65 Fairlane pro-touring build

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Scoop would look good..
I did a quick search, Ford does have some nice scoop options
Cobrajet scoop would look good to I think

I agree, there are also options for hood risers like I used on CRLS which came off a Torino, I think. The only problem with scoops is that they funnel rainwater into the engine bay unless you have an elaborate drainage system. However, the hood really needs something, so I'll see how the GT500 piece looks when I get to that point. Besides, I don't plan to do a lot of driving in the rain.

Right now, I'm still waiting on front end parts from TCI. I hate to weld out all the boxing plates without mocking up the shock towers, etc. So, at the moment, I'm doing sheet metal work. I cut out the original battery box and fab'd up a replacement panel that more or less matches the driver side. As you can see, I used a CAD (cardboard assisted design) drawing to lay out the pattern on some 16 ga sheet. The TCI kit came with shock tower filler panels that were meant to be bolted in, but I plan to weld everything after the front suspension is all in. I've trimmed them to mate up to the piece I made and will weld them together. It was a tossup between doing it this way and making the inner apron out of a single sheet of material.

.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

I agree, there are also options for hood risers like I used on CRLS which came off a Torino, I think. The only problem with scoops is that they funnel rainwater into the engine bay unless you have an elaborate drainage system. However, the hood really needs something, so I'll see how the GT500 piece looks when I get to that point. Besides, I don't plan to do a lot of driving in the rain.

This is the main reason I bought a Cowl Induction hood. Functionality wise they work & are the 'easier' option (plus, I shopped wisely & got one for a very decent price).
But.... Until it's on the car, I'll maintain the search.

[Ol Blue K20]

It lookslike you're pretty good at the cad design.

[joesscamaro]

Your repair work is looking good. Thanks for the updates.

[Vic1947]

Still inching along with the sheet metal. I finally got the suspension stuff sorted out. TCI said the shock towers I have are the correct ones but have the locating hole in the wrong position for some reason. I've already fixed the problem by slotting the holes on the mill. The rear suspension was missing some key parts from the shipment, but they sent most of the backordered parts the other day. I say most, because the rear sway bar setup is still a mix of old and new design parts - which don't play well together. I can build what I need at this point, though, and I'm worn out from calling, explaining the problem, thinking it's resolved and then finding out that it's not. I'm not the first guy to have this problem, so I'm determined to do what's needed and not lose any sleep over it.

The big news is that Andrew's GTO left the building today. I have a couple of new parts to put on our Buick GN but once that's done, I can move the Fairlane over to the spot with more elbow room. WooHoo!

.

[62c30]

Looks good.

[SCOTI]

More room = more progress.

[Vic1947]

Thanks, I sure hope so!

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by 62c30

Looks good.

X2!

[Vic1947]

Today was moving day for the Fairlane. Rolled it into the spot previously occupied by the GTO and used regular and RV jackstands to level the frame side to side and front to back. It's dead on now and should be ready to resume installing the new front suspension.

It's been a while since I surveyed the extent of the tin worm infestation. I'm agonizing over whether to purchase quarter panel skins. The company that makes them doesn't use factory dies. Instead, they use conventional equipment like an English wheel, bead roller, Pull-Max, sheet metal brake, hammers and dollies, etc. to fabricate the panel. A lot depends on the experience level of the craftsman, the quality of the buck and the attention to detail during construction. Stamped aftermarket panels aren't always the best as we all know, since a lot of the dies are worn out crap. But generally speaking, they're adequate as a starting point. Regardless of whether I buy or build, I'm probably facing a year of metal fab at the rate I work. Being old, I need more frequent naps.

.

[62c30]

I haven't looked at Fairlane sheet metal in a couple of years, what company is making the quarters? The sides of my truck floor above the frame rails were rusted out and I made those and the drop offs came from a company called c2 or something like that but they fit very good.

[Ol Blue K20]

I need more nap time too!

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by 62c30

I haven't looked at Fairlane sheet metal in a couple of years, what company is making the quarters? The sides of my truck floor above the frame rails were rusted out and I made those, and the drop offs came from a company called c2 or something like that, but they fit very good.

