My first truck was a 1963 ranchero.I still have it sitting in my dads pasture. My next car was a 1963 falcon futura 2 door hardtop. It to is sitting in my dads pasture. I always wanted to put a 1965/66 mustang fastback roof on the falcon to mess with the mustang guys.
Definitly go with the 200 motor. The 140 can not get out of its own way at all. The 170 is not much better. Do you still have the vacuum windshield wipers. Our old 61 did, boy was that an experience. The faster you go the slower they wipe, the slower you go the faster they wipe. Maybe that should be a new safety feature on cars today.

 

This is on ebay but this is what a hardtop looks like for those that do not know.



And this is a ranchero.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford-...item19ba9d1334

 

but guys, its a CAR........aCAR!!!!

 

my mom bought the same model when i was a kid. nice car.

 

Yes, and there's nothing wrong with driving a car, so long as it's not a wrong wheel drive econo-crapbox with known throttle issues........

Seriously, for a while I daily drove a '70 maverick with a 200 C4 and 3.08 rear gears. It got 26MPG, compared to the 94 F150 300 5spd and 3.55 gears, which topped out at 17MPG.
Less than 2 weeks apart, the ex totaled the truck, and cooked that poor 200 so bad I just tossed both halves of the head as they came off....... I've seen a head crack badly, but never had I seen one break completely in two, while still bolted down.

 

my 1st car was a 64 bel air, i bought myself....283, sweet little car. but i grew up and discovered trucks.....aint goin' back

 

Mine was and still is a 1968 Firebird. I too found trucks and can not return. I do not feel right in a car.

 

i feel right in either, trucks most of the time but never compain when i drive a sporty car

 

As much as I like the handling of my wife's mustang and my cousins 66 and 69 fastbacks, I still like the trucks. I feel vulnerable in a car. I like seeing down the road and driving over curbs at the mall. I also am not keen on the smokey the bear way of getting out of the sports cars. (Stop,Drop, and Roll)

When I visited him in St. Augustine earlier this month, I chose the 67 bronco to drive when I went to get more party favors at the store. I wish there was more leg room in them though.

 

Pretty much the same here.
FWIW, my first "car" was a '70 F100 302 3spd and 3.50 locker. I sold it after 4 years. Still kicking myself for that.......

 

Ya it's a car, but I live way out in the sticks and it's just over 20 miles to the closest town. I drove a 61 Falcon before with the 144 and 3.50:1 rear end and got 27mpg with it, now I'm trying the 144 with a 3.10:1 rear end and want to see if I can get 30mpg out of it. The 144 has such a short stroke, so at 55mph with the solid lifters it sounds like a sewing machine that's about the fly apart. And with the 3.50 rear end it did 0-60 in 3 minutes flat, with the 3.10 rear end I'm shooting for 0-60 in 5 minutes. The plan it to build up the 200 (since a 250 won't fit) and put a autolite 390cfm 4 barrel on it, because I love autolites.
My first vehicle I ever owned was a 1964 Chevrolet C10, had a 250 with a powerglide. It gave me lots of practice rebuilding altenators, starters, and master cylinders. I was the second person it was their first vehicle, and as we know I was the 6th owner. It was on it's 4th engine that we knew of and 2nd tranny, and I went through a couple 250's myself, still using the powerglide and not rebuilding it. And I sold it a couple of years ago to another kid that it was his first vehicle. The powerglide was fun, drive had about a 8 inch area it would catch in the shifter it was so wore out. The body most likely has a million miles on it.
The worst daily driver I had was my first fwd, a 1993 Chrysler Lebaron sedan, was dead when I got and still got another 130K out of it. So when I sold that I bought a 97 Saturn, never had a lick of problem with it and it was like a new car, then the tranny went, then the engine blew, now I'm done with fwd cars and 4 bangers.

 

The Falcon has been converted to electric wipers and washers, even though vacuum is alot of fun. With vacuum wipers it's fun to rev the crap out of the engine then let off quick and watch the wipers go crazy. The generator has been swapped out for a one wire type altenator. The engine has also has all new gaskets and the exhaust manifold was epoxied up where they all crack and has a new exhaust. Also has been changed from single non power master to power dual master and stainless brake lines. And the rear end is out of a wagon so there is more webbing on the gear case and has the wagon rear brakes, which are twice as wide as the sedan ones, and I rebuilt the entire rear end and painted it with hardnose por-15 and have new heavy duty wagon springs, which raises the spring rate from 450 pounds a side to 750 pounds. The front brakes have been rebuilt as well as the front suspension. The interior has been repainted and new carpet, still needs a headliner and the correct seats. So after I get the rear end put back together and a new radiator this should be a pretty good daily driver. I should put a sticker on it saying Singer power, since the 144 with solid lifters sounds like a sewing machine

 

You MUST be wrong! 27 mpg, unless it is a Honda, you will not get it - all sarcasm! That is actually great you got that out of it! It is pretty funny how big of a deal these guys make about mpg, when back in the day the numbers were comparable, or better WITHOUT computers WITH carbs! I wish I had mileage numbers for my OHC 250 before I took it out of my 1968 Firebird.

Can you put up some pics of the car?

 

I usually get better economy than what is advertised because I do almost all highway driving, so no stop and go traffic which sucks gas. I put up pics of the car on the previous page. I also like carbed cars because I can tune them the way I want with a screwdriver, I usually run my idle around 400 rpm and run them a little lean. Speaking of crazy mpg's my 66 Merc with the 410 (FE) and C6 I've gotten up to 23mpg with it by keeping it at 2100rpms, but that was on a road trip that had lots of flat long starightaways. I usually get 20mpg with it, unless I'm feeling froggy then I get about 18mpg. No one believes me, I guess I should be getting like 12mpg with it.

 

My CVPI can hop a curb with no problem.

Well, I am pissed. Facebook banned me and will not tell me why.