I'm going to focus on this one, it's the best I have. This little car found me about 6 years ago. It may not be the best but like I said it's the best I have. I'm going to try and preserve it all I can and yes, I'm going to Hop it up. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Here how the inside looked the day It was unloaded. I have cleaned up the dash and instrument panel some. It has some stubborn stains on the dash and interior I'm beginning to think that this car might have been exposed to smoke damage from a house fire. That stuff is not coming off the dash, it's almost like it's in the paint instead of on it. The vinyl is cleaning up some what but it's a slow go with so so results. I'm going to try and get this repaired. I have talked to local trim shop and they were positive. I would like to preserve the original material. I wonder if a solid piece of vinyl can be placed under the loose pleats and the the gaps closed as much as possible? I'm OK with the new showing through the cracks. Please share any thoughts. Oh the wind wing locks, they were frozen. A little WD and moving them slightly back and fourth, after a few days they loosened up. If you try to force stuff like that, it will break. Patience is key. I'll post some more pics when I really get the inside as clean as I can. I've got to go easy with the cleaning here. This is a City of Chicago parking permit from 1966 with Mayor Daley's signature. The Original Owner was in the USAF and was stationed briefly in the Great Lakes Region. I think he ordered this car when he was in the service. From what I was told from his son, this car was his dad's all time favorite. So much so he never drove it in the salt. Once stuff like the parking sticker and the upholstery is gone, it's gone forever. I had written this awful paint job off. The owners wife was backed into or she backed into someone at the supermarket. The quarter has been replaced and I have a thread about it. I think it's enamel paint. The runs and orange peel are so bad my brother and I first thought it was painted with a brush. It's also gritty with contamination. A little work with color sanding and I was impressed. Most of this car will buff out after color sanding I do believe. I'm going try and save as much as I can. The damaged areas I may try to have matched and re shot or I may run primer spots for a while. You can see here the orange peel on the cowl panel and a area on the fender I gently color sanded. I'm going to get my brother to help here, He is a pro. By far the worst spot on the car. This was the only place there was filler lifting. The bubble was at the bottom above the brown area on the fender. In pulled this off with my fingers and a screw driver. The brown area looks to be that fibergl*** resin **** from Bondo. Oddly enough this is not rust repair, it's a dent repair. The metal is intact from the backside...no rust just crumpled a little. Here is one of the areas I will likely have re shot. It depends on how it all cleans up. This is a perfect example why it's a good idea to put filler on top of good epoxy primer instead of bare metal. Back then there was no epoxy primer. The chrome, it's pitted and dull in places but I;m going to shine it up the best I can. There's still life left in the bright work. This car came equipped with a white vinyl top. I'm 99 percent sure that mess under the paint on the rear roof sail is old top glue. There is no rust on the top that I have found. I'll have to take that stuff off and re do the top. What I really want to do is put another vinyl top on. I have priced it at the trim shop and it is doable. Rangoon Red and a white vinyl top, I bet that car was a pretty joker in 1964. The 289 is coming out, to be rebuilt and I have some 60s era performance ideas in mind. I'm a little concerned with the gear ratio of 3.00 to one. I would prefer a lower gear so that's going to dictate my choices on the 289 build. The ace I have in the hole is a 68 302/C4 combo if worse come to worse. Next week I'll have another update. Please share any thoughts.
If you're planning on motor mods, I'd do the '68 motor and save that rare 289 five-bolt. Or sell it to a Mustang restorer if you want to generate some cash. The five bolt C4 bell is worth a couple hundred $$ just by itself. I don't recall ever seeing one with a vinyl top, but white tops with a different lower body color were pretty common on these. I suspect that's just a really ****py paint job.... A couple of low-buck custom touches could be hunting down a '62-63 Fairlane dash as these were actual chrome plate, not the cheesy aluminized plastic that Ford started using in '64. If you can find a '62-63 Mercury Meteor dash, that will add full gauges. Both would be bolt-ins, although the Merc dash would need some minor wiring. And check to see if you actually have a 289. Sometimes the fender badges were swapped; if your trans is a three speed, it's a 289. Two speed would be a 260. The fifth character in the VIN is the motor; C or D for a 289, F for a 260. Very nice start....
