[B.LouBalls]

Hey all, I recently came upon a 66 Falcon 4 door, with a shade over 22,000 on her. Everything interior wise is absolutely showroom, and there is no body rust, but the paint is showing small spots and corrosion (spent most of its life in a shed under soft cover with cats), and the engine block has a cracked cylinder because it was parked with too much water content back in the day. When they discovered this issue put it all in a crate and sealed it up. Here's my consideration, is this car worth trying to sleeve and reassemble the engine and keep it numbers-matching? or.... is there a better idea? What can I swap in besides a 302 without massive changes to the frame, mounts and rest of the driveline or is that my best choice in the end? My gold mine shut down due to Covid so cost IS a factor as well.

 

[Dominick 1]

Welcome to the Forum
That decision is basically on you
If you want a numbers matching car witch is very rare in your case
I'd get an estimate on getting it rebuilt or buying a crate 289
I truly don't like to spend others peoples money

 

[redrag]

IMO numbers matching isn't worth worrying about. it will never be worth big bucks. fix it and enjoy it

 

[Iowan]

A trip to the machine shop or a rebuilt long block is going to cost you a couple grand plus or you might find a used running 289/302 for $500. Depending on how you use the car a used motor could work fine.

 

[Action]

If cost is a factor do not change the engine to a different size. That will drive up the costs.
The cheapest solution would be a used engine assembly. (as stated above) The next cheapest would be repairing what you have.

There isn't such a thing as numbers matching.
Ford only used date codes on engines of the era. There is a window of dates that would be acceptable
But there is not a serial or a VIN stamped into the block

And as stated above, an engine change isn't going to change market valve much. It may change who is interested in the vehicle when it comes time to sell.

Action

 

[63falcondriver]

You sure the cylinder is cracked vs the water jacket on the exterior of the engine?

 

[B.LouBalls]

You sure the cylinder is cracked vs the water jacket on the exterior of the engine?

i can hook a fingernail on the crack once i pulled the pistons out of the block...sad really

 

[B.LouBalls]

I ha

i can hook a fingernail on the crack once i pulled the pistons out of the block...sad really

i have a set of heads for it fresh from the machine shop: checked, prepped, flattened, seats touched, and ready to go if you need a set of factory iron heads with 22,000 on them, LOL. Not sure what I'll be able to do with them now! I'll look into the cost of a sleeve i guess for future rebuilding or keep trying to find a block. I have a 302 on the shop floor now to move her around for the time being.

 

[Action]

The heads are nice.
And yes you have a block decision.

Find a new block. Find a used block and machine. Or sleeve the existing block and machine.

Or chuck it all and get a replacement engine. (Used, remanufactured or new)
Lots of choices!
And basically you knew the issue when you went into this vehicle.

Action