C2 (Classic to Current Fabrication) is the outfit that makes the quarters. They have about a 3-4 week manufacturing timeframe. Thanks for sharing your experience with them - it will help me make a decision. The only drawback to their panel is that it's just a skin and has no filler between the quarter and the trunk extension. But I can easily fab that myself. Their online photo was a bit blurry which made it hard to gauge the quality. So it's good to hear from someone who actually installed one of their panels.

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

I need more nap time too!

Over the last 5-1/2 months while working on Andrew's GTO, my nap time was seriously curtailed. He's a lot younger than me, so I felt obligated to try to keep up. Now that I'm back to my regular schedule, I can doze off on the couch after lunch and wander back down to the shop later on feeling refreshed.

[Ol Blue K20]

Vic, I understand fully.

[62c30]

When I went to put the drop offs on the driver's side was a perfect fit. When I got to the passenger side you could see someone had messed with it in the past. I went to put it on and it was too short. After a few minutes of looking at it someone had welded on a patch from a donor car and left it about an inch too tall. The car had been repainted and does have some Bondo in it, so I ground it out and fixed the bottom of the quarter. I have a friend that lives in Riverside that might have a Fairlane parts car for some cuts.

[Vic1947]

Can't believe it's been over a month since I last posted any progress. I finished a few punch list items on the GN and started welding the boxing plates on the passenger side of the Fairlane. In the middle of that, we went on a road trip to IL, IN, MI, OH, KY and back home to KC. We toured the Gilmore Auto Museum in Kalamazoo, but other than that we spent most of the time hiking various trails in state parks. I definitely overdid it as I returned home limping around with a sore left foot. Which gave me an excuse to sit on the couch with my feet up and stream the entire Mecum Indy auction.

I'm still only about 50pc, but I couldn't justify doing the layabout any longer. I have the boxing plates on the passenger rail welded in and ground down. Still a few pinholes here and there, but I've been trying to mark them as I find them and will make another pass after I finish up the driver side.

I don't think I mentioned I also setup the 8" diff for the rearend. The 8" is weaker than its 9" big brother, but with good parts should handle a stock Coyote. I installed a helical gear style Eaton Truetrac, Motive gears, a billet aluminum pinion support with larger bearings and a billet steel 1350 yoke.

[Vic1947]

My upholstery guy, Jeff, at Gladstone Auto Trim called to say my seats were ready to pick up. Talk about getting the horse before the cart! I'm two years away from even being remotely ready for seats, but what the heck. Stuff ain't getting any cheaper and I was able to source a pair of convertible seats with integrated shoulder harness that only needed new coverings. Jeff also did the rear seats to match the front seats. They used a grey thread on the French seams which doesn't pop as much as red or blue, but I wanted a more muted appearance. Doing the seats and fixing a few things on the Buick GN gives me a break from the mind-numbing tasks of welding and grinding. But I'm making a little progress on those fronts also.

I twisted off and placed an order with C2C for new floor pans, toe boards and quarter panels yesterday. Should take about 3-4 weeks. Was pleasantly surprised they offered a 10% discount to veterans. Every little bit helps.

.

[Ol Blue K20]

The seats look good, keep plugging away at it.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

The seats look good, keep plugging away at it.

Thanks, Dale, it's going slow - but it's going.

The subframe connectors arrived a couple of days ago and look plenty sturdy. Then today, FedEx dropped off the quarter panels and floor pans. They look usable but are very thin material. The quarters are 22 gauge, and the floor pans are slightly heavier than 20 gauge - not quite 19 but almost. Not sure where they sourced their sheetmetal, but it has a very light grey coating that appears to be a rust barrier. I'll end up slicing and dicing most of the panels and hopefully they'll be sturdy enough after welding.

I've finished the front frame rails on both sides, so the front crossmember is about ready to go in. More on that soon.

[Vic1947]

Here's a first look at the front crossmember from TCI. I have the car zeroed out front to back and side to side. The x-member is supposed to lean back 2.5 degrees. When setup like that, the notches for the frame rails have a quarter inch gap on the firewall side - which is fixable. The more worrisome thing is the angle deviation side to side. It appears the x-member is twisted about one degree. I'm mulling over my options, but I'll probably start by contacting the manufacturer tomorrow and getting their take on it. Stay tuned.

