down in front!

[phonedude_mln]

I took advantage of the nice weather today to shoot some new pics:

http://www.cs.odu.edu/~mln/fairlane/...ne-2005-12-24/

the front coils were cut to lower the front ~ 2". the previous
ride height:

http://www.cs.odu.edu/~mln/fairlane/...ne-2005-10-03/

[zbugger]

Looks awesome!!! Notice any difference in ride and handling?

[phonedude_mln]

thanks... hard to quanitfy the improvement -- they really changed several things at once.

I got the car w/ drum brakes, 15" wheels and original suspension -- typical muscle car setup.

I took it to a shop and got the baer brakes, 17" tires, Global West UCAs, front & rear sway bars,
sub frame connectors, etc. but that shop did not a good job trouble shooting everyhing --
the front left tire rubbed the fender, the UCAs rubbed the rims and they screwed up the fuel pump.

Obviously, very little driving like that. Off to another shop. They fixed everything and it rides great
now, but I can't really isolate 1 thing over another (too many changes at once). The new tires/rims
definitely make the car "wander" more than before, but not too bad.

Even though I've had the car > 1 year, it has spent most of the time in the shop. I'm the slowest part
of the car, and I'm just now starting to really be able to drive it.

full data at:

http://www.cs.odu.edu/~mln/fairlane/

[bowtieguys]

I'm in love. Although I'm a Chevy guy (hence the name), I've always liked the 66 Fairlane. Your car is awesome. I think it is one of the most attractive muscle car body styles produced. The hood looks great. Being that I am a Chevy guy, this may sound dumb, but, is that a factory style hood of some kind? It looks like similar to some mid 60's Ford/Mercury that I think I have seen before, but I could be mistaken. Anyway, very nice ride!

[phonedude_mln]

I'm in love. Although I'm a Chevy guy (hence the name), I've always liked the 66 Fairlane. Your car is awesome. I think it is one of the most attractive muscle car body styles produced. The hood looks great. Being that I am a Chevy guy, this may sound dumb, but, is that a factory style hood of some kind? It looks like similar to some mid 60's Ford/Mercury that I think I have seen before, but I could be mistaken. Anyway, very nice ride!

thanks!!

the hood is the style that Ford put on their 1966 (standard) & 1967 (optional) 427 Fairlanes.
They made 57 (or 70, according to some sources) in 1966 and 163 in 1967. In 1966 they weren't
really avaialble to the general public, only to drag teams. In 1967, they were at least theoretically
more available.

here is a die cast model of how they left the factory:

http://www.legacydiecast.com/xq/asp/.../qx/review.htm

the hood is interesting in that it is not a "teardrop" hood used on the various
galaxies, mustangs, thunderbolts and other factory racers of the era. cf. this 63.5
factory "light weight":

http://mustangandfords.com/featuredv...8_63_galaxies/

you see teardrops on a lot of Fords, but the 427 Fairlane hood is unique to 66/67 fairlanes...

I believe Crites (http://www.critesrestoration.com/) is the main (sole?) source
for these hoods.

edit: looking at:

http://www.critesrestoration.com/galaxie.htm

it seems Crites has adapted this style for 57/58 Fords... I've never seen one in person though.