Fairmont U/S Build AKA Craigslist Racer

[Dave Muller]

Originally Posted by Bunkster

With a little imagination, and that blue and white...you could turn back the clock to 1978 and think you were in Whiteland, Indiana.

Of course, to complete the effect you have to run undefeated for a full year...

[Mark Yacavone]

Doing a great job, Kelly

If you decide you don't like driving this car, you just let me know, okay?

[Shadylane]

Originally Posted by Mark Yacavone

Doing a great job, Kelly

If you decide you don't like driving this car, you just let me know, okay?

No problem Mark, do you remember how to use the third pedal?

[Shadylane]

Originally Posted by Dave Muller

Of course, to complete the effect you have to run undefeated for a full year...

If I can go one round the first time out (not likely), then I could pack it up and go home undefeated.

[Mark Yacavone]

Originally Posted by Shadylane

No problem Mark, do you remember how to use the third pedal?

It's like riding a bicycle ;-)

[MikeMoller]

Originally Posted by Mark Yacavone

It's like riding a bicycle ;-)

Mark, bicycles only have two pedals!

Nice build Kelly, what you are building was my first choice but just couldn' t find anything decent and reasonable to start with. But a stick, waaaaay cool!

[Shadylane]

Originally Posted by MikeMoller

Nice build Kelly, what you are building was my first choice but just couldn' t find anything decent and reasonable to start with. But a stick, waaaaay cool!

Thanks Mike.
I thought I was starting with a decent car but it was missing a lot of key parts which are difficult to find. The body while being a rust free Arizona car had dozens of large and small dents and dings which required a lot of body work. The roof was the worst, it's made out of a very thin gage material making it difficult to work. We had to reinforce the structure just to sand and prep it.
The late 70's were not Fords best built cars...at least the Fairmonts
anyway.

I believed going the 4 speed route would cost about the same as a top of the line C-4 and convertor. Boy was I wrong.
I bought a used DR4, used flywheel, new clutch, new shifter, used bellhousing (turns out I can't use it, my mistake). Now I'm looking at having to buy a bellhousing for a grand. Not even close to a 50 cent rocket so far.
Having fun though!


Kelly

[Sean Marconette]

Kelly,
Another way of looking at it is you do not have to try multiple converters to get it dialed in!! All that's needed is a turn of base and adjustment of counterweight! With the right bellhousing that's a piece of cake on those adjustments. You will be much happier with the good bellhousing as figment and alignment will be spot on.

On my 83 the only original sheetmetal left is the hood, I guess that's why the fox bodies are so light they are made of recycled metal!

Once you get it going the investment in the stick parts will last a long time, that trans behind your engine will be bullet proof too. Even better will be the fun factor of rowing gears.

Sean

[Shadylane]

Progressed a little bit this week.

The car had a tilt column so I decided to replace it with a non-tilt version I had stripped out of another car.Turns out the non-tilt is 4 lbs lighter than the tilt. Nice weight savings.

Installed the shifter as a mock up to see how everything fit. Didn't have to butcher the floor too bad. I'll weld in some patches and fab up something to cover the rest.

A buddy dropped by to look at my car and I commented I would like to clean up the fuel cell where I welded the mounting tabs on. He ran home and returned with several polishing/buffing wheels and compounds. I dug out my super dupper Harbor Freight bench grinder that had been mothballed because it vibrated too much to use. Removed the grinding disk and wire wheel and installed two buffing wheels. Works pretty good.
Polishing is labor intensive but the results are worth it. So far I have about 3 hours tied up in it, doing about half of it.

Next I decided to tackle installing the electrical control panel I picked up from a friend a few months back.
My buddy that had the polishing stuff and I designed and built a bracket to bolt to the dash. Got it all bent up, pop riveted and I painted it with a rattle can of spray in bed liner from Lowes. I like the texture better than crinkle paint and it's tougher. I like having the switches close at hand.

[Rory McNeil]

Originally Posted by Shadylane

Progressed a little bit this week.

The car had a tilt column so I decided to replace it with a non-tilt version I had stripped out of another car.Turns out the non-tilt is 4 lbs lighter than the tilt. Nice weight savings.

Installed the shifter as a mock up to see how everything fit. Didn't have to butcher the floor too bad. I'll weld in some patches and fab up something to cover the rest.

A buddy dropped by to look at my car and I commented I would like to clean up the fuel cell where I welded the mounting tabs on. He ran home and returned with several polishing/buffing wheels and compounds. I dug out my super dupper Harbor Freight bench grinder that had been mothballed because it vibrated too much to use. Removed the grinding disk and wire wheel and installed two buffing wheels. Works pretty good.
Polishing is labor intensive but the results are worth it. So far I have about 3 hours tied up in it, doing about half of it.

Next I decided to tackle installing the electrical control panel I picked up from a friend a few months back.
My buddy that had the polishing stuff and I designed and built a bracket to bolt to the dash. Got it all bent up, pop riveted and I painted it with a rattle can of spray in bed liner from Lowes. I like the texture better than crinkle paint and it's tougher. I like having the switches close at hand.

Nice progree, on both my 78 Fairmont and 85 Mustang, both with Jerico DR4s and Long V gate shifters, I had to do similar mods, sliced the floor for shifter rod clearance, bent the piece back, and welded in a strip to fill the gap. As for the bellhousing you don`t NEED to spend a grand. I have a McLeod scattershield, with the deeper FOX body depth,it works fine, offered a bit better clearance for the headers than my previous Lakewood, its a bit heavier than a Quicktimes, but unlike many Quicktimes, the McLeod works with a Long style Soft Lok and 164 tooth flywheel. The Quicktime will only work with a 157 tooth flywheel, and on some Ford applications, require stacking block plates to get adequate room to get everything in there. May or may not be an issue if you are using a small diameter dual disc clutch.