News at last.

Last time I wrote I was putting the car in storage for a while. That turned out to be over three and half years. During this time I lived over two and half years in New Zealand and collected some bits and pieces. While at that side of the world, I also visited Ford Broadmeadows Assembly Plant site at Victoria, Australia where my Falcon was built.

Visiting Broadmeadows Assembly Plant site in Feb 2019. Car rentals there don't list Falcon GTs, that's the reason for a ponyride.

Back home in Finland the Falcon was kept in a ventilated storage and was exactly as I left it. I thought it would a good time to take the engine out for a full rebuild. There is still a lot of rust repair waiting but I'll return to that later.

The engine bay looks like any old car with all the extra wiring, aftermarket stuff and quick fixes in a mess. I had the heads removed about 20 years ago, replaced the camshaft and timing chain etc. and just put it back to running order. The radiator got a new core at the same time but mainly I just kept the engine as it was.

The original cast iron intake manifold had been replaced by Edelbrock Performer LB 351-4V manifold.

I noticed the original cast iron intake manifold had been replaced by Edelbrock Performer LB 351-4V manifold. Quite common and understandable modification, except this manifold #2665 is intended to be used with "Ford 351-C and Boss 351 engines originally equipped with a 4-barrel carburetor and 4-V cylinder heads" (https://www.edelbrock.com/performer-351-intake-manifold-for-ford-351-4v-cleveland-2665.html). The heads on this engine are Australian ones with 2V head intake port size (1.375" x 2.05"). The manifold did fit mechanically but there was noticeable port size mismatch. It's worth to mention that Edelbrock Performer manifolds #2665 and #2750 for 351C came with smaller port exit dimensions than the ports on the heads; for 4V #2665 - 1.37" x 2.15" and for 2V #2750 - 1.30" x 1.86". This intentional mismatch have been addressed in the product special instructions section:

NOTE: After just purchasing the Edelbrock Performer for my 351C 2V, there is a SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS section that is nice to know: The port size of the Performer 351-2V and the Performer 351-4V manifold was thoroughly researched and was designed smaller than the head port for several reasons. Although appearing small in size, the legs of this manifold not only flow more than the port in the head, but they also increase the flow in the head. The design of this manifold allows us to use great runner speed which prevents fuel dropout and gives us better fuel and air suspension. This combination is excellent for throttle response, total performance, and provides very favorable emission qualities. As a final note, please do not attempt to match the manifold to the ports. This will not only hurt performance, but it will upset many of the fine features that took months of research and development. (http://web.archive.org/web/20050317051408/http://stangstable.com/manifold.htm)

 Whoever replaced the original manifold should have used #2750 manifold for 351-2V instead.

351C Australian head (2v ports with closed wedge chamber)

The heads came off without issues. I had them checked 20 years ago and to be honest haven't driven much since.

 Remaining engine detached from the transmission easily and was lifted off.

It would be interesting to see the internals..