1961 Pro Touring Starliner with Twin Turbos

[StarlinerJack]

[FONT=Calibri]Hello Gents! Im getting ready to start my Starliner project and thought I'd put up a build thread to show off the long road I have ahead of me. I've been scouring this forum and a few others and collecting as much knowledge as I can. I do appreciate everyone's helpful posts that i've tuned into and I hope that I can be a valuable resource to some as well at some point down the road.

This is my 1961 Ford Starliner that I picked up a few years ago. It was in a junkyard in Arkansas and I had it shipped out to CA. She's in pretty good shape and I think all of the stainless and trim pieces are intact and straight. She does have a few dents on the passenger side the front fender being the worst and then a small one on the quarter panel. Other than that all the door seems are perfect and straight. The only real big issue is the rust. So much rust. Suprisingly it even had the rear window. It was laying inside when it got dropped off. Thats an expensive piece of glass!

My goals for her a pretty extensive. I have a 427 FE big block that I want to twin turbo. I dont want it to be radical but instead a very mild mannered car with a good idle and lots of torque. I think with the modest wide lobe seperation cam I should be able to acheive this and then the turbos will provide the extra air needed for around 800 hp. My thought is to run a tear drop style hood with twin throttle bodies on a factory 2x4 manifold (which I already have). Then run a thunderbolt style ram air but modify it to handle boost so at first glance it looks vintage but then you o oh theres twin turbos.

So here's a bunch of pictures of the body.

[Bossed]

I love these cars. To me, the coolest looking fins from Detroit. Following this !!

[StarlinerJack]

I love these cars. To me, the coolest looking fins from Detroit. Following this !!

I agree. They are just finned enough to make a big statement without the "50's chevy" look

[wfo guy]

I've seen stuff from Arkansas before. I know nothing about you or your history. My suggestion is to do all the rust repair before you buy any other parts. If you find you're in to deep, your loss will be way less if you have to bail. No offense meant. I've seen plenty of projects fail because of the condition of the body. I have a history with fe's and 800 hp. on a stock block makes me nervous. Good luck with the car. Those starliners are really pretty.

[StarlinerJack]

I've seen stuff from Arkansas before. I know nothing about you or your history. My suggestion is to do all the rust repair before you buy any other parts. If you find you're in to deep, your loss will be way less if you have to bail. No offense meant. I've seen plenty of projects fail because of the condition of the body. I have a history with fe's and 800 hp. on a stock block makes me nervous. Good luck with the car. Those starliners are really pretty.

Its a factory 427 block so Im sure it will do fine. Maybe a non-cross bolted main would be an issue but Im pretty confident this will handle it well. And in all reality i wont be exposing the engine to that much horsepower all the time

As for the rust. Well ive spent some time working on hot rods and dealing with rust. This car is mostly effected in the floor pans and the body is pretty good so hopefully it wont be too much of a nightmare.

[Peter Mc Mahon]

One of the better looking cars ever built

[chuck_skywalker]

awesome! are you going to sandblast it down!? this thing is going to look cool as hell when its done!

[StarlinerJack]

awesome! are you going to sandblast it down!? this thing is going to look cool as hell when its done!

Yah full frame off. I was going to go with an aftermarket chassis but the factory is fully boxed and in great shape so I think Im just gonna get the suspension I want and make it work with the frame thats all ready designed for this body. That should save a lot of time getting the body mounts figured out and everything else new chassis's need.

[StarlinerJack]

So here's some more pics

[StarlinerJack]

and even more pics

[wfo guy]

Why is there a fe exhaust manifold laying with a 292 y block???? Does anybody make floor plans for this?

[StarlinerJack]

Why is there a fe exhaust manifold laying with a 292 y block???? Does anybody make floor plans for this?

I was playing around with reversing the factory FE manifold to possibly mount the turbo to it instead of making headers. And just left it there Of course I was just guessing on where it would line up.

I dont know about the floor pans. Looking underneath theres not a ton of room from the bottom of the frame to the bottom of the pans. Im thinking I may raise the pans at least on the edges to help fit the exhaust. From the looks of it the back seat pans drop the lowest. I may also get some oval pipes for that section and that would take care of the clearance.

[StarlinerJack]

OK here it is. This is very close to what I want to do with the Starliner.

[keepat]

Very cool car! Absolutely my favorite 60 vintage full-size Ford!
Look forward to your postings and good luck with your build!
Pat

[wfo guy]

If there is only 1 courtesy Ford, I bought a Ford truck from them about 4 decades ago.

[Bossed]

Rendering looks cool as hell

[Tincup]

you could always leave the patina on the outside....

[DualQuadDave]

I would rock the patina look on that. It has a killer sunburn, just make sure the bottom is solid. You can always paint it in the future. As far as an 800hp FE, plan on a substanial invesment in oiling mods, forged bottom end and lots of really good machine work. I like the twin turbo idea, but it will be really heavy in the front if you plan on making it handle. FE's are naturaly heavy. I would maybe do an all motor build and ditch the turbos. 650hp is doable on pump with a stroker FE. Considering the value of a 427 right now, maybe do a 460 instead? Lots easier and way more power. Just a couple thoughts.

[StarlinerJack]

I would rock the patina look on that. It has a killer sunburn, just make sure the bottom is solid. You can always paint it in the future. As far as an 800hp FE, plan on a substanial invesment in oiling mods, forged bottom end and lots of really good machine work. I like the twin turbo idea, but it will be really heavy in the front if you plan on making it handle. FE's are naturaly heavy. I would maybe do an all motor build and ditch the turbos. 650hp is doable on pump with a stroker FE. Considering the value of a 427 right now, maybe do a 460 instead? Lots easier and way more power. Just a couple thoughts.

So I havent verified this but Im hearing that an FE with aluminum heads and manifold is actually very light. Of course the turbos and all the other peripheral stuff will add weight. Im seriously considering modifying the firewall so I can set the engine back further to get the weight distribution better. Just have to see how it all fits in there. Im already looking at some carillo rods and CP pistons so I have that covered Between the FE oiling issues and then making sure the turbos are fed I assumed I'd have some time and $$ getting the system correct to handle it.

[StarlinerJack]

My real goal for yanking the suspension off right away was to see how the tires fit. I think they look really mean. The ride height is pretty close to what I want but I may kick the back up slightly more. The 10" wide falkens in the front are gonna be a problem for turning radius if I leave the frame where it is. Once I get the front suspension I will have to see how I can modify cleanly to make room. With this big of a car I will need a lot more turning radius if I want to race any of these local goodguys events. If I have to make a 3 point turn I think my times might not be so goode