Getting the big Fairlane back on the road.... Going the whole 9 inches

[RC10th]

I got the engine back from the builder today and hopefully this little package wakes the car up a bit. The 302 crank has been replaced with a 351 crank, compression bumped to 10.1, rebuilt heads with mild work, a nice cam and edelbrock air gap intake. The engine builder said it should be a good engine (it should for the price).

I'm not going nuts with making everything show quality but it has been fun cleaning and giving parts a coat of fresh paint like the fan and brackets etc. The engine will look good but the rest of the car wont, lol. There is still a bit of work ahead of me as I need to replace the steering box and want to replace the engine wiring harness with one that hasn't been cut to pieces.

We should be back on the road soon.

[RC10th]

With all the car talk I'd thought I'd update this slow ongoing project.

The engine has been rebuilt and is nearly ready to be installed in the car when my torque converter arrives. I went with a mild 2500 stall being a daily driver which should liven it up a bit. I was aiming for the 350hp mark but doubt I'm there. The engine builder talked me down on cams due to the LPG thing, saying LPG doesn't like a lot of overlap which relates to just wasting "gas"

It should still be a healthy little package.

[RC10th]

I'm really stuck on the sleeper thing and although this isn't my car I'd love it to look like it. Stock grandpa mobile but will give most new cars a run for their money.

Luckily my car is already white so I just need a set of stock wheels, mud flaps and hood orniment.

[RC10th]

I received my torque converter and deep trans pan today, so I can finally marry the engine and trans. I ordered the converter a month ago They gave me a smoking deal on it however as they sold it for $180 less then what I was quoted, not bad for a custom made converter. I just hope the 2500 stall doesn't change the drivability much from stock (1780 - 2000 stall)

I can finally put the engine and trans in the car after 6+ months It should be a nice sleeper, banged up and a bit rusty but goes quite well

I want to order this carb (last major part) but need to ring Holley to ensure it's not too big. Too big is bad but on the other hand it's not as crucial on vac secondaries. The street avenger is 670 CFM but various carb calculators recommend somewhere between 590 - 650 cfm.

I sure hope it goes....

[PlastiZapCA+]

I like the way it looks now with the slotted wheels. Maybe put some wider ones on the rear. The stock look is too much of a sleeper to me. It would be a nasty surprise to someone not expecting it though! Reminds me of the 69 Impala I had back in the day.

[RC10th]

The picture of my car isn't the best photo but it still looks a bit sleeperish now. It looks like an old beat up car, a bit dented and rusty. Currently it has 245/60R14's on the back which grip up pretty good.

The paint on mine is terrible but adds to the patina. It's not supposed to look fast if it's a sleeper.

I'm not a fan of brown cars but this one could change my mind, lol, it's the same model.

[PlastiZapCA+]

Brown isn't bad looking either, the bumper valance on that brown car would look nice on yours too. I still think the color scheme on your car is more fitting than the other two examples. Something is just right about it. It's your car though, as a car nut I just had to put my two cents in. Glad you chose to put it back on the road instead of selling it off. Wish I had kept my Impala and just put it aside for another day.

Your car with the white and a turquoise pebble grain top would look really nice.

[RC10th]

Technically I'd be better off buying a better body but the white paint with blue trim is quite rare. According to the option lists and decoders white with a blue interior and blue (dusk) vinyl roof was never an option. Decoding the tags on the car they are stamped for white with blue interior/roof. Must have been a special order. I've never seen another.

I like the front chin spoiler, that one would be off a falcon and should fit easily enough. My car isn't lowered so I'm not sure if it would look right or not at the stock ride height.

I got off the pnone with Holley and the Ultra Avenger 670cfm will be fine, I'll be ordering one tomorrow as soon as I can.

There's still a ton of work to do. I need to pull the engine that's currently in the car out. The steering box will be replaced with a rebuilt unit. I've got a good used uncut engine bay wiring harness to replace the one that's in it.

