Ford Falcon 1975 FAQs

Check out real-world situations relating to the Ford Falcon here, particularly what our experts have to say about them.

• How much should it cost to replace the headliner in my Ford BA Falcon?

  Ford Falcon headliner replacement cost will be somewhere between about $300 and $500, depending on a few details. Those prices are based on a modern Falcon, say, a BA Falcon or FG Falcon from this century, after Ford had switched to the one-piece, cardboard-backed headliner. However, the cost could be more if the vehicle is a station wagon or has a sunroof fitted, as both these things alter the amount of material used and the degree of difficulty in removing and refitting the headliner. 

  Other variables include whether you take the vehicle to a motor trimmer to have the existing headliner recovered, or you call an onsite repairer to remove your old headliner and fit a reconditioned unit in your driveway or car-park at work.

  You might be able to find a second-hand replacement headliner at an auto parts recycler, but the danger is that the headliner you buy might also fail in the not-too distant future. That’s because the modern one-piece headliner – including late-model Falcon headlining - is made from a structural backing board with a layer of foam sandwiched between the board and the vinyl or cloth that you see above your head. Over time and with heat, the foam layer breaks down into dusty fragments and the adhesion between the backing board and cloth or vinyl is lost. That’s when the cloth starts to hang down inside the car.

  Overall, Falcon roof lining replacement is not a difficult job for an experienced trimmer, but it is a bit fiddly and will take some time. Many owners put up with a saggy headliner, but a fresh roof lining repair will make the car look and feel brand new again.

  You can find more information here. 

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• How can I change driveshaft centre bearing on a 2004 BA Falcon?

  It sounds very much like a seized bush in the rubber-donut assembly that joins the tailshaft to the back of the gearbox. Inside the rubber donut (also called the flex-joint) there’s a metal inner bush and these have been known to seize. Water gets into this bush and rusts the assembly solid. If that happens, it will feel like the thing will never come apart.

  At that point, perhaps removing the slip-yoke from the back of the transmission will allow you to remove the whole assembly and get better access to it on a bench, rather than from under the car. The slip-yoke shouldn’t present any problems other than you might lose a little transmission fluid (so have some rags handy) but you do need to remember to mark the position of all the components relative to each other. That means marking where the tailshaft bolts were relative to the rear coupling, the coupling relative to the flange, the shaft relative to the yoke’s holes and so on. That’s so when the tailshaft is reassembled and refitted, it’s still in balance and won’t create any new driveline vibrations. This process even extends to marking which nuts and bolts attached to which mounting holes in the rear CV joint, as some of these bolts were individually weighted for balance.

  The other thing to check is the actual centre bearing you’re trying to replace. For some reason there were two different part numbers for this series of Ford Falcon. One has a different bearing inner diameter and a different spacing for the mounting holes compared with the other. Make sure you buy the correct one.

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• Will I still be able to buy LPG gas in the future?

  Back when LPG was between 10 and 20 cents a litre, it made all sorts of sense. Even when it had crept up to 50 or 60 cents a litre, car-makers like Ford and Holden were producing LPG-dedicated vehicles to make the most of that cost advantage.

  Now, however, when LPG is 80 or 90 cents per litre (versus $1.40 or $150 for petrol) the arithmetic no longer presents the sound financial case it once did. Given that Australia still has plenty of LPG, this probably means a couple of things. The first is that the companies who produce the LPG would rather sell it offshore in bulk that mess about transport it to a few thousand individual service-stations. The second is that maintaining a service station to incorporate petrol, diesel and LPG is too much trouble, so there’s a move to get rid of the latter as a streamlining measure. The death of local cars with LPG engines has only sped up this process. Again, though, this is only conjecture.

  My guess is that you’ll still be able to buy LPG from a service station for many years to come, but it may not be every service station you pass. The bigger issue, though, is that now that LPG is no longer the money saver it once was (yes, it costs less, but you use more per kilometre than a car running on petrol) what’s the point of an LPG-dedicated vehicle? Dual-fuel (where you can run on petrol or LPG at the flick of a switch) is one thing, but a dedicated LPG car stopped making a lot of financial sense for many people a few years ago.

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