SPRING CLEAN

GLENN TORRENS SCRUBS HIS SAVED-FROM-CERTAIN-DEATH 1980S FORD FALCON AND CREATES A HIT-LIST OF BITS

- GLENN TORRENS

FOR ME, RESURRECTING or restoring any older car is a matter of working from a list. To create that list, you need to take a good hard look at what’s in front of you and assess what needs to be repaired or replaced. If that sounds obvious, why do so many people get it wrong by stripping a car to nothing and then becoming overwhelmed by the process?

After towing this 1980s Falcon home from its 15-year slumber at Flynn’s Wreckers in Cooma NSW, I began my list of parts and processes to get it back on the road again.

Some of the list is blatantly obvious, such as the need for new tyres. But under any car there is a multitude of parts, – especially suspension and brakes – that may or may not need attention, depending on condition and age. The only way to be sure is with a methodical inspection. So as I usually do with a new project car, I give the underside and wheel wells a thorough clean, this time on a sunny Sunday afternoon. 

I was pleasantly surprised with how tidy the car was underneath. A clean and degrease of the engine bay revealed just a tiny spec of rust in the plenum area – a notorious Falcon rust trap – with the engine bay components and plastics (such as the cold air intake pipe) were unexpectedly in good condition … Usually they are gone!

There was a dark, damp oil streak along the underside of the car, probably caused by the engine’s rear-main seal leaking. I’ve had success with oil additives in other engines over the years, so hopefully a $15 bottle of goop will fix the leak.