The list goes on.....

[PlastiZapCA+]

It'll all be worth it in the end. Looking forward to more updates.

[RC10th]

Today I got my carb set up, lines, dist clamp, throttle bracket etc. The carb is a work of art and looks like a jewel sitting on the engine. I mocked everything up and the gas mixer just clears the float screws by about 1/8"! Hood clearance is going to be close as the gas mixer sits higher then a drop base filter, it should fit as I checked and checked.

I wish I bought the Holley throttle bracket instead altough they both look identical. I think the Holley bracket would have been quite a bit more expensive for the same thing. I was also worried about having to re-route the throttle cable to pull from the back side of the carb. Upon fitting it all up I think I can make it all work, hence the throttle cable and return spring adaptors are on the bottom side. The throttle cable pulls from the front side of the carb.

Now that I have the hardware I can bolt the flywheel to the crank and marry the engine/trans on my next day off hopefully.

[RC10th]

I've done a little bit more work, I replaced the carb studs with some longer ones that I cut down for the throttle bracket and installed the Ford throttle cable stud. I had to return the fuel filter as it was too small and replace it with a larger unit.

The bulk of my day was consumed cleaning the transmission and getting it ready to bolt up. The trans looks like it was rebuilt but was a bit grotty on the outside so I decided to clean it. I've tried a few heavy duty cleaning agents and nothing seemed to get it back to bare aluminum. I read many reports of people having great success with oven cleaner so I gave it a try. Oven cleaner is some pretty nasty stuff and ate just about everything, it definately got it back to bare aluminum. The only drawback was it darkened the alloy slightly and caused it to oxidize quickly (I don't recommend oven cleaner as it caused more work)

Since the case was oxidized and a bit dark I thought I'd try a product called "Ali Brite" which is an acid to clean and brighten aluminum. Again it is pretty nasty stuff containing sulphuric and hydroflouric acids. This achieved some pretty good results however after neutralizing the acid oxidation was still accelerated, most likely due to water and oxygen from rinsing it.

I then tried a liquid metal polish hoping it would remove the oxidation and leave a protective barrier to seal it so to say. So far so good and the transmission now has a uniform color to it. It's not quite as bright as I'd hoped for but looks clean and tons better. Tomorrow will tell if it cured the oxidation problem or not, if not the next thing would be to rub it down with Marvel Mystery Oil, but so far so good.

Once I gather up a few more dollars my buddy who owns a transmission shop will put a stage two shift kit in it and give it a flush, that is if he doesn't say the trans is toast.

Next up on the list also is to make up a set of 8.5mm MSD plug wires as the fairly new bosch ones that I tested were over 1700 ohms a foot!

[Coelacanth]

Re: The aluminum re-oxidizing after cleaning & polishing: I think you might need to hit that up with some clearcoat following the cleaning & polishing, which is how most polished aluminum surfaces are protected (i.e. mag wheels). The tranny housing might've originally been anodized, which is a very tough protection, but you stripped it with the oven cleaner. Now it's clean and polished but unprotected bare aluminum, unless you get it reanodized or apply several coats of clear. I don't believe the liquid polish you applied would offer much long-term protection.

The aluminum body of your carb, for example, is probably factory polished and clear-anodized, I'm guessing.

[RC10th]

So far so good, I left it outside overnight (under cover) and it seems fine. It was raining so if anything the damp air would have contributed. Most polishes contain a wax so I think that's what helped. I don't think the case is full aluminum and think it must have other alloys mixed in.

[RC10th]

Trans is at the trans shop getting rebuilt. I figured for the few extra $$ now it's worth the long term reliability and durability. They are going to do a few oiling mods to improve lubrication, heavy duty clutches, shift kit and a deep pan.

[RC10th]

Trans is finally done, talk about a long wait.... There was a problem with the forward drum and it took 5 drums to get a good one. Fingers crossed it goes smoothly and quickly from here.