Hello everyone,
I picked up a new project today to build a cruiser for my wife. I've been a diehard Ford fan for years and currently drag race a big block powered 64 Fairlane Thunderbolt Clone. We picked up a 57 Fairlane 500 64B today. It is a solid Texas car with beautiful floorboards and frame. It came with a trailer full of parts from 3 different parts cars. I have lots of extra trim, 4 grilles, 6 bumpers, 3 doors, a hood, etc. There was no driveline except for the 3.70 rear end so we are trying to determine whether to put in an 87 Mustang fuel injected 5.0 or a 460 that I have laying around. What are your opinions of 460's in these cars as cruisers? Looks like there is a lot of good information on this site so I can't wait to read through all of it. Thanks, Mike
believe if its going to be a cruiser the 5liter would be my choice,but if its to be a bruiser then the 460 would be the choice.
welcome to the board lots of good helpful knowledgeable and opinionated people here. and a smidge of b/s to keep it real at times. :006:
Zap- :unitedstates:
Quote from: Zapato on 2012-01-15 23:11
believe if its going to be a cruiser the 5liter would be my choice,but if its to be a bruiser then the 460 would be the choice.
welcome to the board lots of good helpful knowledgeable and opinionated people here. and a smidge of b/s to keep it real at times. :006:
Zap- :unitedstates:
just noticed this is my 460th post, it must be a message from the Ford gods build as nasty a 460 as you can.
My vote is 460.... sounds like a killer project! There is no substitute for cubic inches!..post some pics!
Have a feeling you're gonna get about a 50/50 response on this one. A lot would depend on what you mean by cruiser...if a frequently used, or daily, driver, I'd opt for the 5.0. But, as mentioned, there is alot to be said for the brute power and feel of big blocks.
Last year there was a lengthy thread going on about a 4.6 modular swap that was replacing a 460 in his wife's daily driver wagon because he wanted something more dependable, economical, yet still have enough performance to keep them happy.
Welcome to the site.
Is the car still in Texas?
Rich
Thanks for the responses. The car is in Missouri now. We found it in Illinois where it had been in storage since the mid 90's. A woman blew up the 292 on the way from Texas to Michigan. The gentleman that owned it had been collecting parts since then. I have 1 garage bay full of parts that came with it. Since its my wife's car it will probably get the 302 but we have lots of time to decide. The body had been painted 13 years ago but needs to be re-done. It has very little bondo and I can't believe how rust free it is. Its definitely not a Missouri car.
The 302 is pretty much a bolt-in and 460 takes a bit more planning, such as cutting up your core support to move your after market rad forward, redo trans cross member for exhaust clearance, trans linkage, etc.............. I have one in my Custom and it's a blast, except when you have to put premium fuel into it.
I didn't cut anything to put mine in. Crites mounts and crossmember and FBA headers did
it for me.
I have about 1/2" clearance from the firewall to rocker cover and even with the short C8VE water pump it still wasn't remotely close to fitting with a a stock rad. And thats without a spacer between the fan, also that leaves about 1/4" clearance for the fan and crank pulley. I trimmed mine back to make room for a larger rad and fan clutch now it doesn't run above 185 degrees.
Here is a link to some pictures of the project. It's going to be a lot of work but I think I have a great starting point.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/512fairlane/sets/72157628906470559/
That's a real solid looking car....it's gonna save you hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars having something to start with that good. If this is your first '57, you may want to check with the guys here on particular areas to check real close to see if you have any problems starting.
How thorough of a restoration are you planning? Body off?
Man, the floors in that look great. Excellent body to start with.
Quote from: shopratwoody on 2012-01-16 13:11
I didn't cut anything to put mine in. Crites mounts and crossmember and JBA headers did
it for me.
Same here...although,to remove the transmission,the engine does need to be lifted and pulled forward to get to the upper bell bolts.Its what I've been doing the last two days.All for the love of more stall speed.
Gotta have a little stall. I run an old 10" B&M I had laying around.
As far as the rad goes I run a stock one with a new core, reg fan and a spacer and all works well.
