I knew my 245 was ahead of it's time when it was new, but I finally got a sense of how far ahead of the game it was when my friend aquired a 1973 Falcon Ute a couple of weeks ago. Haven't got the photos, but this Aussie classic looks a little like this, only silver and with more rust.



Now I'm quite used to jumping in my '77 245 and driving it around the city, with handling that easily compares to newer cars, once I get it started that is. I was quite unprepared for Mike's ute. It's got heavy recirculating ball steering, with a lock that takes a football field to turn around coupled with drum brakes and no power assist. Doesn't turn, and unless you shift down quite harshly and mash the pedal, it doesn't stop either. Shifting down is another annoyance, because the old truck has no synchro on first. I learned this midway through a roundabout the first time I drove it. The previous owner did convert it to 4SP floorshift, instead of the original 3SP collum, which would have been a real PITA to drive.

Now the fun part is that this is the car I'm teaching Mike to drive on, and we have a 35 mile road trip planned up to the mountains. (I need to pick up a load of stuff, and he needs experience in the logbook) He's a surprisingly good driver for his experience, some people just learn faster, but he has very little experience in a manual car. I saw him get into the ute and figure out how to do a hill start in reverse the other night, only stalled it once, and I didn't even have to tell him what to do. I think he'll get the hang of things very quickly.

There are two questions I wanted to ask. One is about the fact that the Ute has a spare 4.1 litre Ford 6 in the tray. It's the original motor, and came free with the ute. How does one go about removing a heavy cast iron block from the back, and what's the best way to move it around and store it if you don't own a hoist or a stand? I'm sure many of our RWD visitors have experienced this dilemma.

The other question is about all wheel drums. I'm only 22, so I haven't got much (any) experience with old cars with drum brakes. Other than increasing stopping distance, shifting down to brake, not getting them too hot and being aware that they don't work too well when wet, is there anything else we should be aware of?

It certainly makes me appreciate how good the 240s were in their time. As soon as I get those rebuilt calipers on, I'll be back on the road in the 245. I'm really going to appreciate the luxury of light camgear steering, all wheel discs and synchro on all gears.
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Drive it like you hate it