65 Fairlane pro-touring build

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

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Christmas came early this afternoon. New cast aluminum cam covers (top photo) not only look way better, but they also eliminate the leaks associated with the OEM covers (bottom photo).

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Can you educate me on this one? What's different mechanically?

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Can you educate me on this one? What's different mechanically?

The cast covers have a different groove design and the gasket is formed differently than the composite covers. Gasket also may differ material wise, but I could be wrong on that. Just because one is green and one is black doesn't mean the chemistry is different. The cast covers are probably a bit more rigid than the composite but maybe only marginally. The key difference is the bolt arrangement. There's a Ford TSB on correcting the leaky composite covers that directs the technician to drill out the bosses that have no bolts and insert bolts into them. You can see one in the photo below next to the yellow arrow. There are 5 or 6 blanks on each cover so adding bolts in those positions probably remedied the situation for most customers. I could have done that and saved some $$ but when I ran across the photos of the cast covers, I couldn't help myself. You don't see them on run of the mill Mustangs.

I've been working on the core support to add trim around the radiator opening. The pieces should help direct the air thru the radiator a little bit better and stiffen the core support where I cut out the stock stamping.

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[Vic1947]

The accelerator pedal piece arrived from SendCutSend. All the holes and edges needed some TLC as the cutting process leaves kind of a nasty surface. After milling and chamfering the holes, I slightly rounded the outer edges and polished them on the Scotchbrite wheel. Next step was to cut off the pedal and mill a pocket into the stub. Not a lot to hold onto, so I had to go at it really easy. The aluminum piece fit into the pocket pretty well, so I cut away most of the rest of the original connecting material. This left just the pedal. Plan is to use adhesive on the back along with some tiny countersunk head screws on the front. Same goes for the side up top. Should be nice and sturdy when finished. Theoretically.

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[SCOTI]

More than one way to do things!

[Vic1947]

My gas pedal project is on hold temporarily while I get some parts anodized. I took the opportunity to get the mounts for the radiator done. I picked up the correct rubber isolators from an online GM parts house. Fab'd up some .070 sheet metal tabs for the bottoms and machined aluminum standoffs for the top two. It's not going anywhere and should be easy to R&R if needed.

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[jaros44sr]

Nice neet work, but you inadvertently solved my lighting issues when working on my Bridgeport……

image by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/97391199@N06

Ha Ha
Sorry to say, but mine is nowhere near as clean as yours

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jaros44sr

Nice neet work, but you inadvertently solved my lighting issues when working on my Bridgeport… Ha Ha
Sorry to say, but mine is nowhere near as clean as yours

As I've gotten older, Jim, I care more about how it works than how it looks.

[62c30]

Make any new progress?

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by 62c30

Make any new progress?

Not much. I have all the pedals mocked up and the new intake, cam and coil covers on the engine. I did get the fender we picked up blasted and repaired. Other than that, not a lot to report. Need an attitude adjustment.

[jlsanborn]

I'm all caught up here. Incredible detail as usual!! Looking forward to the black paint!

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

I'm all caught up here. Incredible detail as usual!! Looking forward to the black paint!

Thanks, John - I'm looking forward to color as well.

The pedal assembly is pretty much finalized. Plumbing the m/c's in will be a task for future Vic. I glued the first of several decorative panels onto one of the inner fenders. I wanted something to add a little relief to otherwise flat areas. The problem I had was that the firewall material is too thick to bead roll, so these cutouts create much the same effect. I'll bevel the edges to create a more realistic look.

Also did some work to the engine to dress it up a bit.

More to come.

[Vic1947]

The company that sold me the Buick wheels/tires recently had a Black Friday sale, so I went ahead and got the rolling stock I needed for the Fairlane. It all arrived yesterday, and I put a rear one on and it fit just fine. Wheels are American Racing Vintage draft, 10x18 rear and 8x18 front The rear tires are 295/40-18 and the fronts are 225/45-18. I'll have to mockup the front suspension later on to know how all that works. Probably do just fine as long as I don't need to turn.

I threw the front fenders on temporarily to work on the mounting points. I welded new metal into the core support, firewall and rockers so I have to mark and rebuild the places where everything screws together. Nothing seems seriously out of whack which is a good thing.

