Gotta say I'm glad I finally joined the HAMB. You guys are a wealth of info and inspiration. Have a 65 fairlane ( yeah the lunchbox sytle ! ) and it now has a 302, 4-speed. Looking maybe to do the gasser look ala T-Bolt type. Any thoughts. I do not want a straightaxle and have seen front end lift kits, but I'm a little worried about that. I do not have a digital camera yet ( santa ?? ) but if you guys have any pics or thoughts that would be great...Thanks...Geoff
I don't have my book here, but as I recall didn't T-bolt Fairlanes run A/FX or SS/S? Also, by '65 didn't they make a factory production big-block Fairlane called the GT? In any case, sounds like you've got a fun project. Although my temptation would be to stay with the four-speed and get one of those 327 or 347 stroker kits. Kinda like the performance car they should've built in the early days.
Welcome. Where abouts in New York? Anything you do to raise the front is going to cause handling issues,but,hey, if it's got "the look" who cares ????
Welcome to the hamb! I too have a 65 Fairlane. And no they didnt make a big block one that year, only a 289 hipo car. Its a very overlooked year, being a one year body style. Satin
Ah, and here I thought '64 was the last year for the small-block-only cars. I learn something new every day. What I still want to see is a Mercury Meteor done up right.
1966 was the first year for the big block 390 car. A few 427's were also made. 66 was also the first year for th GT. Before that it was called a Sport Coupe. In 64 Ford made 100 Thunderbolts to go drag racing all 427 cars. Most people do not know that 1 thats ONE 65 Thunderbolt was also made. By 65 Ford was running Mustangs. The idea of a stroker might be a good one since I do not want to chop my shock towers.Anybody have any pics of 65's for ideas???....Thanks....Geoff P.S. I'm in Rockland Cty NY
Welcome .The SS Fairlane sounds neat. I'm sure you could put 2" risers on your balljoints,for the "Look'. The SS cars didn't run straight axles,only the FXer's or Gassers. Sparky
Welcome to the Hamb. '65 two door sport coupes are cool, the four doors suck. I had one in high school- hardly anything you can do to improve them. Had mine crushed after I yanked the 289. Dan
This one is a 2dr hardtop. Turquise green with a white top saddle interior with American Mags....I've seen only 1 other 65 at any shows or cruises. One guy told me it was a canadian car! Thats whats so Freakin kool about it. Still lookin for ideas
WOW Now thoses are sweet cars. I think I've seen that light blue one before in some magazine. think it was a 289 hi po car ( less then 100 built in 65 ). That gasser 63?? is way cool. How hard to put the straight axle on a unibody car? Any issues with that?
351C power after chopping the shock towers. Everything else from a small block bolts right up. Headers are non-existent, though. Crites Restoration (www.critesrestoration.com) sells all the Tbolt conversion pieces to mount an FE or 460 in the '65: teardrop hood, f'glass bumper, engine mounting, headers, etc.
Last shot. It's for sale: I need to finish my A coupe. PM me if you need any advice on parts sources, etc.
Welcome to the HAMB...as you can see, there's lots of like minded weirdos here. VonTingler is scary, so watch out. This is what he looks like on the weekends...
The car has a saddle colored interior. Hey I know where Quaker rd in Pomona is . About 10 minutes from my house. Ever go to Kruckers for a picnic or party ??? I take pomona rd to get there. Brian thats a nice Fairlane. I'm thinking about disk brakes. I've seen a couple of articles on the switch. Did you use that guy Mustang Steves adapter for the tie rod end??? I was thinking about using the Crites Tear Drop hood and fabricating some ram air through the inner headlights. Thanks
Actually that pic of the 65 hipo is shown with an article at woody's fairlane site. Mine is the aqua metallic with the aqua/teal interior, although mine is the hard to find fairlane 500 2 dr post. Satin
[ QUOTE ] I like it in black. Was that a crites hood on the car?? Can you tell memore about it. Disk brakes??? [/ QUOTE ] Yes and yes. Like others have said, the hood was of very good quality. If I had it to do over again I would have installed a plain fiberglass hood, as lots of rain ended up on the engine, turning it into a ratty mess in no time. When I bought the hood, I also bought tie rod ends from Crites' that allowed me to use Granada spindles and the stock tie rods. I forget the exact reasoning why, but that's the easiest way to go. The swap was straightforward otherwise. Spindles came from eBay and everything else from the local autoparts store. You can find recipes for the swap all over the web.
You can do the disc swap a lot cheaper by getting the individual pieces. I bought the brake swap parts list from Crites, but there's no need for you to do it. Here's what you need: '75-'80 Granada/Monarch spindles, rotors, calipers, pads, brackets, flex brake lines, dust shields '85 Bronco II MANUAL master cylinder '72 LTD outer tie rod ends - adapts Granada spindle to '65 tie rod sleeve (prolly different for P/S 65's-mine is manual) About any old disc/drum proportioning valve: I robbed mine off an '83 Tbird. Use '65 ball joints. I found that I had to lengthen my m/c rod a little. Brakes work great. They feel like something inbetween manual and power. And it will lock 'em up. When I ordered my front suspension rebuild kit from PST, I had them swap out the '65 tie rod ends for the '72 LTD pieces. Go ahead and get new inner tie rods, too.
Hey thanks Brian, thats a complete list for the swap.Any idea what the parts from the auto parts store cost? I have seen new kits but there like 800 bucks or more.Brian are you familiar with the adapter that Ed tals about from Crites? Ed that black 65 looks killer. Did you say you sold it? Thanks ..Geoff
Hey frlane , welcome aboard .Had one of those .It was a rotted forest green with a hipo.Which they made a few more than a hundred of.It was after all the performance motor for the car that year.If ya wanna GAS it then shit do it .Those cars had a short wheel base that already made em sort of squirley anyway .Guess you'll just have to learn how to drive .Good luck and post pics once ya get that santa thing figured out.swaZZie
welcome 6t5fairlane..my pops had a bunch of '65 sportcoupes as daily drivers in South Africa ,,and when we moved to b.c he had 7 at one time,,,i had a 4 dr for while in highschool,,beat it to death,,i know of a wagon in town here thats for sale but the only problem is i have nowhere to put it.. one day i'll have a killer little sportcoupe for a daily driver,,they really are a kool looking car..