Great Project Car! Of course, I'm bias. I've got plenty of Parts left over from my recent '62 Project, and a lot of Resources. Let me know if you need any help. (I've got new Seat foam, Front End Parts, Interior Paint). The '64 is the same car, with longer front end. The seats are probably Toast. There's just not enough material to back-s***ch. I found an upholstery shop out West with the original vinyl! I had my driver seat bottom redone, because it split. There are plenty of Parts on my Local Craigslist, and Ebay, including Fenders. My interior paint looked the same. The factory primer is black, with a very thin red topcoat. What you are seeing is primer, not dirt! Photo-Do***ent the car before you dis***emble. Good luck!
nice little ride - understand trying to preserve as much as possible but, not being a truly rare car doing some replacements to interior, etc will not hurt the value. there are places that can chrome plastic, that would really make a impact to appearance of dash. if you want to keep the car pure to the VIN number then forget any performance upgrades, etc. as already stated, take that drive train out and put it aside, if you want to some day sell to a restorer as a package. then use the '68 and Hot Rod that motor. don't do any rear gear changes until you have engine/trans/tire size dialed in. could use a calculator on sites like project33.com to help figure stuff out.
Very nice starting point. Dearborne cl***ics has complete upholstery kits that are an exact match. Mine has a 72 302 with an AOD. The 3.0 gear ratio is because you have such a small tire, height wise.
Looks like a pretty nice shape car and some good potential there. I think it's nice to keep original paint and other stuff if you can, but you also need to fix what is required. I don't think your car is really worth any more or any less being survivor vs being fixed up. Being fixed up nice is probably worth more.
Steve, I thought it was too early for the vinyl top as well but it had the Ford manual on how to care for the top in the glove box and some of the top is left tacked and stapled on around the rear window. Doing some research, Thunderbirds Galaxies, Fairlanes and at least one pickup had a vinyl top. Here's a Sports Coupe with a vinyl top. I think it was a rare option but you see a restored car with one from time to time. In the trunk of mine is the aluminium strips used on the edges of the top. These fit in the drip rails and were secured with tiny screws. Beautiful 62 Franken Rodz, Love the door panels, seats and console....the whole car looks great. I may have some questions for you as I get more into it and I may need some of those parts and resources, Thanks. Jalopy Joker, Thanks for the sim tool link on project 33. I have already used the RPM calculator. I would like to play around with that 289 and green Dot C4. I already have some ideas for the 289 build up. The 1969 stock 351W camshaft looks really interesting for a real world mild build. In theory that cam with a 1.21 2100 2bbl may be surprisingly potent and it matches the rest of the components without getting into "sure enough" heavy modification. 38chevy454, I'm just going to get it cleaned up the best I can for now, get the stuff that matters Stop and Go fixed up. Maybe one day I'll have it fully restored. Fuzzy Knight, Thanks... That's a beautiful 63, spot on. The interior is wonderful. I really think the 63 was perfect with the Galaxie type grille and those fins...great car. Dearborne is a great resource.
I'm really starting to warm to the 3.00 gear. What I want is simple. I want it "right". By right I mean a sweet performing car. I want to do things to that engine that some would say is "old school" (really don't care for that term BTW) or "low buck". I want to make the best of what I have. I want to get the base and move to the next level as need be. In each step the car is right as it possibly can be. I see it as kind of like climbing a ladder. There is 2 main approaches in my opinion with a higher gear ratio. The first is to have an engine so strong and powerful that it does not matter. A engine built so strong that will tach up and break a 3.00 loose as if it were a 4.11. I have seen such a car. It was big block powered with 2.56 gears and a close ratio 4 speed. It made an S in the highway when the clutch was dumped, shifted to 2nd at about 65, 3rd around 95 and I told him to call the dogs off when he was into high in the triple digits. That car could have run at Daytona and the engine was priced accordingly. That's not an option for this car. Even if it was I would choose not to go to that extreme. The second approach is to match all the components. It's realizing that stock is a good base from which to build. There are plenty of things to improve performance without going wild or having a full race only set up. I want it efficient. I'm not really taking about mileage, I mean just efficient. This is the approach I'm using for the 289 build. I think most tend to over cam and over carb an engine especially considering it's intended use. I just looked at cam specs for an upper mid range street cam. Advertised power range was 2500 to 6500 RPM. According to the project 33 RPM calculator, 6500 RPM with 26" tires and a 3.00 gear ratio puts the cars speed at 170MPH. In my opinion it's inefficient to have that much at the top that's undrivable at the expense of the lower end where you actually drive.
