Fairlane 500
Updated : 09/05/02
Here are some photos of my 1968 Ford Fairlane 500
Click on any photo for an expanded veiw
Specifications:
302 c.i. V8 engine, 2 barrel carburetor
C4 3 speed automatic
Final drive: 2:79:1
Assembly plant: Atlanta, Georgia
Mileage : 49,000+ actual miles
Fairlane related mailing lists:
Fairlane owners list
Fairlane club of America
Production numbers
The new Austrailian Fairlane
The Fairlane story
How I aquired this car may sound like an urban legend but it's true. My Grandmother purchased this car from her next door neighbor back in 1976. She drove it for about 15 years until until giving up driving around 1990 at the age of 86. By that time the car had only 47,751 miles and as far as I know, the car has the original drivetrain (engine, transmission, differential). It sat at her house under a shed which saved it from rusting away. Getting a little burned out on Fiats, I wanted an old American car to tinker with so I asked her a few months ago if I could have the car and fix it up and she gave it to me. At first she was a little reluctant to see it go, but once she saw it cleaned up she was glad that she gave it to me. She even approved of the wheels I selected for it. She said it looked like a brand new car after I buffed the paint.
The first step in getting the car home was to plug the tires because a punk kid who lived across the street flattened them several years ago. Once I got the tires inflated, I had the car hauled home on a flatbed (courtesy of AAA) so I could change the oil and check the car out before driving it on the road. Once I got it home I sandblasted the sparkplugs, changed the oil and hit the ignition switch. No spark. I installed a new set of points and it fired it right. Then I found out that the transmission wouldn't shift. No fluid. I changed the transmission filter and filled it up with ATF and now it shifted fine. I installed new wheel cylinders and a few other components but I can say that this car has required much less work than some of the other cars I have brought home.
After dealing with Fiats for many years, I was used to having to order everything through mail order, and sometimes having to wait on backordered parts and sometimes having to recycle parts because they are no longer available. So I was prepared that a 30+ year old car would be even harder to find parts for. Although the Ford dealership doesn't waste it's time on old Fords, I quickly learned that any independent or chain autopart store carries aftermarket parts for this car. I've been able to buy everything mechanicalwise I need for this car from AutoZone and 99% of the time they have the part in stock! And just about everything is under $20 and some parts even come with a lifetime warranty! What more could you ask for? Body parts are another story like that piece of trim that goes on the fender that cost me $60 used.
I've made some modifications to the car since then. The first thing was to get rid of the old points type ignition system. I opted for the Pertronix Ignitor which I got from Mustangs Plus. It sells for about $65, fits inside the distributor in place of the points and has only two wires to hookup. The next step was to upgrade to an electric choke. The original choke was activated by heat via the exhaust manifold. The tubing leading into the manifold had broke and the other tube was plugged. I got rid of all of this and installed an electric choke from a later model Ford 2 barrel carburator. I had to modify the tang on the choke lever because the electric choke is more shallow than the original. Then I connected the wire to the hot side of the coil. Now the engine starts right up, idles fast when cold and doesn't die on me until the engine warms up. I also installed a set of H4 headlights which work much better than the old 35 watt incandescents that were installed at the time.
Cooling system wise, I installed an aluminum flex fan and a coolant recovery tank I built out of a 1 quart Marvel Mystery oil can and copper sheetmetal I soldered for brackets.
Wheels are Pacer brand 15X7s and the tires are Kelly Springfield 235s 60 series. Although the tires look great they sometimes scrub the inside of the front wheelwells under certain conditions like hitting a bump while making a deep turn or hitting the brakes while making a deep turn (like turning around in my driveway). So far this hasn't created any problems but I think the next set of tires will be 225s.
Although power front disc/rear drum brakes were an option, mine has manual 10" drum brakes on all four wheels. I've been told you can retrofit a power assisted front disc brake setup from a Granada. And although I would like to have power brakes, personally I think the 4 wheel drum brake setup works great and seems to stop the car quicker than my Spider which has power assisted 4 wheel disc brakes. I was also told that drum brakes are bad about getting hot (also refered to as brake fade) but so far I haven't experienced any, just great stopping capacity. This might be because I use Low 2 when going down long hills so I don't have to ride the brakes. My car doesn't have power steering either but once the car is moving above 5 mph, you don't need it and would rather have it that way than to have something else to work around in the engine compartment.
My Fairlane is the "500" model. 500 was a trim level which basically means it's not decked out in options. But this car had a multitude of options. Such power assisted brakes, front disc brakes, Air conditioning, cruise control, power windows, power steering, AM/FM 8 track stereo (YEAH!), power seats, towing package, police package, six different engine sizes ranging from a tiny 170 c.i. 6 cylinder to a 427 c.i. high performance model. Four different transmissions (3 speed, 4 speed, C4 automatic C6 (heavy duty) automatic, several different interior and exterior color combinations, etc. etc. etc.
My Fairlane is a 2 door hardtop. Most Fairlanes were 4 door sedans but a 4 door station wagon, convertible and fastback (Torino) models were available.
Between 62 and 69, Ford built almost 2.4 million Fairlanes not including Rancheros and the Torino line which replaced the Fairlane in 1970 which was built on the same platform.
I haven't found any data on horsepower and torque figures, how much the vehicle weighs. Any statistics on this information someone could email me would be appreciated.
Future modifications are planned. Such as an overdrive transmission from a Crown Victoria, air conditioning, cruise control, rear swaybar and if I really feel adventureous, I might install a fuel injection system from a Mustang GT and a supercharger. But for now the engine is doing fine so I may just leave it alone.
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