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[Vic1947]

After replacing a few missing fender mounting nuts, I removed the fender and installed and adjusted the driver side door. As you can see from the picture the gap leaves a lot to be desired. I'm not sure what the root cause is for the misalignment. Could be the patch I welded in or the fact that the fender was tweaked a bit to start with. At any rate, it's a fairly easy fix. The good news is that sighting down the fender/door/quarter, the body line is spot on. Just have to make sure that my repair doesn't change that.

The gap around my homemade inner fender baffle is pretty decent. I scrounged thru my weatherstrip box but can't find the rubber strip that goes in there. Had two trunk weatherstrip kits, though. I do that every once in a while, accidentally order a part when I forget I already have one. Which is one reason it costs so much to build these things. Gotta pay that old timer's tax.

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[jaros44sr]

Vic, just my thought but would it be easier to adjust the hinge at the front to get the space right then cut and spot weld the rear of the door edge.just a thought as you are better at metal work then I

Great progress, and great choice of wheels

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

After replacing a few missing fender mounting nuts, I removed the fender and installed and adjusted the driver side door. As you can see from the picture the gap leaves a lot to be desired. I'm not sure what the root cause is for the misalignment. Could be the patch I welded in or the fact that the fender was tweaked a bit to start with. At any rate, it's a fairly easy fix. The good news is that sighting down the fender/door/quarter, the body line is spot on. Just have to make sure that my repair doesn't change that.

The gap around my homemade inner fender baffle is pretty decent. I scrounged thru my weatherstrip box but can't find the rubber strip that goes in there. Had two trunk weatherstrip kits, though. I do that every once in a while, accidentally order a part when I forget I already have one. Which is one reason it costs so much to build these things. Gotta pay that old timer's tax.

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Guilty of this as well.

Was rummaging through some of my g-body stuff yesterday & found 2 sets of rear adjustable lower link brackets. I believe one set was from Spohn & the other BMR

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Guilty of this as well.

Was rummaging through some of my g-body stuff yesterday & found 2 sets of rear adjustable lower link brackets. I believe one set was from Spohn & the other BMR

The ubiquitous "they" say that misery loves company. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one that does this.

Originally Posted by jaros44sr

Vic, just my thought but would it be easier to adjust the hinge at the front to get the space right then cut and spot weld the rear of the door edge.just a thought as you are better at metal work then I

Great progress, and great choice of wheels

Thanks, Jim. Sometimes what you suggested will work, however in this case, the door fits in the opening pretty well. The gap at the back looks good and if I raised it any, the body lines would be off. So my only recourse was to trim the lower half of the back edge of the fender to match the door. Once it's welded and finished, no one but us chickens will know the difference.

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[jaros44sr]

Your forethought is better then mine

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jaros44sr

Your forethought is better then mine

We'll see about that, Jim. My vision doesn't always match reality.

And as proof of that, here's a sneak peek at what is coming in the months ahead. Last week, the missus and I took a quick road trip to Chicago and picked up a '69 Satellite/Roadrunner hood for my latest fever dream. I like nearly everything about the '65 Fairlane body style except the grille/bumper. It looks flat, plain and uninspiring to me. So, I got to thinking - back in the day a lot of car customizers transplanted grilles from other vehicles to give their rides a one-off look. To that end I've been collecting parts and pieces to transform the front end of the Fairlane into a more pleasing arrangement. It will require a lot of surgery to the existing pieces and will hopefully turn out well. A bit freakish, maybe, but certainly different.

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[SCOTI]

Well..... I'm on the fence of this move.

I understand the 65 Fairlane being down on the 'that's a damn good-lookin front end' list vs the more iconic 69 Roadrunner/Satellite.

Have you reached out to someone to digitally create the image so you can get a better feel for the merging? Seeing & studying the idea (letting that visual dwell) just feels like proactive move in this case.

I don't want to discourage an ounce of your enthusiasm but that's a lot of fab work & cutting to parts you already have in your possession & it's not like hoods + nose/fender extensions (in decent shape) are a dime a dozen @ every other corner of the 'hood.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Well..... I'm on the fence of this move.

I understand the 65 Fairlane being down on the 'that's a damn good-lookin front end' list vs the more iconic 69 Roadrunner/Satellite.

Have you reached out to someone to digitally create the image so you can get a better feel for the merging? Seeing & studying the idea (letting that visual dwell) just feels like proactive move in this case.

I don't want to discourage an ounce of your enthusiasm but that's a lot of fab work & cutting to parts you already have in your possession & it's not like hoods + nose/fender extensions (in decent shape) are a dime a dozen @ every other corner of the 'hood.

