Turn an ordinary grocery-getter into a head-turner with some easy and inexpensive visual tricks.
Remember this number: $952.91. That's what it took for us to transform our grandma-fresh 302-equipped '70 Ford Fairlane 500 into a badass fire-breathing street beast (less wheels and tires). At least it looks like a fire-breathing street beast. Later on, we're gonna pour some serious oats into the Ford's feedbag with a stroked 351-based Windsor and a bulletproof C4. We'll be hunting for 11-second timeslips, but since we're working on our look-cool-without-going-broke issue, we decided to kick this project off with the visual enhancements first.
The idea here is to visually transform a relatively docile-looking car into a muscular street machine.The factory basically did the same thing back in the '60s and '70s: They took the family car, whipped up some decals, threw a spoiler on, sprayed some matte-black paint in a few choice areas, and voil: instant musclecar. It was cheap for the OEMs back in the day, and it's cheap now.
With so many variants built off the same car at each manufacturer, swapping hoods, grilles, spoilers, graphics, wheels, and badges is easy. You can even mix and match to come up with combos the factory never made. For this Fairlane, we robbed the Torino parts bin by using a Torino GT hood and front spoiler. We rattle-canned the rear valance and topped it off with a sinister black vinyl roof to replace grandma's white one. Got an idea for our new Ford project? Let us know by dropping us an e-mail at steven.rupp@primedia.com. We'll also be trolling www.torinocobra.com and www.fordmuscle.com to get your feedback.
| WHERE THE MONEY WENT |
| '70 Ford Fairlane 500 (eBay): | $8,100.00 |
| Vintage Wheel Works V60 wheels: | $1,179.00 |
| Nitto NT555 tires (Discount Tire Direct): | $594.00 |
| Mount and balance tires: | $100.00 |
| Used '70 Torino GT hood: | $250.00 |
| Paint and body: | $250.00 |
| Materials to paint rear valance: | $15.00 |
| New vinyl top: | $119.95 |
| Labor for top install: | $250.00 |
| Front spoiler: | $67.96 |
| Total: | $10,925.91 |
Sold parts from Fairlane
(old tires, wheels, and hood): | -$425.00 |
| Grand total: | $10,500.91 |
Back in the day, a popular musclecar "enhancement" was a matte black valance. It's easy to do yourself, just take your time to scuff the surface with Scotch-Brite, mask it off, and use a high-quality spray paint like Dupli-Color's Semi-Gloss Black (part No. DA 1603, $5.99). | 
Some cars will need the taillights removed while others can be masked off. We removed ours and masked off the openings. This task is time-consuming, but it's easy. Take your time here and the rest will be fun. | 
Start by putting a light coat on, and putting multiple coats on in 15-minute intervals until you get good coverage. Hint: Keep the can moving and never hold the spray still in one place. |
A spoiler can give your street machine a wicked face, and it aids cooling and downforce, too. We picked up this front Torino spoiler from Dearborn Classics for $67.96. | 
We picked up this Torino GT hood for $250 at a local swap meet. You can't get these aftermarket, so it's hit or miss on finding one. The guys on www.torinocobra.com assured us that it would fit the Fairlane perfectly. | 
Total cost for the new hood was $500 in parts and materials, including having it painted by Jon Lindstrom at Best Of Show. Lindstrom shot the hood with SEM Trim-Black paint, since a spray can wasn't practical for such a large area. |
With the bigger Vintage Wheel Works V60 wheels and Nitto NT555 tires installed and the front dropped down a bit, the Fairlane looks way cooler. | 
We had planned to install this spoiler from MAS Racing Products, but it looked too narrow. Torinos and Cyclones of this era did have a spoiler, but it's not reproduced, and the original ones fetch big bucks. | 
We bought the grandma-fresh Fairlane for $8,100 and put another $2,400 into it with wheels, tires, top, spoiler, hood, and rattle cans ($10,500 total). |