I agree, it's all what you want to achieve. My setup is enough for me, and the majority of people that would buy my car. It's a great "jump in and go" kind of ride, with plenty of grunt and enough torque to break the tires loose off the line. Still civilized for running around town, and it'll fly down the highway at 75mph, without sounding like it's going to blow! In order to power one of these things with confidence, you'd have to spend as much, or more, on suspension upgrades to keep from killing yourself. 245 hp/295lb.ft. torque 289 with HiPo valves, and 600cfm Holley 4-barrell. Stock 3.0 rear, and 2-speed Cruise-o-matic.
I have a 63 fairlane ranch wagon Im about to start on.Fairlane club of America may be of help if you dont already know.
3.00 is a good all around ratio. I have a 66 Fairlane 8" rear under my Lincoln, it came with the 2.79. I changed it to the 3.00 last year, RPM only went up slightly at 60 mph, but the take off speed was greatly increased. It will even spin the 255/60/15"s now, wouldn't budge them with the 2.79. And that's with a stock 350/350 Chevy setup. And still gets about the same gas mileage to boot. Like was said, I'd think about new paint and new interior for that car. If it's that solid, it shouldn't be too bad a job. The 62-65 Fairlanes haven't gotten as popular as the 66-67 models yet, and it is a seldom seen model. Red and white combo will be sharp.
Original paint and upholstery. I waited for this car for 15 years, kept in touch with the owner all that time and he finally called and said he was ready to sell. Worth the wait.
Be aware that the first-generation Fairlane is a bit of an orphan. The suspension used on the '62-65 was ONLY used on those and unlike any other mid-sized Ford product, so upgrade parts are rare and expensive; you may have difficulty even finding someone who can do a proper front end alignment on one (special tools are required). Same thing goes for the five-bolt 289 to a degree (a two-year-only motor). The 289 has been out of production for 48 years, pretty much everything out there is optimized for the 302 which replaced it. So the 'ladder' you want to climb is pretty short in reality. Again, I'd recommend using the later 302/C4 as your 'base' as that will eliminate the various 'five bolt' issues and offer a lot more drivetrain options down the road. Use the early engine dress on it and very few will be able to tell the difference. The added torque of the 302 will also be welcome. The one big advantage the early motor offers is easy conversion to solid lifters because no guideplates are needed, but unless you're building a high-rpm screamer (which is what the 289 was best at), it won't make any difference with a hydraulic cam.
Crazy Steve, Thanks for your comments. Please do not misunderstand, I'm not trying to be argumentative and I really appreciate the conversation. This is what I have right now. A 1964 5 bolt 289 with a 5 bolt C-4 green dot cruise o matic. That's whats in the car. The bell on the C-4 will allow later model C-4s to be used if need be and I actually have a later model C4. I think that really the main problem with the 5 bolt Challengers, is they do not bolt up to later c-4s. That problem is solved because that's what came in the car. The 64 Green dot C4 has the P-R-N- White Dot 2 3D- Green Dot 123D and L. Of course the latter c4 has the standard 66 up P-R-N-D-2-L. I could even use that later C-4 with the 64 Bell or change valve bodies. I kind of like the green Dot though. Manual stuff is available for a 5 bolt block because of all the 3 speed cars, but honestly I never see me putting a manual in the car and I have no interest in an AOD. My 289 heads are the same casting as K code heads. The only difference is the K codes had machined spring pockets and screw in studs. The compression ratio was made up with the pistons. I have several 2100s 1.01,1.14 and a 1.23, the stock 2100 intake, Performer 289 4bbl intake, a Weiand Stealth 4bbl intake, A Torker 289 single plane(crooked) intake, 2 Edelbrock 600 AFBs, 1 Holley 600 1850 and a 1.16 Autolite 4100. I'm really curious to see how the 289 will respond to those intakes with a 2100 on top. Right now I'm trying to keep my cam choices around stock lift to avoid screw in studs. I may have that done but right now I'm doing the research and building the engine in my head. You see I have plenty of stuff to play around with. My ladder may have a lot of lateral steps. What special things, tools or knowledge is required to align these cars. I have researched the parts and most of it seems to be available. Some parts are costly, some not so much. I do know the expensive stuff is 62-5 model specific and some ***embly and diss***embly steps(Front coils) are quirky and need to be handled with extreme care, but what in your opinion is the main detrimental factor in building the suspension of these little cars?