I've had the car 43 years so I got an idea what works. :burnout:
Quote from: 512Fairlane on 2012-01-16 22:53
Here is a link to some pictures of the project. It's going to be a lot of work but I think I have a great starting point.
That's not a great starting point.....IT"S FANTASTIC!........ Like Rich said...count the dollars for lower front fenders, rockers, front floors, toe boards, quaters front and rear, rear floors and quite possibly the bottom of the cowl you're talking a butt load of cash never mind the cost of intsalling all those pieces. Again....Fantastic find!
Quote from: RICH MUISE on 2012-01-17 08:13
That's a real solid looking car....it's gonna save you hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars having something to start with that good. If this is your first '57, you may want to check with the guys here on particular areas to check real close to see if you have any problems starting.
How thorough of a restoration are you planning? Body off?
Rich, believe there is a thread somewhere that deals with all the common rust areas. I might have started it at least remember being part of the conversation.
Zap- :unitedstates:
The previous owner had it painted about 13 years ago but never put it back together. It had a used lower tail panel installed, small patches in the lower rear quarters and front fenders. I also noticed a small patch under the rt. headlite bucket. Aside from the tail panel they all appear to be small patches surrounded by good sheetmetal so I think I'll just look them over really good when I do the body and replace if necessary. I keep waiting to find something wrong with it but so far I haven't. I am planning to do a frame off restomodification.
Nice car, I've been on the lookout for a 57, 58 ranchero body like that. Welcome to the club, Mark
Here are some pics of the pile of parts that came with the car. I haven't even had time to dig thru it all yet, but there are parts from at least 3 different 57's, Torino disk brakes, etc.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/512fairlane/sets/72157628920453201/
Just spent the evening going through some of the boxes that came with the car. One box has what must be every single piece of rubber weather stripping, window seals, door seals, window felts, floor plugs, etc. All were Dennis Carpenter pieces. We totaled all of the parts up and found over $1500.00 in parts new in the bags. I'm pretty excited now.
Well we spent a few Sunday afternoons cleaning off the bottom of the car. Still a lot to do but I can't believe how nice the floors are in this car. We scraped the body deadener off with a putty knife. Then I used a wire brush on a drill and guess what was under the dirt. The original red oxide primer! I can't believe it. Here are a few more pics.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/512fairlane/sets/72157629294135739/
Nice and solid..you should be excited. Your existing floorpan looks like the '58 donor car's floorboard I was luck enough to find. When your done scraping, hit it with a sandblaster and a good coat of por15, and it'll still be good 20 years from now.
Rich
Well we decided to do a 5.0 fuel injected transplant with AOD out of and 89 Mustang. We picked up the Mustang today. Now we just have to start pulling it apart. I plan to use the motor, trans., computer, wiring, etc. These cars also have a very small diameter brake booster that I might look into using. Here are some pics of the Stang. The rolling chassis will be for sale as soon as I get the motor out. http://www.flickr.com/photos/512fairlane/sets/72157629565986087/
hi im glen from new zealand just wanted you to know that even tho 460 really good engine you would have to own a service station heheeheeeeeee becasue they do gallons to miles not miles to gallons and as for the 302 injected also reaklly good engines and very powerfull but to power weight ratio would also be very thirsty becasue small engine in big body car and also looks to small in engine bay i would go with the 351 cleveland i have fitted few over the years and the are great on petrol and look good under the hood
That's good to know, never heard of a 351C as being easy on the fuel. Mark
I think it corresponds to easy on the pedal! I know my Windsor sure does like the taste of petro! LOL
Tim :unitedstates:
Looks like a real good project, however if I wasn't retired, I would be reluctant to start on it. I am currently doing a Custom 300 4 dr over, but I had the floors and rockers to contend with first. You say you have several grilles. I am looking for a complete grille in real nice shape with no dings etc. Good luck with your project, and do expect to put a ton of money in it, as the aftermarket parts are pretty dear. Also, when I was a teenager, I used to get the upper bell bolts out without lifting the engine forward. I used a very long 3/8 extension and a universal socket to get them out, working from the rear of the tranny. Worked on many 56 and 57 Fords back in the 50's.