I know a guy that was ahead of me a couple of years in high school that's one of the very best digital graphic artists around. I would love to have him do a rendering, but I may be out of favors with him. He's done two for me already. He did a nice workup for my '57 Ford using parts of '57 DeSoto and '55 Pontiac grilles. Looked very nice. I acquired all the stuff for the mod but ran up against a self-imposed deadline and did a tube grille instead. Got no end of grief over it. Then, later when doing the Townsman wagon, he sent me a sketch of a C pillar treatment that mimicked a Nomad. I considered it, but took a pass when I decided it didn't really enhance the look. So, I'm zero for two with his ideas. Not sure he'd be up for another attempt.

You're right, though, and I should probably apologize for being a d**k and ask him to have a look at it. Worst that can happen is he'd tell me to take a hike. I'll let you know how it goes.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

I know a guy that was ahead of me a couple of years in high school that's one of the very best digital graphic artists around. I would love to have him do a rendering, but I may be out of favors with him. He's done two for me already. He did a nice workup for my '57 Ford using parts of '57 DeSoto and '55 Pontiac grilles. Looked very nice. I acquired all the stuff for the mod but ran up against a self-imposed deadline and did a tube grille instead. Got no end of grief over it. Then, later when doing the Townsman wagon, he sent me a sketch of a C pillar treatment that mimicked a Nomad. I considered it, but took a pass when I decided it didn't really enhance the look. So, I'm zero for two with his ideas. Not sure he'd be up for another attempt.

You're right, though, and I should probably apologize for being a d**k and ask him to have a look at it. Worst that can happen is he'd tell me to take a hike. I'll let you know how it goes.

Worth asking. No risk, no reward.

[HO455]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

I know a guy that was ahead of me a couple of years in high school that's one of the very best digital graphic artists around. I would love to have him do a rendering, but I may be out of favors with him. He's done two for me already. He did a nice workup for my '57 Ford using parts of '57 DeSoto and '55 Pontiac grilles. Looked very nice. I acquired all the stuff for the mod but ran up against a self-imposed deadline and did a tube grille instead. Got no end of grief over it. Then, later when doing the Townsman wagon, he sent me a sketch of a C pillar treatment that mimicked a Nomad. I considered it, but took a pass when I decided it didn't really enhance the look. So, I'm zero for two with his ideas. Not sure he'd be up for another attempt.

You're right, though, and I should probably apologize for being a d**k and ask him to have a look at it. Worst that can happen is he'd tell me to take a hike. I'll let you know how it goes.

It's the season to renew friendships. Maybe send him a nice bottle of an adult beverage. I know I always appreciate a bottle of 1800 or Crown Royal Black.
Good luck.

[NONHOG]

Love the hood swap idea. Hard to visualize but super fun to watch the process!

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by NONHOG

Love the hood swap idea. Hard to visualize but super fun to watch the process!

And boy howdy, is it ever a process!

Went to storage and picked up the headlight buckets and hood hinges for yet more mockup. The buckets probably can't be made to work as I suspected, but I always had another plan in mind. When I got the fiberglass front bumper from Unlimited I also picked up a pair of front fender pieces. They have the necessary shape for the RR buckets. I'll graft them onto the core support where they need to be.

I've been formulating a plan for the fender extensions. I've found several online sources for 3D renderings of the Roadrunner. Of course, there aren't any for 65 Fairlanes, but there's a guy here in KC that came to my house and scanned my buddy, Andrew's GTO hood and engine bay. Have scanner, will travel sort of thing. I reckon if I get 3D scans of all the components, a guy Andrew knows who lives in Brazil can fit all of them together. What I hope to wind up with is a pair of fender extensions that will mate the Ford fenders to the RR headlight bezels and etc. These can be 3D printed from a composite material I can attach to my fenders which would save a ton of fabrication work. Not to mention avoiding hacking my stock Ford extensions. Still in the planning stages but I'll keep you posted.

The fender to door gaps are looking pretty good but in the "two steps forward - one back" department, I'm going to have to relocate the reservoirs for the brakes and clutch. The hinge hits the clutch reservoir (arrows) which will require moving the bracket left about 3/4". Easy enough to fix.

[SCOTI]

Andrew's revised intake charge tube project has been pretty cool to watch. I'm betting a similar result is possible w/your fender extensions.