1966 Ford Fairlane 500XL Springtime yellow GTA

1966 Fairlane GTA.  VIN 6K40S——.  One of if not the nicest 1966 Fairlane GTA currently for sale.  A highly detailed, totally stock restoration that started with an extremely solid GTA with nearly zero rust that spanned 20 years.  A perfect candidate for an accurate restoration as it was 95% to 98% complete and about the same amount correct when found in February of 1998.  painted its factory time ellow (color 8) in base coat / clear coat, with black interior (trim code 86).  It has power drum brakes and power steering.  

The car was completely disassembled.  The removable sheet metal was dipped to remove the original paint and the body shell was soda blasted to bare metal inside and out to reveal perfect floor pans before body work was started.  It is almost but not quite “concours” because not all the parts are date correct and it has radial narrow white wall tires, the left exhaust manifold is part number correct for 1967 instead of 1966 and the chrome handled dip stick is a NOS 1967 with a reproduction tube into the block.  (The 1967 dipstick and tube is a little shorter than for 1966).  The grille panel is all satin black to match the grille that was on the vehicle when I purchased it and may not be dead-on correct comparing to what are purported to be NOS GT or GTA grilles pictured on the internet.  

Originally sold by Motor s at 3701 Creek Blvd. in CA, May 15, 1966.  I am the second registered owner.  A copy of the original fornia title and the matching black plates then assigned to the car can accompany the sale.  

The owner of l Works in gene, gon, commented when I picked up the cleaned removable sheet metal “if the rest of the car is in the same condition, it is a nice car.”  Likewise, when I picked up the soda-blasted body shell from ard Soda Blasting south of , gon, the owner’s comment was, “if the rest of the car is in this condition, it is a really nice car.”  Soda blasting was utilized so the galvanizing used on some of the body panels would not be destroyed as would have happened if the body shell had been dipped.  What was galvanized from the factory is still galvanized.  Soda blasting also revealed a faint paint pen mark on the radiator bulkhead “F63D / 48”.  The original battery support tray is in excellent condition as are all the other sheet metal areas in the engine compartment and throughout the car.  When t s. in edsport, gon, was finishing the body work and paint, their comment was “you need to take this to the next level.”  The original intent was to make a “nice driver” so the underside is not refinished but has been rattle-can undercoated.  The finished product is the result of a 20 year project of careful research and meticulous attention to detail that greatly exceeded expectations.  

The engine is totally new inside, bored .030” over with a . model year.  Heads, manifolds, carburetor, distributor, brake booster, power steering pump, rocker arm covers, air cleaner and hoses are correct except possibly for manufacturing dates or as previously noted.  The owner of tomotive ine Works in seburg, gon, commented after completing the rebuild of the 335 horse power 390; “I’ve built a lot of engines.  I can tell when they go together if they are going to run or if they are going to run.  This one is going to RUN! ct C6 Select Shift automatic transmission is rebuilt and a new torque converter is installed.  Driveline universal joints and correct slip yoke are new. New bearings in the differential and front wheels. suspension upper and lower arms, ball joints and tie rod ends are new.  Power steering valve and pump are rebuilt with new components where necessary.  New brake components: shoes, springs, hold-downs, wheel cylinders, hoses and stainless steel lines. The (possibly original) master cylinder is sleeved with stainless steel.  A new dual exhaust system duplicates the original from the exhaust manifolds to the tail pipes.

“Dynamat” sound deadening material was applied to the inside of the doors, floor, firewall, quarters, wheel wells and areas in the trunk to make for a quieter cabin.  The power steering pressure hose from the pump to the valve was used in production for only 6 months, a NOS hose was sourced and installed as this hose is not currently reproduced.  Radiator is re-cored.  New bronze heater core is installed.  Door hinges are original to the car with no sag or play.  Weather stripping around the doors, quarter windows and trunk are new.  ar window gasket is new.  Upholstery is new including foam and padding.  Console shell and trim are excellent.  Proper standard seat belts are restored with new webbing.  New carpet and headliner.  New windshield, the other glass is original to the car.  Interior bright work plastic and metal items have been either re-chromed or are new.  Door armrest bases are reproduction but the lenses are restored originals.  h of the original plastic door armrest filler pieces (C6OZ-241A20) have been re-chromed.  The back seat console end courtesy light housing is the original plastic piece re-plated and not a die-cast replacement.  Window crank handles are “clocked” to the factory correct position per the Interior sembly ual.  New fiberboard divider between the trunk and back seat installed.

Headlight bezels, hood front edge trim, tail light buckets, trunk panel and grille bars have been professionally straightened, polished and brite-dip anodized.  The stainless steel front and rear glass moldings and the drip rails are polished to a mirror-like finish.  Antenna is correct for 1966 and may be original to the car.  Windshield wiper arms are correct original items with new Trico blades.  The supports for the grille center and lower bars are restored with the proper plastic coating on the portion contacting the bars.  To replace the weather stripping around the wind wings the upper pivot rivets had to be removed (destroyed).  I could not find replacement rivets on-line or in any reproduction part catalogs nor even listed in the Standard and Utility ts Catalog reprint from Jim born.  By carefully measuring the original rivets and producing a drawing I was able to have a friend of mine duplicate the stainless steel rivets so they are identical to the originals.  More than a dozen original wheel covers were obtained and the parts mixed and matched after polishing and painting the argent insets to get a near perfect set of 4 red-center units.

Only the alternator pigtail, battery and starter cables, top of engine wiring harness and one harness between the door post and the lighted armrest pigtail are new with correct part numbers as original.  All other wiring is original and unmolested including under the dash.  Fuse block is restored with new clips.  The correct AM radio (6TPO) is restored with a proper size front only speaker.  Everything else is either restored, NOS or new as required.  Extreme attention was paid to the details so that all the fasteners, clips, clamps and etc. are factory correct per the ter ts Catalog , Factory sembly uals, 1966 Fairlane Shop ual, the AMK Products catalog and original sales literature.  y of these fasteners were obtained from salvage yards across the nation while they were still available from donor vehicles.  A new spare tire is in the trunk with a correct bumper jack and handle/lug wrench.  The wide middle portion of the GT stripe from wheel well to wheel well has the correct gap at the fender badge instead of being continuous behind the badge as with most restorations.  New quarter panel letters use sleeve nuts ( part #378.  So even from the inside of the trunk the quarter panel letter mounting method duplicates as from the factory.  This way no modifications for mounting the letters to the quarter panels were required.  To make new 1966 only style letters I purchased reproduction 1967 quarter panel letters, removed the big and little pins on the backside of each letter, drilled the solid letters to accept pins of the correct size and counter-bored the backside of each letter to fit the gasket on the sleeve nuts.  

The car received the “ In Class 1960’s ” award at the 2019 Kool l Nights car show.  Since completion, the car has been driven less than 500 miles and is stored indoors under a cover.  I invite the closest scrutiny by you or your representative to examine this all-new car in person.  this car and super-detail the underside, replace the radial tires with new period correct tires and start collecting trophies and awards.    asonably priced; $65,900.  e only no texts.