Hi Al do you have any idea what those 66 spindle part #s are? I need to find a set of spindles for a '63 that has '65 V8 power steering linkage. You stated the '66 Falcon won't work due to the wider platform do you know whether early fairlane used the same spindle? just to widen the search parameters as 64.5-66 mustang v8 spindles are getting harder to find. would it be safe to assume anything with a 3,4,5 year code has the early narrow track ackerman angle? or are there other differences? i was told the tie rod stud was larger for 63-4 falcon therefore only '65s exchange with early mustang

Thanks Steve,
                       Yeah I thought so ....I'm guessing they're probably '66 but from a fairlane or falcon but here is my issue if 65 Falcon spindles came from the factory on my '66 mustang what part numbers am I looking for? only falcon D and mustang Z? or does the 64-5 fairlane O code work as well? and what about Comet? basically what casting numbers do I need to identify the early spindles I need?
                                                                                                        - thanks again
No sir the car in question ended up wrapped around a telephone pole after it decided to suddenly change lanes @ 90 mph and had all 64 V8 manual steering with 76 Monarch spindles and tie rod ends I only attempted to mate discs to 6 steering once in the early '90's I took a V8 spindle and a 6 tie rod to a machine shop and had them machine a sleeve however I noticed that at the extreme end of its travel the tie rod would make contact with the spindle which scared the crap outta me so I never had the other sleeve made I threw my sample (i think it cost me $80 for r&d) away so no one else would use it
 

Madscience ,
             over the years of messing around with all types of cars based on the x200 1960 falcon chassis mustang/comet/fair....etc. etc. I have come to the realization all those parts I thought were so similar that should be interchangable aren't....although Ford stuck to the same general design for 20 years they kept themselves busy constantly slightly reworking those parts some times for no rhyme or reason. However in 1965 the Falcon steering system was redesigned to minimize some of the bumpsteer issues found in the earlier systems. The 1963-4 Falcon /Comet centrelink has the inner tie rods placed further outboard than the '65 centerlink hence greater tendency to understeer and they will NOT interchange because they are different lengths. If your goal is to improve handling you could swap your entire steering system for the '65 yes the whole thing including the box because it has a larger sector shaft you cant just swap the centrelink. I would just replace the inners with original 63-4 inners the sleeves will accept late model outers use the same outers as your new spindles (granada maverick mustang etc.) the only time you need a special outer tie rod is with '65 falcon & '65-'66 mustang power steering LH outer .

well I did some light picking and scraping in there pulled out a lot of loose rust and it kept getting deeper there are threads around the inside so I stopped cleaning not sure of whats in there it doesnt look like the other side which has a threaded plug removable with an allen key bit 

I've had to pull my 289 due to weeping frost plugs I've done the big ones on the side of the block a few times in the past on other engines and ashamedly must admit to warping a couple they never seem to just pop in as you'd like and if they go out of alignment even a little it magnifies quickly. I dry-fit them in the past and had no issues but is it better to use a sealer? just hi temp silicone? How do I get these little tiny ones out? (and back in?) I've never seen the ones in the heads rot out should I get a complete set and do them all or just the block? The work of installing them will be done while it hangs off the engine hoist as I dont have an engine stand will I have better luck rolling the engine on its side? what is a good tool to use?
                                                                                                                                           - Thanks!          

Steve, if the idler and pitman arms are the same distance apart (the maverick centrelink is the exact same as the Falcon's 25.5") if transferred complete to the falcon spindles and all why does this negatively affect things? - thanks

Yeah no kidding Steve do you know if there are differences between the falcon V8 spindle and the mustang? in your opinion which will give me better ackerman angle '65 Falcon V8 steering system w stock 6 cyl. spindles?, '65 V8 mustang spindles? or 76 mverick disc spindles? - thanks

barnett468 wrote:

falconeh wrote:

lol been there done that a '66 and two '68 coupes, one (bolt on reflectors) 289 with special order paint and blank code 1 of only 3 known in that color all original except 4v man. the other '68 I put the C code in the '66 and installed a '69 351W mach 1 engine and toploader, lincoln disc brk 9", and granada spindles, steve mcqueen green.......point is in those days they all sold in the under 3 grand range now you cant even lay your hands on a basket case for that falcons are cheap and and i'm on a low budget

.
cool, what color was the special order one?

Purple sort of royal purple not the mauve and violet ones you sometimes hear about there were only 2 mustangs &1 cougar known that color I couldnt do it justice so I passed it on to a rich guy

Thanks alot guys the help and advice are much appreciated! I've gotten myself into a bit of a quagmire here and unfortunately went off half cocked and spent money on some parts that I may not be able to use My latest project is a 1963 Falcon , back when I was building Mustangs and other "falcon" chassis cars 20 years ago the 70's disc spindle was a state of the art upgrade but alot has changed since then. Unfortunately I made a rookie mistake and snapped up a complete steering and brake system from a '76 Maverick thinking A) they allow me to upgrade to p/s B) the disc spindles were an instant bolt on improvement. now I'm not so sure about the spindles   lowercase: i'm converting to 5 lug, MS: thanks again for the clarification and the benefit of your experience and knowledge I hadnt realised even the 6 steering and V8 spindles would cause problems one thing I've learned in 35 years of messing with these cars is that if you assume a part will interchange it won't! I guess your talking about '65-6 V8 disc spindles? they would be hard to find and probably expensive or are the spindles the same? Mcstang thanks for the generous offer same question to you are they drum or disc? MS as far as I know there were no V8 disc falcon spindles if so theyre probably rare as hens teeth barnett: thanks for the links that seems like the best option for using the stock 4 lug spindle I have managed to compare a '65 Falcon V8 p/s system now the question is if the 6 steering and V8 drum spindles don't work together, the 6 steering w adapter sleeves and maverick spindles don't work, what would be the result of using the V8 steering with the 6 cyl. spindles? do the tie rod ends fit? and will this combo maintain the correct '63 ackerman angle? or does use of the V8 pitman and idler change that too? - Thanks

Hey Steve as you say " there are no dumb questions" that being said... so either way I go repro '65 falcon or stock w sleeves I'll still have the incorrect ackerman with these (Maverick) spindles. I don't really want to bend them Can the uca drop help that? If so... what part? the lowering of the uca or the 1/8" back? or the shimming of the uca? are there bump steer kits available?

....hmm I don't get it.... the distance between the pitman stud and the idler mount are the exact same 25.5"s for the Maverick/Comet and '65 V8 Falcon/Comet centrelink , the spindles come from the same car, is the difference in the angle the spindles sit at? Why would the ackerman change if swapping over the entire system?

Thanks again Steve Yes but isnt it the same for anyone mating a '65 steering to the 67 up Mustang & Mav/Gran later spindles angle too? so shouldn't the same alignment and UCA drop cures apply ...or am I missing something? I remember a time not so long ago when there wasn't a lot of off the shelf parts available people had to go out into the junkyards and discover through trial and error it just seemed to me that someone out there would have stuck a maverick steering in a 6cyl manual steer mustang at some point along the way since their width is closer than the falcon......I have seen both 66 mustang and granada centrelinks used in 64 falcons....apparently the key is in the alignment shop's skills.....I was thinking if the idler and pitman arms are the same distance apart (the maverick centrelink is the exact same as the Falcon's 25.5") if transferred complete to the falcon why does this negatively affect things?

If I do a UCA drop with Maverick spindles shouldn't the height difference between the falcon and Maverick/Granada spindle be factored into the amount of drop? I don't have them both in front of me but i've heard the Mav/gran spindle is something like 3-5/16" taller