IceLane
Senior Member
Joined: 01 Mar 2008
Posts: 114
Location: Independence Twp, MI |
1963 2-Door Sedan Survivor
I just realized that I never posted any of my Fairlanes.
I purchased this car about a year and a half ago at the suggestion of a friend. I'd been looking for a car to build a dragster out of and it seemed like a good candidate (clean with a small engine so it couldn't have been abused). However, I couldn't bring myself to cut it up so I'm keeping it as a daily driver instead.
It's a pretty basic car:
200 cid 6 cylinder
Ford-o-matic 2 speed transmission
2 speed wipers
AM radio
The first picture is from the 2009 FCA Nationals in Dearborn, MI. It received a gold in the unrestored original class with 96/100 points. I had a rough time trying to find the tires and I'm firmly convinced that I bought the last 5 13" white wall radials in the states (ok, ok, so Coker sells some, but they want like $170 apiece)!
There was plenty of surface rust in the engine compartment, but everything is in relatively good working order for having sat for ~40 years. The generator, starter and carburetor had to be rebuilt and I'm in the process of acidizing the perpetually overheating cooling system (blew the heater core and the radiator the first time I fired it up successfully). It does just fine at idle, but runs into trouble at higher speeds. The ignition coil was also dead and had to be replaced, though I've retained the original.
The interior has seen better days but shows relatively little use. The rubber mat on the floor is cracked where the driver's feet are and the cloth is rotting in some areas where boxes had been setting for years holding moisture.
For all the rust under the hood the underbody is remarkably clean. The original exhaust system is still intact and doesn't leak. If you look just forward of the u-joint, you can see the bottom of a shipping tag that was still attached to the rear brake line!
If you're interested in seeing more pictures of the car it's the only one I have completed on my
website
. _________________ Kyle Lehrmann
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