'63 Fairlane Buildup - Input appreciated

So I know it's not a Deuce or a '49 Merc or a Tri-Five but I'm working on a buildup of my recently aquired 1963 Fairlane 4-door. It's not a 2 door or a factory V8 (I don't think...) but it only cost me $500 bucks and is complete so who am I to complain? I don't mind the four door look on these cars.

I know this will cause a lot of hatred, but since the car came STOCK original black paint with red trim, and I can't afford a multi thousand dollar paintjob at the moment, for now she'll be a satin black finish. I figure this is better for a daily driver, since I'll be able to do easy touchups myself if I come across more rust or have the odd ding.

The straight six is out in favor of a 302 from a '79 monarch. Again, I know it isn't 100% period correct, but we can just imagine it's a bored-out 260/289, right? If you don't look too close it'll look the same from the outside...

Apart from that I'm gonna try to keep it fairly era-correct for the 60's. Most of the 'performance' stuff I'm thinking of getting for it I want to be stuff that was available then (or a reasonable facsimile), even if I buy it new. That's one area I'm gonna need all of your help in. Also as this is my first try at a full-on complete car teardown I'll appreciate any input you can give.

 

Can't help ya if yur going to swap that inline for a v8.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e318/jahearne/Ranchero/IMG_0113.jpg


Just kidding, a full resto is a lot of work! Four doors are cool when all your friends are 6 foot and above like mine. Had several. There's a lot of hi-po parts that are period correct. It's easy to hide a modern engine under 63 stock valve covers and air cleaner.

Good luck,

 

When I was in high school my buddy had a 2 dr 260 v8 3 speed on floor and it was light and fun to drive and party in lol . Loose the bench seat and put in buckets and put a 3 speed on the floor and drive the shit out of it

 

cool car,Ive had a few,
66/67 falcon disc brake stubs fit (aussie ones do check the canuck equiv)
64 bars look heaps better on the front.
bench seats are better for "snatching" second gear with a female passenger.
302 w and c4 use column shift linkage and looks original.
spark plug s are a pain to remove so use long life ones.
I think 66-68 falcon radiators fit.
unclechop chop

 

That's a nice little car. I had a '64 in high school- wish I wouldn't have sold it.

Something is so cool about those cars in wimbledon white/ black vinyl top/ chrome steelies.

That beltline trim is in awesome shape, too!

 

Those little fairlanes are great cars. My son had a351 W in one of our 2 64 2 dr htps very fast car . we also have a 63 4 door 260 stick got good fuel economy has not been started in 15 years. OldWolf

 

Got started on the interior today. The soft stuff is all damp and slightly moldy. The dash vinyl is cracked, but the hard stuff seems in good shape. All chrome is there, the controls and heater all work, and the steering wheel is good.

The seats were torn and stank, so out they came, along with the moldy wet carpet. the front floorpans are pretty rusty but the rear is in pretty good shape, including the driveshaft tunnel which is as shiny and immaculate as the day it rolled off the dearborne assembly line. I'm going to clean up the rust and hit the floors with rust paint and rubber underbody coating, since I won't be putting carpet in right away. I think the windshield might be leaking... that may be where the water that rusted the front floorpans is coming from.

I got started disconnecting the heater hoses and coil wires from the six... I'll do some more tomorrow and hopefully get the engine out soon. The 302 is on an engine stand now, with everything stripped off. It'll be going into the machine shop next week for boring/honing/decking and various cleanup. Unfortunately the heads are junk and I'll need to get some new ones... luckily since it's a 302 everybody and their dog sells 'em. While I'm at it I'll give it a new camshaft, lifters, and rockers to round out the valvetrain upgrade. The intake that came with it is also junk, it's a 2 barrel single plane with a bunch of emissions crap piped through it. I'll replace that with a 4bbl one topped with a holley or carter carb. All the old parts are sitting in the trunk right now.

 

No turning back now! Judging from the pictures, the rust doesn't look bad at all.

 

Cool project, keep us updated. What part of B.C. are ya in ?

Todd

 

This mine a few years ago.



My first car, daily driven while me and a bunch of friends built it. Still daily drive it today. Had it for 5 years, 2 motors, 3 trans and a whole lot of miles. I lvoe it and hate it all in the same day. Its nowhere near as nice now (nice being my opinion) but one day I'll eventually bring it back to that state.

And here's whats currently in for running gear: '67 289/C4, 3.73 8", GM one wire, Gm style HEI, Edlebrock 600, basically stock motor, glasspacks w/ duals and flamethrowers. It used to sound great but now has more leaks than pipe.

