Update on this year's projects!

Yesssssssssssssss. Our tax refund is bigger than we thought, so I got the okay to spend some money on the car. So, i'll be getting the subframe connectors put in, the caster/camber plates, the braided stainless brake hoses, a different shifter (UPR rock crusher), and some '94-5 front spindles--in the hope they draw the wheels in a bit for when I lower the car. That's in addition to fixing the speedometer and gas gauge, and getting the parking brake going. I also plan to go to my old friend from the Ford dealer to fix my idle problem.

And then maybe next year, I'll look at coilovers and lowering the car, and then different wheels if need be. And then the car will be DONE. Laugh all you want, haha.

lol...thats great ! We both had some huge tax returns......hmmmmmm.

Haha, isn't that convenient...

Most of the stuff has come now. I had a bit of a scare that I didn't get the product as advertised for my '94-95 spindles, but it was a false alarm. I put my new shifter handle on, and it's AWESOME. A cheap, easy upgrade that was totally worth it. The knob falls right into my hand, and it feels like shifting gears in a muscle car!

Getting excited to hang the rest of this stuff on the car! Took it for a little ride yesterday, and it didn't give me any trouble at all! Except of course for having a harsh, bouncy ride. Scored a power antenna and a better dome light/map light housing at the boneyard yesterday too.

What bone yard did you hit ?
I was at U-Pull-It today !!

Haha, yep, it was U-Pull. Did you see the '94 Mustang that still has its spindles?

Hey, you did some improvising with your parking brake cables, right? I put my Lincoln rear cables on today and they are a good 2 feet from reaching the intermediate cable. What do you think I should do?

yes I did see it. Theres a nice green box top there and a blue coupe too.
i used 98 mustang gt cables. They are long enough to reach the hand lever.....so they where way too long for my car. I just cut them to fit and crimped the ends. As for yours....not sure.

Yeah! I'm not really finding myself needing many Fairmont parts these days though, haha. And too bad that Marquis I was going to grab the front clip from is gone. Ya snooze ya looze. haha.

I think i might look for some kind of universal cable i can crimp my own ends on too. Maybe I can just make an intermediate cable that's as long as I need it to be.

That sounds like the way to go !

when you guys were at pick n pull. did you notice if the blue coupe had power windows??

just thought i'd ask.

where is your parking brake locacated? is it still on the l/s kick panel?

Yep, I'm using the pedal, not the handbrake.

I didn't notice, but I really doubt it.

I dont think it had power anything !

If you have enough brake line left, it may be a better idea to put the correct fitting on the line and re-flair, each additional adaptor adds another possibility for a leak.
I’m kinda glad to see other people having the occasional struggles with their Fairmonts; i thought i was the only one.
It can be frustrating, especially when a 2 hr job takes considerably longer, due to a simple remedy that wasn’t foreseen, or a shortage of fasteners.
You kinda have to expect a bit of aggravation when you have 2 women in your life. Both need attention, but at least you can turn one “off” and walk away.

Haha. See, the thing is though, that's what we did last time (new 3/8" fitting on existing line). I'm worried the line would get too short, so I'd end up making a whole new line, which I don't really want to do. I feel like me making a crappy flare is as much a possibility for a leak as an adaptor.

You know, it's a funny thing about that adaptor. I was doing the other side today and found that the brake line would not thread into the 3/8" Driver's side hose. Turns out, it's a 7/16" fitting! Apparently when I thought I made it so both sides were 3/8", instead what happened was, I changed the WRONG SIDE to 3/8" and the OTHER side is 7/16". So, I just swapped the hoses, and didn't need the adaptor!

see, things always get better!!

now you can sleep well knowing that you dont have to make any flares.

iused to live near the coast, so a flaring tool was just as important as a medium sized hammer and a can of WD-40.