I have a 3 speed manual with overdrive in my ranch wagon that Im removing soon cause my wife needs an auto trans.Anybody looking for this drivetrain?
The alignment was no problem on my 64. All the shops in my area had the specs on hand in the machine. I bought every front end part except for the center link from Kanter. Some of it was Chinese but I was happy to get it.
Check here for Suspension Upgrades. A lot of these guys have already gone through the paces: http://www.fordmuscleforums.com/search.php?searchid=8824161 I left mine stock, but there's a company out west making rear sway bars, front sway bar upgrades are also readily available. Of course you can go crazy and FatMan makes a nice front suspension upgrade, and there's another company offering a coil-over rear conversion. I'd only suggest that if you're keeping the car for a long time, because most people will not appreciate the high-dollar upgrades.
Sounds like you know what you want, 289. Give it a mild performance cam, 500 or 600 cfm, got plenty of intakes to choose from. If you swap gears 3.25 would be good, 3.50 max, below that it's not so highway friendly and less of a cruiser. Let's see how it looks buffed out, the roof could be shot white if you don't do the vinyl top. I really like the originality of this car and applaud you for hanging onto as much of it as possible, for as long as possible. Let's see what your upholsterer can do with those seats.
Stock replacement parts are available for these (some are pricey...). But if you're trying to upgrade the suspension for better handling or lowering, the 'common' mods that are done on the Falcons/Comets/Mustangs (and '66-up Fairlanes) can't be done on these because of the different suspension. For lowering, you're limited to shorter/cut springs. For better handling, shocks/swaybars are your only choice unless you do a wholesale replacement with a MII or other aftermarket suspension. And because it's a Fairlane, you'll have fewer choices even here. As to the alignment process, the early Fairlane is different in that it doesn't use shims or an eccentric on the lower control arm like all the others. The bolts for the upper control arm are in slots, and when those bolts are loosened for alignment, the arm is free to move (and will because of the spring pressure). Ford made a special tool that attached to the control arm that held the arm in place/allowed adjustment for alignment while the main bolts are loose; if you have a factory service manual, this tool/process will be clearly shown. I'm not saying it's impossible to align without this tool, but it's certainly more difficult to get an accurate alignment. As to the 289 vs 302 thing, there's nothing wrong with a 289 in terms of performance. But unless you're restoring the car, the five bolt 289 will add no value to it if modified, and may reduce it's value to some. Like I said, if originality at some point is important, I'd store the 289 and use the 302. Otherwise, sell the 289 to a early Mustang guy who will pay pretty good money for it if it hasn't been bored (I've seen these guys sleeve all eight cylinders on five bolt blocks at about $100 per hole to get a usable block). You could probably pay for 1/2 of the build on the 302 this way. The accessory bosses on the heads aren't the same either (generator vs alternator), so if you're thinking about that upgrade, you have to modify the early heads. The generators on these cars are barely adequate if the car is stock, add halogen headlights and a decent stereo and you'll be running it at 100% (and a short life). Found that one out the hard way.... I went through this on a '64 Comet; a 289 five-bolt. Because I had a 4-speed car (and the difficulty/expense of finding a six bolt type trans for it), I stuck with the five bolt block. I wouldn't do that again..... And when it was all said and done, the 'final' motor in the car when I sold it was the five bolt block with a late 302 crank/rods and ported 351 heads... LOL.
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