The body was my learning workbook. Nosed, decked, shaved, '61 Merc grill, '60 Dodge tailights, shortened trim, mostly dechromed. It had some ugly diamond tuck leather power buckets in it, got a '64 interior shortly after.

I had alot of fun with this car and learned a whole lot from it. Most poeple that know the car laugh at it now, and so do I. But nonetheless a very fun and easy car to own.

 

63 is my favorite, if I had a 4 dr I would just clean it up and cruise it dont get crazy, I'm thinking about letting my 64 go after 10 years to work on my other 2 cars, I have a extra set of the V-8 mounts too, PM me.

 

i built a 2 door many years ago. It had a 6/stick. Put in a high performance 289 , a top loader 4 speed and 9" rear with 4.11's . It ran well ,wish I had kept it.

 

I got 2 letters for you...FE...

 

I have 2 words... too big.

 

Just takes a little bit of fitment. If it was too small, the Thunderbolt would not have existed...

 

The Thunderbolt existed sans shock towers. I don't think a guy on his first build is looking to do a whole lot of "fitment."

 

thats a cool more door man , keep us posted on your progress ..

 

It looks like a good one to start with. I had a 64 4 door with a 260 and a 3 speed. I loved it. My neighbor had a 62 with a 221. It was a dog. I'm still kicking myself for not buying a 62 a couple of years ago. the 302 should fit snugly under the hood. About the only thing I would do again if I still had one would be to stiffen up the springs, as they had a lot of body roll on corners. And I broke 3 rear springs in one year of driving. Of course I was using junkyard jems for replacements, and that may have been part of the problem. I was told that V8 station wagon springs were better, but I never tried them.
Good luck!

 

a good friend of mine in high school had a 63 2dr fairlane and it was sooooo good looking!! it was white with the red interior and it had the S/S Cragers on it with minimal chrome on the 289. at the same time i had my 63 falcon sprint white with red interior. we always parked them side by side when we were at school along with a few other mid sixties fords and the girls would always crowd around them.

 

I ditched a rebuilt 200 six and 2 speed outta my 64 for a hopped up 289, killer C-4 mini spool 3:80's in the 8 inch, teardrop hood fiberglass bumpers, all primered white now. I've had 2 others a sport coupe and a 4dr.500 that was white with red interior like mine current one, nothing against 4 doors my mercury is one.

 

So we got everything disconnected and started on the engine removal. It looks like the previous owner swapped the stock Ford-O-Matic trans with a C4, so that saves me some trouble. The 302 will bolt right to that without screwing around.

Also got the weird rubber coating off the floorpan in preparation for wire brushing and paint.

You can see there's a bit of rust in the fender there... I'll get to try my hand at body welding soon...

 

I'm thinking chrome steelies with black walls, a nice .480" lift cam, some headers with dumps, maybe a vintage F4B edelbrock intake and you're good to go.

 

When you get tired of the extra doors, I've got a '64 2dr HT I want to off.

Totally rot free (been stored for at least the last 15 years) bench seat 289-C4, nosed and decked, 92 Ford Electric Red with black insert side trim, Granade front brakes, cloth interior, 99 Mustang 15" wheels with unused OEM tires.

I want a bit more than 500 smackers for it through (quite a bit more, about 20 times more, actually).

 

My daily driver in the summer is a 63 4-door. It's got a stock 260 with a 3 speed. It's not a speed demond with the 2.70 gears but it was pretty quick when it had 3.83 gears. Chandler isn't kidding about the body roll, I actually got in trouble for reckless driving(at school) when in reality it was just the body roll. I'll see if I can find any pics.

P.S. if you need any parts shoot me a pm. I have a parts car laying around.

 

its good that it has a c-4, but a v/8 won't bolt up to the 6 bell housing, will have to swap a,v/8, 6 bolt, bell for the 6 cyl.

 

The C4 and the fordomatic will interchange well. Same driveshaft, same trans member. No worries. Just need to change yokes.

 

You mentioned dampness and possibly having a leaky windshield....
That could be the culprit, but you may also want to check around your cowl vents and the cowl drains.

I'm in the process of sealing up the cowl drains and vents that have been leaking onto the floor of my Galaxie...

Cool project!

Malcolm

 

the cracked dash pad will come off and you can just paint the steel,
I used the original red ,flattened a bit,cheaper than a new pad.

 

nice starter project! thats a pretty clean foundation for 500 bucks. keep us posted w/ updates

this is my 65 4door daily driver/project 4 years in the making. rebuilt stock 289/cruise o matic, 154k miles, rebuilt front end, runs/drives great

 

Well if it was mine it would have to have a straight axle. Just finishing a straight axle job in a friend of mine 65 Comet 202 4 door and that straight axle made that car look mean. Butagain I am addicted to the gasser look.

Jon