Author Topic: 66 Fairlane Hardtop gets a birthday  (Read 20718 times)

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66FAIRLANE

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66 Fairlane Hardtop gets a birthday
« on: July 25, 2019, 08:19:46 PM »
Having owned this car for 24 years I have been threatening to give it a birthday for some time. It is a great 20 footer but there are areas of the body that need attention & body work is something I don't/can't do. As I have managed to make some progress lately I thought I would start a thread.

My hand was sort of forced last year when I forgot about a leaking water pump & drove it, rather hard & ended up with all my remaining coolant in the sump. So out came the engine.....you know how it goes from there.

Pics of the car before. Yes it looks like there is nothing wrong with the body but there areas of filler making its presence known.




Pulling a rocker cover exposed this


Engine coming out & on stand






« Last Edit: July 25, 2019, 09:05:36 PM by 66FAIRLANE »

66FAIRLANE

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Re: 66Fairlane gets a birthday
« Reply #1 on: July 25, 2019, 08:31:31 PM »
With engine out I decided to fix up the hump where I had cut it to fit the GV overdrive. So I dropped the trans onto the ground & attempted to slide it out. Car was a little low & I couldn't slide it out by about an inch so I jacked up the front corner probably about an inch & a half, reset the jack stand dragged out the trans/OD unit. Feeling pretty good with myself I had a beer & walked away.

Let me say at this point the rear window had been 'stuck' in by a previous owner. The proper seal was not present so the rear window was a stressed member. I was always surprised out how little this car twisted when jacked up.

8 weeks later I was in the shed looking over things when BANG & I mean BANG!....this happened. I had forgotten to lower the front corner.







This took the wind out of my sails for quite some time & it was several months before I got back into it.

66FAIRLANE

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Re: 66Fairlane gets a birthday
« Reply #2 on: July 25, 2019, 08:52:42 PM »
I have always wanted to put sub-frame connectors in this car, especially since it has the front cut off to convert it to right hand drive, so now seemed liked the perfect time.

I have seen a lot of people put RHS from the transmission carrier arms (for want of a better word) through the rear floor to the rear torque boxes. I didn't want that so after I examined how Ford did it (I have a convertible too) I decided to go down the sills. I like my cars low so ground clearance is also an issue.

I removed the small brace where the front seat bolt goes & cut a hole to get to the rear torque box.









Fabricating & inserting the sill braces












66FAIRLANE

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Re: 66Fairlane gets a birthday
« Reply #3 on: July 25, 2019, 08:59:19 PM »
I figured I would concentrate on the body & hopefully the Aussie dollar would improve before I buy engine parts. That has not happened yet!

Next up was to box in where the seat fronts bolt, similar to the convertible.



I also made up braces to go from the trans arms to the new box section.





Then I had to fabricate some braces to help tie the Sill braces to the front torque boxes







66FAIRLANE

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Re: 66Fairlane gets a birthday
« Reply #4 on: July 25, 2019, 09:02:26 PM »
Well yesterday I finally got it all welded in. Well mostly, I still have some tidying up to do. This should stiffen it up substantially!

















« Last Edit: July 25, 2019, 09:04:11 PM by 66FAIRLANE »

Bolted to Floor

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Re: 66 Fairlane Hardtop gets a birthday
« Reply #5 on: July 26, 2019, 08:38:59 AM »
Nice handy work. It really sucks for the back glass to pop like that. Watch out for the “While you are at it bug!!” No telling what else you may decide needs fixed or tweaked.  ::)
John D -- 67 Mustang 390 5 speed

gdaddy01

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Re: 66 Fairlane Hardtop gets a birthday
« Reply #6 on: July 26, 2019, 09:38:07 PM »
nice looking work . very good .

turbohunter

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Re: 66 Fairlane Hardtop gets a birthday
« Reply #7 on: July 27, 2019, 04:39:39 PM »
Watch out for the “While you are at it bug!!”
The bane of my existence. Took me a lifetime to figure out how not to do that. Or did it. ::)
Marc
'61 F100 292Y
'66 Mustang Injected 428
'66 Q code Country Squire wagon


Nightmist66

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Re: 66 Fairlane Hardtop gets a birthday
« Reply #8 on: July 29, 2019, 08:00:55 PM »
Nice work Andy.


Watch out for the “While you are at it bug!!”
The bane of my existence. Took me a lifetime to figure out how not to do that. Or did it. ::)


Yeah, I have a skeleton on jack stands for what started out as a collapsed lifter 3yrs ago.  ::)
Jared



66 Fairlane GT 390 - .035" Over 390, Wide Ratio Top Loader, 9" w/spool, 4.86

jayb

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Re: 66 Fairlane Hardtop gets a birthday
« Reply #9 on: July 30, 2019, 07:40:06 AM »
Nice work on the chassis modifications.  That rear window episode would have deflated me for a while too, glad to see you are back at it!
Jay Brown
- 1969 Mach 1, Drag Week 2005 Winner NA/BB, 511" FE (10.60s @ 129); Drag Week 2007 Runner-Up PA/BB, 490" Supercharged FE (9.35 @ 151)
- 1964 Ford Galaxie, Drag Week 2009 Winner Modified NA (9.50s @ 143), 585" SOHC
- 1969 Shelby Clone, Drag Week 2015 Winner Modified NA (Average 8.98 @ 149), 585" SOHC

   

66FAIRLANE

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Re: 66 Fairlane Hardtop gets a birthday
« Reply #10 on: July 30, 2019, 05:31:47 PM »
Its weird, ever since I have owned the car every time I have looked at that rear window I have thought "Jesus, I hope I never have to replace that!"

Anyway, after nearly 9 months it seems like the window has arrived! Made in Thailand.




66FAIRLANE

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Re: 66 Fairlane Hardtop gets a birthday
« Reply #11 on: August 17, 2019, 05:03:49 AM »
I have applied some body adhesive to some of the seems underneath and now it just awaits paint. Inside I have applied Chinese Dynamat rip off (about half the price). I thought this might be fun. Noooo!! It takes quite some time and the fun stopped after about 5 min. Its hard work getting into all the crevasses. Nearly done, just one door to go. I have also cleaned up & reconditioned the shifter & hump. A little more wiring to tidy up & the carpet & seats can go back in.










wcbrowning

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Re: 66 Fairlane Hardtop gets a birthday
« Reply #12 on: August 17, 2019, 01:02:11 PM »
Getting lots of work done!  May I ask, what is the color of your car called?  Is it a factory color?  Thanks!

gdaddy01

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Re: 66 Fairlane Hardtop gets a birthday
« Reply #13 on: August 17, 2019, 06:54:16 PM »
is it more difficult to drive a right hand drive car than a left hand drive , shifting mostly , or is just something you grow up doing ? I am not trying to be a smart a , it is something I have wonder about . you are making nice progress on your car looks outstanding .

ToddK

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Re: 66 Fairlane Hardtop gets a birthday
« Reply #14 on: August 17, 2019, 11:00:12 PM »
I own both LH and RH drive stick shift cars, it’s not that hard swapping between them. Hardest part about driving a LH drive car on a RH drive road system is when pulling out to overtake. You have to rely on your passenger to see if the opposite direction lane is clear.