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'70 Fairlane - Punch List - PHR Project CarWe Tackle The Last-Minute Stuff On Our '70 Fairlane, Preparing It For The Street And Track. From the February, 2009 issue of Popular Hot Rodding By Steven Rupp Photography by Steven Rupp
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There's light at the end of the tunnel. It's been over a year since we bought our big blue Ford off eBay for $8,100 and started turning it from grandma cruiser to boulevard bruiser. The last few stories involved the biggest transformation when we dropped in the stroker 408 Twister small-block, and bolted up a MagnaFlow exhaust system. But cars aren't just a collection of big-ticket items, they're also a ton of tiny details. Many of these parts aren't as glamorous as a 550hp engine, but they are critical nonetheless. Your first track day in your raucous-sounding ride could be ended because you didn't have a $40 driveshaft safety loop. The new mill under the hood could be turned into a doorstop because you didn't have an oil pressure gauge. The carb could get jacked up for lack of a fuel filter. All these things are good at killing a budget since they're often forgotten, and when added up, things can get pricey. But not everything needed to finish this project had to do with performance. The Fastlane Fairlane was always envisioned to be a typical street machine. The plan wasn't for a ragged bracket car or a show car that can barely make it on and off a trailer. We were shooting for middle ground. This meant we tried to keep the car nice enough to take to the local cruise night as well as fast enough for the dragstrip, so we spent a little extra on aesthetics as long as it didn't hurt performance. With these final touches in place, we should be ready for the track and a few passes to see if we can get into the 11s. Hey, if we don't make it, at least we'll look good trying. | WHERE THE MONEY WENT | | '70 Ford Fairlane 500: | $8,100.00 | | 408 stroker engine: | $8,757.79 | | Hughes Performance C4 trans/converter/flywheel: | $2,050.90 | | Installation of 408 and C4 trans: | $2,776.99 | | Vintage Wheel Works V60 wheels: | $1,179.00 | | Nitto 555 tires: | $594.00 | | Mount and balance: | $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 installation: | $250.00 | | Front spoiler: | $67.96 | | Line lock with lines: | $96.90 | | SSBC front disc brakes: | $999.95 | | Rotor upgrade: | $150.00 | | Just Suspension "The Works Kit": | $1,850.00 | | Credit for unused KYB shocks: | -$152.00 | | Alston double-adjustable Varishocks: | $956.00 | | Alignment: | $69.95 | | Strange 9-inch rearend with disc brakes: | $2,423.72 | | Lokar e-brake cable kit: | $144.95 | | Misc. hardware for rearend install: | $86.44 | | Aluminum 3.5-inch driveshaft and parts: | $470.00 | | Odyssey, Moroso, and other parts for battery relocation: | $448.35 | | Stainless MagnaFlow 3-inch exhaust system: | $1,142.80 | | Sold parts from Fairlane (tires, wheels, hood): | -$425.00 | | Punch List items (gauges, seats, hood pins, etc.): | $1,902.37 | | G-Force helmet from Summit: | $149.95 | | Total: | $34,825.97 | Ever since we bought the Fairlane, the dash has been covered by a blue carpet to hide the cracked and time-worn dashpad underneath. nobody makes a replacement dashpad yet, so we ordered a dash cap from Dearborn classics (Pn Dc100, $99.95) and some new kick panels to replace our broken originals (Pn KP104, $69.95/pr.). since they only came in black, we had John over at Best of show coach Works coat them in the appropriate hue.  When we installed the 408...  When we installed the 408 into the Fairlane, we knew we were forgetting something. That turned out to be a fuel filter. A quick call to Professional Products and we had this 3/8-inch aluminum fuel filter with a sintered bronze element (Pn 10205, $9.95).  It was a bit nerve racking...  It was a bit nerve racking to drive the Fairlane without a set of gauges, and there was no way we were going to run at the track without knowing the oil pressure and water temp. We also wanted an old-school look, so we went with classic chrome gauges from Auto Meter.  First up was mounting the...  First up was mounting the water temperature sending unit into the Edelbrock intake. Be sure to use liquid thread sealer to ensure leak-free operation.  The oil sender location on...  The oil sender location on a Ford smallblock is a bit of a pain, given its tight location. You can use a factory extension to allow room for the sender, but we felt that was pretty unattractive. Instead, we ran a braided Teflon high-pressure line from the block back to the firewall where we mounted the sending unit.  Here you can see where we...  Here you can see where we chose to mount the oil pressure sending unit. We then wired it to the gauge. simple.  We were going to mount the...  We were going to mount the gauges under the dash in the mounting panel from Auto Meter, but decided they would have a more factory look if mounted in the dash. using the Auto Meter mounting panel as a template, we carefully marked where we wanted to cut the dash.  