64 Fairlane Strut Front Suspension Conversion Its Done! JIT for the bash!

We got a late start this year but we are in the process of updating my 64 Fairlane to Fox Body Struts. After 15 years of racing this thing we decided it was time to make it easier to work on and improve the header clearance. I'm using Strange struts with their coil over kit, Mustang II tubular lower a-arms from Speedway, Ford Escort rear steer rack and pinion, my existing Granada spindles and disk brakes, UPR caster camber plates, and some custom made pieces. We will be trimming the shock towers back even more than they already are. Removing the upper a-arms and their mounts should free up a lot of space to build new headers with less cramped bends out of the port. Here are some before pictures along with some of the A-arm mounts and strut rod mock up pictures.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/512fairlane/sets/72157626306943107/with/5591181882/

How do ya get the pic's get bigger???........There so small I cant see anything

I'm not sure but I'll try to figure it out tomorrow night.

K

Photobucket wasn't working for me. Try the Flikr link above. It has larger pictures.

Mike....looks good! What size tire are you running on the front of the Fairlane?

Hoosier 27.0 x 4.5 -15. They clear the fenders much better than the Moroso 28 x 7.10 x 15 Drag specials that I used to run. The Morosos rubbed the fender when turning occasionally.

Don't worry Mike take your time, Gateway won't be open for at least another year or so. Good Luck with the swap.
Justin

Yeah that is one of the reasons we went ahead and started on it this late. When I found out I couldn't make the bash this year there weren't too many early races that I had to be at. I'm hoping to have it ready for the Nostalgia race in July at Kansas City. I don't think we'll have any problem making that one.

The old man has been making some progress. Here are a few more pics. Suspension is almost done. Still need to finish caster plates and mount the rack and pinion. Then we will pull the motor out, cut the towers back and remove some more brackets near the headers. Then put the motor back in and build the headers. So far we have saved 22 lbs!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/512fairlane/sets/72157626396370547/with/5629949370/

Mike, Its looking good! I like the spindles!...Damn your Fairlane is CLEAN!

'65 T-BOLT wrote:Mike, Its looking good! I like the spindles!...Damn your Fairlane is CLEAN!

Thanks Jason. The paint under the hood has held up fairly well for being raced for 15 years. I almost hate to have to repaint it all but I don't think I'll be happy with it if we just try to touch up around the shock towers. Lots of work yet to do.

Mike, as a side note...you might want to run a brace from tower to tower....aka montecarlo bar like shelby did in the mustangs...My shock towers started to collapse....then again..I did not have the rear braces in place...its just alot of load/force on the towers...just a thought!...Jason

Jason when we first cut the towers back we noticed that they flexed in with the weight of the 460. We added 2 square tubes that run from the fire wall to the core support. They are directly under the upper fender bolts. In fact the fender bolts run through the tubes. The tubes were welded to the inner fenders and the towers. They stiffened things up a lot and prevent the flex. And you can't see them unless you look up under the fenders.

cool idea Mike!