Thanks for looking
I recently bought a 1966 Ford Fairlane 500 4-door with factory A/C, a 289 V8, a C4 (3-speed automatic) Transmission, and four flat tires among other things. I don't intend to let the ramblings of a college kid remain now that I necroed this.

 

I might supercharge it if I felt like it. Why I was so grandpa about a worthless 4 door nobody will be nostalgic about is beyond me.

 

I bought a '73 Plymouth Duster that was sitting for about 5 years or so. I put some gas in the tank, made sure the battery was charged, topped up all the fluids and attempting to start it and it ran. Here's a list of things I would check/change....

-Plugs and wires
-Cap and rotor
-Top up all fluids
-Of course put gas in the tank
-Check all the wiring....I can't express how important that is. Any damaged (melted etc) wire could cause a fire.

That's just a short list. I'm sure some people will chime in with more. Of course, this list is just for getting the car running.....driving is a different story.

 

69bronzet5,

You gave me info none of the 3 Mechanics I know gave! Because they could see the car and didn't want to tell me I needed a new engine....

 

r-12 is now illegal and very hard to find it can be purchased in mexico but that means going to mexico to have it charged and if you have npo connections down there they'll get ya good i live right near marine base in 29 palms and i have a 65 ford fairlane 500 2 door im putting a 1996 5.0 high-output in along with an aod tranny and headers should be a screamer good luck with that ac problem

 

Man I was so stupid I needed to troll even looking for help.

Anyway, I never needed to go to Texas let alone by December

The car is still sitting. I must have thought I had a job. I did not. I had an allowance my parents would give me if I did work for them, and they got tired of funding a car to get me to do it.

NOW I have a job. Now I have a little bit of responsibility. So now I bought a "new" motor. the old one had been driven to the ground. Oil had coagulated in the heads, I remember the desperate 19 year old scraping it out until the mechanic came over (who charges $15 bucks and hour. "Pretty penny" good lord we take advantage of the old guy only half as badly as dealers do and we have no middle man, I am exceedingly lucky and thankless!) patted me on the back, chuckled, and said "no sirve nada, (my name). La muchacha corre muy lejos Y rapido, Y no tiene acete nueva. Mire," (he showed me the cylinders were so worn they were ovals) "Necessita Ferro nuevo. Una (word for "Sleeve"). Si comprende? Need new!"

Translation (sort of- what he was trying to say): "Stop trying to clean that thing, you are wasting your time. Nothing is going to work, the motor is shot kid. You would need to bore it way over and sleeve it and you aren't going to do that. The lady who owned it (before she died) drove it on the freeway without changing the oil. Do you understand?"

Not understanding, I asked "Can fix?"

He laughed "Si, (my name), primero necessitan nueva motor! Need new motor! O machine shop!" (laughing good naturedly)

-_-

That's my fail story for Ford Forum.

Good news is now I have money and he will be starting in December. 4 years later. I am guaranteed to lose money on the project.

Therefore, I am going to make it worth my while. Any experienced individuals willing to help a stupid kid (yes I'm still basically a kid) learn what is best to do with a 66 Fairlane, 4 door that has a great body, a surprisingly good frame, a great interior, completely shot suspension, a C4, a 2.8 rear gear, 14" wheels, and:

a 1967 289 on a 302 block with a fresh rebuild that ran hot once in a mustang in the garage and was immediately shut down to prevent damage (shut down after it reached 215*, then the radiator was hosed while running to bring it down to about 170*. so did not truly overheat, the mustang it was being built for had overheating problems to begin with and they were swapping engines. Really wealthy folks, I am glad I ran across them but that is a long story, still- bad for the engine) and an Edelbrock Performer RPM intake with a Edelbrock (6150?)

I am thinking, if I have a really old drivetrain behind this thing, even stock I might need to beef stuff up. If not, all is well in the world. If so...

Not thinking about that yet.

 

If anyone has issues with this I have "connections". Post here and I will steer you to the right shop. It is south of Yuma, AZ. PM me.

Even better, if you are local, there is a shop in Palm Desert that will put it in legally (it is not illegal unless it is not original to the car) but it costs $100 and ounce.

Plus installation fees- I'm heading to Yuma when I can cross that bridge.