Woo hoo! I have a working speedometer again! That turned out to be as hard-fought a battle as I've had. THought I would try and swap the output shaft gear with the trans in the car. But when i went to put the housing back on. the shift shafts were wedged funny, so I thought i'd better pull the top cover off and have a look. it was all okay, so it's all back in the car and working, but i still didn't have speedometer. WTF?! So I thought i'd replace the cable. I'd put a new one in there before and they were cheap and easy to find back then (3 years ago or so). Well, not so anymore! Auto Zone only had a universal in their database, O'Reilly had nothing at all. Napa had a couple, 2 different lengths, and not in stock of course. I ordered the longer of the two, and it had this weird end on it that was as big as the speed sensor. WTF?! Well, with a little more research, I found out that end is for non-cruise cars. Mine has cruise. So, I brought it back to Napa and swapped it for the other in their system, which turned out to be the right one, which we couldn't know until we had it because the picture for both was the same. SIGH!!!

Anyway, caster/camber plates are in, spindles are in, and most of the braided brake hoses are in too. Another fun thing I found out. If you get a brake hose intended for an '86-95 V8 8.8 dual exhaust Mustang (which is of course, the only one available in braided), it has a banjo fitting end on the body end. WTF?! Did a little research and those cars had this adaptor which does not exist except for on these year Mustangs. And of course, that was long enough ago that Ford can't get it for you. Your only hope is to find someone parting one out, cuz you won't find a V8 Mustang in a junkyard. At least around here!

Next up, is pulling the fuel tank and trying to get the gas gauge working. And also, I get a fuel vapor smell aound the tank that really bothers me. Gonna try and fix that too.

Took it down the highway the other day and it makes this horrible vibration at speed. Doesn't feel like it's the wheels, I think it must be the driveshaft. So, I'm gonna get that balanced. I really hope it's that and I didn't F something up in the rear end last year.

that's a lot of progress, keep at it, you'll be cruising the thing every day, and will begin to finally enjoy the fruits of your labor.

it's funny when you hear about the modded cars and all the things you have to go thru to get them right.

i'm trying to find a set of bushings for a pair of 97 l/C/A, the earliest i can get them is after this weekend, i want to see how much difference they make so far as frt track width and see how far forward if any the frt tires will move.

i just wish i could be happy with the darned thing, i get a moment or two of joy, and then it goes away.

now i'm thinking of going with the capless fuel filler, see it never ends,to make matters worse, i saw the cougar i wanted to buy a few years ago, it now has a super built 351, rev-limited to 7k, blows the tires of at 50-60 mph, then is spews tranny oil out of the dipstick tube, what a ride, he dont seem to happy either.
is there something in the water.........

i'm glad you are getting your car together and are pleased with the results, keep on going!!!!

You know what's funny is, I never saw this coming back in '05 when I got it. I really thought I'd slap the drivetrain and dash out of the parts car into the Zeph and be cruising in no time. 8 years of broken transmissions, bad suspension combos, ill-fitting gas tanks, wheels that rub the fenders... I guess I wouldn't do it any different though. That's how you learn.

you gotta admit, it can be a real blast at times. judging by some of your previous comments, you seem to always do things safley & correctly, that is always important. it dont matter how fast it goes, if you cant stop it. when it comes together one day, and you are finished with it, will you try something else, you have to admit, they are pretty cars.

Yeah, the wins can be pretty fun. And the car DOES attract attention, even if I didn't think it would. My mailman actually knocked on my door the other day to ask me about it. He has a '78 wagon he used to deliver mail with and was considering getting rid of it. But I showed him around mine and told him about the whole Fox body thing. I think i may have won us a new convert! It's really fun to talk to people like that and then also people who really get your car.

that would be cool, a Fairmont wagon on the site again. we did have a couple of pretty cool one there for a while. it kind of saddens me to see some guys buikd a nice little car, then suddenly disappear.

Subframe connectors goin' in! I was hoping to use Maximum Motorsports full-lengths, but my frame rails are super beat up, so we have to go with through-the-floor 2x3 tubing instead. Can't wait! It should drive like a whole new car!

I was able to track down a, original black center console and glovebox finally too. That completes my black interior!

Woo hoo! Just ordered some Hush Mat for the floor/tunnel/firewall.

Don't have the car back from the shop yet though. The guy said it's "been a real bear". Hope that doesn't mean I have to pay for much more than the 10 hours he quoted me.

Bought some SVO wheels for it today! That should be really sweet. I'll get props from Ford guys who will know what they are, but to others, they'll just look like really subdued wheels that could have easily come on the car. Much more "sleeper" looking than the Bullitts.

I'm getting it back on Friday! Can't wait to dig in and finish this year's projects!