TECH NOTES
What: '63 Ford Falcon Futura
Owner: Kelly McLearran
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona, land of perpetual sun.
Engine: '78 Ford inline-six displacing a whopping 255 ci. The block is bored 0.040-over with stock replacement pistons, Total Seal rings, 8.0:1 compression and a seven-main-bearing stock crank with a mile-long 3.91-inch stroke. Stock bore is 3.68 inches.
"It's got a 6,000-rpm rev limiter in it but we never get there." -Kelly McLearran on the 250 six's rpm potential
Head: This is undoubtedly the weakest part of the chain since it's not even a crossflow-style head. Instead, the exhaust is on the same side of the head as the intake, where exhaust heat builds right into the intake. The mildly ported head sports miniscule1.75-inch intake valves.
Camshaft: Ford Six Performance Parts supplied the Clay Smith single-pattern grind with an advertised duration of 274 degrees and duration at 0.050 of 224 degrees with 0.450-inch lift using 1.65 Australian Yella Terra roller rockers.
Intake: The only thing more restrictive than the head is the integral log-style intake manifold. Just imagine a pipe with stubs sticking out of it and you get the idea. The original one-barrel carb has been replaced with a 350-cfm Holley two-barrel.
Headers: Will welded his own fabricated header with 1.5-inch primaries leading into a 2.5-inch log that feeds directly into the turbo. The single exhaust leads to a lone Borla muffler in the stock location.
Turbo: This is the heart of the beast. The hair dryer is a Garrett TO4 with a 57mm inducer. The small exhaust housing spins the turbo up quickly to make the power. Hidden under the left front fender is a Toyota air-to-air aftercooler.
Trans: The 250ci six allows the use of a V-8-style C4 automatic built by Performance Automatic utilizing a Hughes 3,500-stall converter and a reverse-manual valvebody controlled by a B&M shifter.
Rearend: When the McLearrans bought the little Falcon, it already had a 9-inch under its flanks complete with overkill 33-spline Moser axles, a spool, and 4.56:1 gears. Now it sports 3.50:1 gears.
Suspension: The front suspension is painfully stock, right down to the six-cylinder springs with only a set of Competition Engineering shocks set at 70/30 and a set of limiter straps. The rear is more aggressive with a Chris Alston Chassisworks ladder-bar setup and coilover shocks.
Wheels and tires: Kelly wanted wheels equally as dissimilar as the car, so they chose a set of American Salt Flat Special 15x4s for the front mounted with M/T 24x4.5-15 ET Fronts with 15x8s in the back mounted with M/T 235/60R-15 ET Street Radials.
Interior: The car is quick enough to demand a roll bar, but for now the stock bench seats and interior are graced with a set of Auto Meter gauges including a boost gauge and a tach while Kelly is restrained with an RCI five-point harness. In the glovebox is the original 1963 bill of sale for $2,450.50 that includes a deduction of $58.50 for the radio-delete option.
Body: Nothing is more stock than this Falcon's Corinthian White factory paint and the Mount Sterling, Illinois, dealer sticker on the back bumper. The Falcon weighs a svelte 2,610 pounds without driver.
Performance: The best run to date is 11.85 at 110.55 mph.
Crew: Ford Six Performance Parts, Murray Christiansen Welding, Brian Tuuri, Ron Tuuri, KJ Jones Racing, Don's Hot Rod Shop, B&B Towing, and Machine Works.
WANT ONE?
All high-performance projects are the result of collaborative efforts, and the McLearrans are quick to acknowledge Ford Six Performance Parts (fordsixparts.com) and Fordsix.com, which were incredibly helpful when it came to building this inline scheme. FSPP is well aware of the inline-six's cylinder head's limitations and is currently perfecting its own aluminum high-performance cylinder head. The company plans to have a new aluminum cylinder head out by Spring 2006 in case we've planted an evil inline seed.