After cutting out the holes...  After cutting out the holes with a hole saw and sanding off the rough edges, we installed the Auto Meter gauges. You're better off cutting the holes slightly small, and then using a file or Dremel to get them just right. After this, we wired the gauges per the Auto Meter instruction sheet.  The 8k tach was mounted to...  The 8k tach was mounted to the steering column in an easy-toview spot. next to it, we mounted the Auto Meter Quick-Lite shift light. This light required a control unit to program the light. To keep the interior clean, we mounted it out of the way in the glovebox.  If you want to run at an nHRA...  If you want to run at an nHRA event with slicks, then you need a driveshaft safety loop to pass tech. Besides, they're just a good idea. This unit from spectre Performance (Pn 6079, $39.95) fit the bill perfectly. since we had the carpet out of the car, we decided to weld the top of the loop to the trans tunnel rather than bolt it through the floor.  The bench seats were nice...  The bench seats were nice for cruising around and going to a drive-in movie, but they lacked any sort of support, so we decided to drop in a set of bucket seats. These Procar by scat Rally 1000 seats ($329.50 each, in cloth; and $279.50, in black vinyl) still have a vintage look, but they have modern support and comfort.  When we went to install the...  When we went to install the seats, we realized we'd forgotten to order the brackets (Pn 81118 and 81119, $64.95 each). A quick call gave us the bad news. It would be three to four weeks to get some made. Luckily, Tim Lee owns a nice welder and we had some angled iron lying around. After a bit of measuring and some fabrication, we were back in business.  With the loss of our column...  With the loss of our column shifter lever, we needed a new place to mount the switch for our line lock. This was no problem, since TcI makes this cool switch (Pn 618004, $34.88) to specifically fit on our TcI Thunder stick shifter.  With the Procar seats installed,...  With the Procar seats installed, we were able to move the TcI shifter back to a more user-friendly location. check out how rust free the floors are in our old Ford. We have new blue carpet and kick panels from Dearborn classics waiting in the wings once all the fabrication is done.  Anyone who's had a hood open...  Anyone who's had a hood open on them at speed can attest to how it ages you 10 years in a split second, so we decided to install some hood pins that fit the vintage feel of the Fairlane. The only thing we didn't like was the cheapo look of the flat scuff plates. Enter hoodpins.  The installed hood pins and...  The installed hood pins and scuff plates look great, and we'll never have to worry about our hood flying open and ruining the day. For the complete rundown on installing this kit, just visit www. popularhotrodding.com.  I decided I wanted a fullface...  I decided I wanted a fullface helmet for drag racing rather than the open-face one hanging in my garage, so I checked out what summit Racing had to offer for a guy on a budget.  This car is for the street,...  This car is for the street, so we don't mind a little extra weight if it results in a nicer ride. We picked up 50 square feet of sound deadener off eBay for $100 and figured this was the best time to install it.  With the sound deadener in...  With the sound deadener in place, we installed the new carpet from Dearborn classis (Pn cA104B-Bu, $179.95). The new carpet made the worn pedals look even worse, so we ordered a set of trick covers from Modo Innovations (Pn MI420, $129). This set is designed for a Mustang, but it fit our Fairlane with only minor modifications.  We loved the look of the cast...  We loved the look of the cast aluminum centers on our Vintage Wheel Works V60 wheels, but they were tough to keep looking clean. For an easy fix, we shot the centers in Dupli-color High-Performance Wheel Paint (graphite, WP102, two cans).
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Dearborn Classics
P.O. Box 7649
Bend
OR
97708-7649
800-252-7427
www.dearbornclassics.com
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Spectre Performance
spectreperformance.com
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Don Lee Auto
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Auto Meter
667 West 100 North
Box 717
Ephraim
UT
84627
435-283-4142
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Modo Innovations
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Hoodpins.Net
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TCI Automotive
151 Industrial Dr.
Ashland
MS
38603
662-224-8972
www.tciauto.com
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Summit Racing
P.O. Box 909
Akron
OH
44309-0909
800-230-3030
www.summitracing.com
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Procar By Scat
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Best of Show Coach Works
San Marcos
CA
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Professional Products
Hawthorne
CA
3-23/-779-2020
professional-products.com
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