshaft can be dropped.  The new frame is also tied into the rocker boxes.  The car is about as stiff as possible without adding a cage.  I feel a cage looks goofy in a street car and detracts from the interior so I didn't go that route.

The Falcon spent all of 2005 being painted at Maine Auto Cosmetics in Portland.  All is done, except for the front fenders and hood.  The color is Spies Hecker Viper red base/clear.  The rocker box extension and rear wheel well openings had considerable rust damage.  Patch panels were cut from a donor car.  Both front fenders had rust damage on the brows above the headlights.  Considerable time was spent smoothing out all the 44 years of dings, bump, and ripples.  The body lines are once again straight.  Lots of etching, primers, and glaze.  The finish is like a mirror!  Thanks to countless hours of love, attention, water sanding, and buffing.

I will spend the winter 2005/2006 putting it all back together and add more pictures as I go. All of the chrome has been either re-plated or replaced.

2005 - New Paint