[Vic1947]

I've been wrapped up with a couple of other projects, so I haven't had a lot to post about the Fairlane. The deck on the back of the house needs some work and all efforts to hire someone have gone nowhere. I ended up doing the woodwork myself and have an outfit coming tomorrow to pressure wash it to prep for new paint. I also decided I needed to motorize my bead roller. My helper has been down with a bum knee and back problems and is currently unable to run the hand crank. I adapted a HF winch to drive the rollers and sourced a power supply and controller off eBay. It works great and only needs to have the boxes mounted in an out of the way position.

Meanwhile, on the Fairlane - I talked to TCI about the 0.8-degree twist in the front cross member and they assured me that it would not be an issue. I set it up in the mill and trimmed the notches to fit snugly against the frame rails and it's tacked in place. While waiting for some materials to arrive, I dove into the floor pan. I removed the existing step on the passenger side that the original bench seat mounted to and got rid of a couple of small areas that were rusted. The toe boards are the worst. A previous owner scabbed some panels over the rotted places and all that will have to be cut out and replaced. The location of the rot in the car is very puzzling to me. Above the rocker panels there is zero rust. But the lower part of the car is eaten up in various places. Some of it has been repaired (poorly) but there's still a lot of original sheet metal that's in fair condition. Go figure. At least I'll have something to do this winter.

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

I've been wrapped up with a couple of other projects, so I haven't had a lot to post about the Fairlane. The deck on the back of the house needs some work and all efforts to hire someone have gone nowhere. I ended up doing the woodwork myself and have an outfit coming tomorrow to pressure wash it to prep for new paint. I also decided I needed to motorize my bead roller. My helper has been down with a bum knee and back problems and is currently unable to run the hand crank. I adapted a HF winch to drive the rollers and sourced a power supply and controller off eBay. It works great and only needs to have the boxes mounted in an out of the way position.

Meanwhile, on the Fairlane - I talked to TCI about the 0.8-degree twist in the front cross member and they assured me that it would not be an issue. I set it up in the mill and trimmed the notches to fit snugly against the frame rails and it's tacked in place. While waiting for some materials to arrive, I dove into the floor pan. I removed the existing step on the passenger side that the original bench seat mounted to and got rid of a couple of small areas that were rusted. The toe boards are the worst. A previous owner scabbed some panels over the rotted places and all that will have to be cut out and replaced. The location of the rot in the car is very puzzling to me. Above the rocker panels there is zero rust. But the lower part of the car is eaten up in various places. Some of it has been repaired (poorly) but there's still a lot of original sheet metal that's in fair condition. Go figure. At least I'll have something to do this winter.

I'm jealous of your skills Vic, it's looking great!

[Vic1947]

Thanks, Dale!

[Vic1947]

Chasing the tinworm infestation continues...

I opened up the right front toe board which had multiple layers of old rusted repair panels. Part of the area supports the rear of the frame rail. The "box" is made of .080 sheet metal and needs to be nice and sturdy. To get an idea of how far to extend the new material, I mocked up the subframe connector on that side to get a better view. The last thing I want to do is leave myself big gaps where the welds go. The instructions that came with the subs has teeny tiny photos. Even with our lighted magnifier, it's hard to make out much, but I think I have it in the correct position. Now comes the pattern making, material fit-up and welding.

We went to a yearly car show over in Bonner Springs, KS this morning. Took the Grand National and had a nice time. They had the most cars I've ever seen at that event which is held at the Agriculture Hall of Fame. We dawdled around and didn't get there as early as we usually do and had to park in the overflow area. Which turned out to be a blessing because we had some really big shade trees just a few feet from where we parked. So, I didn't have to mess with putting up the canopy. I know most of the US is blanketed with crap weather, but we were very lucky to have low humidity, a light breeze and 80-degree temps. However, per our local weather guesser, we're going to pay for it this coming week with temps near 100 and high stupidity.

[Vic1947]

Modified my old bead roller with a HF winch and eBay power supply, controller and foot switch. I'm now a one-man sheet metal wrecking crew!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_0j7QwM9Vc