Anyone like Fairlanes? I'm bringing my 63 Fairlane 500 with a 221 V8 on Saturday. I've had it for about 2 years now, but I'm now getting really excited about it. It doesn't really need that much to run. I'm going to take the heads off, and make sure everything is fairly clean and nothing is wrong with, and to clean the rats nest out of it. I've got a spare performer intake and carb I can put on it. Then I figure I can replace the fuel lines, clean/replace the tank, do the typical tune up stuff and it should run. Do a brake job and suspension check/replacement and it should be driveable. My ultimate goal is for it to look pretty much original except for torq thrust wheels, and of course the intake and carb, and a disc brake swap. I can't believe how nice the chrome is on it. Especially the window trim, its nicer than the stuff on my 68 Coupe. Its only got 46k original miles on it. My Great Grandmother bought it in 1968 (I have the title transfer paperwork and title), she was the 2nd owner, I'm the 3rd.
It's home now. Here it is in my driveway after we took it off of the trailer. Surprisingly, I'm kinda diggin' the v6 Mustang wheels I put on it for roll-a-rounds.
Hmmmmm....... that could be a lot of fun! First of all, you are on lucky Dawg! Not only is the chrome trim in good shape; bt that grille looks prisitine for its age Is that a factory or dealer A/C unit? I asked because it only needs different louvers and a "Sears" emblem on the front to be identical to the one that was in my Dad's '70 F100. Four doors, automatic, nice bench seats, and a generator; long-term, are you going "original" or modding it out? Lotsa room under a Fairlane hood for an EFI'd roller 5.0/GT40 heads..... back it up with a built AOD (find a place to hide the "AOD OFF" button and keep the original gear indicator) and a 9" LSD, stuff a relatively quiet dual exhaust (Maggie's) underneath, maybe lower it a little, but keep the body original with factory paint - something different for cruise-ins and weekend car shows. Take it out and run it; then show everybody what's under the hood OBTW: Love the 70's-era magazine laying on the back seat - and the matching glass Coke bottles on the floor!
Hey, while I'm at it..... In your other Fairlane thread, you were asking about parts for the car..... Having a '73 Mercury Cougar; I know what it's like trying to find exterior parts (there aren't any being made!); So I find myself looking at junkyards that cater to the model line. Here's one: Fairlane Acres The guy calls his yard "The Parts Department." On page 4 there's a sister to your car; different color, though. That's about the only one I could find in my Favorites file
I don't know what you are wanting to do with the interior (which really the original doesn't look too bad) but a white exterior and a red interior would look killer! After you get her running, first thing I would do next is ditch that single master cylinder and go with a dual. Not only would it be better brakes but safer if you lost a brake line.
Okay, thread resurrection. About 3 years ago I converted this car to a dual master cylinder and completely replaced the entire brake system. That's it. I now have the money and the motivation to get this thing going. I'm about to go start working on it. I have already pulled the intake and the heads to check out the condition of the motor (and the debris from the mice) and I really don't want to put it back together just yet. I'm going to pull the motor, hone it, and put in a new set of rings, bearings, and gaskets as well as a stock replacement cam/lifters. This is my delimma. Do I replace all the cooling/ignition/fuel system stuff now, before I rebuild it? If I do that, then I should just be able to drop the motor in and run it. I didn't want to rebuild the motor first, then have to let it sit while I round up all the other stuff. Or should I just go ahead and get the engine finished? I want this thing to run and drive by Thanksgiving. That's my goal. It doesn't necessarily have to be perfect or finished by then, but I need it to work properly.
Well, my other drivetrain option involves my foxbody. I'm very close to being done with a 351w swap for my 90 GT, I just need a cam and lifters, I already have all the swap stuff. I could take the 302 from it when I swap the 351 in and put the 302 in the Fairlane (I already have an extra carbed intake and carb for it) along with a c4 that I would need to find to replace the 5 bolt two speed in the Fairlane now. It has GT40 heads and a E303 cam, might be pretty cool in the Fairlane. My long term goal with the Fairlane though is for everything to be or look like original. Short term is to get it going, then I can go back and change things out as needed.
The intake runners on the performer manifold are too large for the 221 engine's small ports and swapping the heads are not an option because the 221 uses a 45cc head. Also the performer carb is WAY too big for that little guy to handle. The resto-mod with the 5.0 sounds cool!
I was thinking about that a minute ago. I could also just find a 2bbl carb to put on the original intake. That would be more in line with my long term goal anyway.
The 221 .98" carburetor is cheap to buy, but only flows 190 CFM. Check your throttle bores on the manifold because you might be able to step up to the 240 CFM 260 carb or 287 CFM 289 carb. Is that New Holland Blue I see in the background?
Thats a great find....my cousin has a 64 galaxy 500 all original ill have to see if i can get some pics of, it belonged to his mother and she bought it new in 64
That looks like a great project. I passed on a 66 Wagon earlier this year, I could have gotten it cheap. I regret not pulling the trigger on it. I love the look of these cars.
Yeah it didn't sit outside the whole time. I remember it being under a garage for most of my childhood. I think it was around the mid 90s when it got put out there.
Still, that's 15 years of hard sunlight. I doubt I'll ever inherit a classic like this, so I'm certainly jealous. Keep us updated!
Picked up a 302 from a 91 mustang for 175$ yesterday. Today I cleaned it, painted it old Ford blue, the valve covers gold, and put my spare rpm intake and edelbrock 600 on it. I thought it would look kind of cool that way, like an old 289. Also painted the stock fairlane manifolds cast coat iron. I'm putting this motor in just to get it running quickly, while I rebuild the old 221.
