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Gday all.

Here is a Falcon I bought a couple of months ago.
I picked it up so I can semi-retire my original Falcon that I got for Xmas when I was 11 years old in 1988.

It turns out to be in better condition than Falcon#1!

I pilfered a few parts to put on Falcon#1 to give that a few runs.
Now I'm putting it all back together to be a runner.


This is what it looked like when it arrived.







The front end was broken off, but I had a spare set of 'D' parts to put it back together.
Doesn't look like it's had much use.
The previous owner must've broken the front end not long after getting it, and put it in the cupboard and that's where it stayed.
Bonus for me!

The MSC has been donated to Falcon#1, along with the Silver Can motor.

A couple of weeks ago I decided to dye the wheels.
I painted the rims on Falcon#1 black many years ago.
Paint isn't ideal, so I bought some nylon dye.

I did a couple of sets, one for each Falcon.


Here is the before shot.
The white rims are a pair of rears off a Wild One, that I had on Falcon#1.



The set on the left had been previously painted, but I stripped it using acetone.
DO NOT use acetone on Falcon rear wheels. They dissolve, I found out the hard way!
The front wheels (and Wild One) must be made of a different grade of nylon, as they were fine.


A gentle simmer in a pot for 20min, and this is the result.





I'm pretty happy with the way they came out.
Although the set on the right did come out better, as they were in better condition to start with.

As a group of us are organising a Vintage bash, I thought I'd better get some work done.
Had some parts arrive in the mail, so I was finally able to get a start on it.


Gearbox back together.
Black Can fitted, but will put a steel pinion on it before it gets run.
I'll get an 18T and 19T (only options available ) and see which is best.




Bearings fitted, and all those nasty serrated nuts replaced with nylocs.






I put the front end together last night, but haven't taken any pics yet.
I need to modify the upper chassis brace I made for it.
Still waiting for the lower brace to arrive in the mail.

Cool thread so far! Nice job painting the rims.

I was sanding the Levant rims today and you actually gave me an idea with the aceton.
So I bought some and tried a little on one of the rims - seemed to work fine.
Then I made a mistake.

I put the rims with the aceton together in a plastic bags for a short while.
This I did because the stuff is very volatile.
When I checked later I noticed the plastis of the rims wasn't hard enough to use aceton.
Conclusion : I killed the rims.

Lucky me they were the cheapest rims in the house.
Guess not every experiment works out!

P.S. Very nice those blue sealed bearings...

Thanks Edou.

Ooh, shame about your Levant rims.

I think it's odd how some are acetone safe, and others aren't.
Especially when they're from the same car!

Glad you didn't ruin any expensive/rare wheels though.

Some parts of the rim were thinner/softer than others.
The core was okay, but all the softer plastic on it had started melting.

But that's a good learning experience. Not a fun one though.
I'll never just use aceton again carelessly.
Next time I'll probably use breaking fluid. Heard some good things about that concerning getting rid of paint.
That should not hurt any plastic at all. Just takes a little longer.
Of course I'll make sure of it first, so I don't snuff another pair of these rims.

New ones are already coming in btw.