My 1980 Ford Fairmont
I have been a member of this forum for some time now but never really gave the history of my Fairmont. My father ordered my 1980 Ford Fairmont new in April of 1980. It was originally a l6 manual transmission car with manual brakes, steering, windows A/C and bucket seats. It is black with a vaquero interior. My father actually wanted a bench seat but could only get the buckets. He also had the car rustproofed by the dealer. Here is a picture of the original sales invoice:
I also have the original order form from when my father ordered the vehicle. It is hand written so tough to read from the scan.
The door tag:
My father did the work on his cars so I grew up always helping him work on this. In addition to the Fairmont, my parents also had a 1982 Ford Granada station wagon. I can remember assisting my father with oil changes, brakes changes tune ups etc. He commuted 100 miles a day round trip for work so at some point he replaced the engine on the Fairmont with one he had built because the original engine was tired. At some point in the late 90's my father had taken the Fairmont off the road but held onto it as he loved the car and didn't want to see it go. My older brother and I always said that we would take it once we started driving. When it came time for me to get my license I began to uncover the Fairmont and clean it up. My father then had it tuned up and brakes all changed giving me the Fairmont for my 16th birthday. This is how the car looked at that point.
My dad always loved running moon caps on it. I had thrown on a Clifford header and a flowmaster exhaust. I had made some other upgrades - added newer headlights, clear turn signals from a 79 Fairmont, added power windows and door locks, new sound system changed the heater core and drove the car like that through high school and college. It was a blast to drive - I was always a fan because I grew up with the car and it was different. I had decided in college that I was going to upgrade the car swapping in a 302 adding a 5 speed transmission etc. I purchased a 306 cobra engine from Downs Ford in NJ and my brother and I went and picked it up. I slowly collected the parts I needed for the swap such as a k-member, t5z, 3 core radiator and electric fan, distributor, march underdrive pulleys, carburetor, electric fuel pump( i was orginally going fuel injected but changed my mind), 3G alternator, msd ignition etc - picking up parts from eBay, Summit and swap meets. I pulled the l6 and began to swap the k-member cleaning everything up and coating with por 15.
At some point in time life got in the way. From college I went to grad school and the car along with all the parts I collected stayed was out at my parents house over an hour away from where I was living. I began working full time which made it even harder for me to work on the car. I then got engaged and figured now was the time more than ever to get the car going if I was to ever finish it. My now wife was fully supportive of finishing the car. I finally got the engine installed and running during the summer of 2013.
Once it was running I then realized I needed to redo everything with the brakes as the time the car sat sitting the brakes were rusted and the master cylinder had dried out. I figured if I was going to do all new brakes - I might as well just do a 5 lug swap. My father encouraged this as he said you have more power you might as well make sure you can stop. I ordered most of the parts from MPS auto salvage including a rebuilt '95 rear end with 3.73's, new rebuilt front control arms, pbr front calipers, master cylinder and booster and all new brake lines. While I was installing the rear end I decided to clean up the underside and paint with por15. I also installed a new gas tank.
Under hood shot with dual snorkel air cleaner:
Thanks to the help of this forum -I was able to add all new parking brake cables which is now fully functional with the foot actuated pedal and rear discs. I already had mach 1 rims from a mustang I had so put those on the car.
Another angle:
I have been working on a number of other items as well such as upgraded to 2004 mach 1 seats, installing gauges and changing gauge faces, adding por15 to the interior floor pans and trunk etc. I liked the original bucket seats but they need to be recovered and it was more affordable to get the mach 1 seats. I still have sound deadener and carpet to install, new weather strip all around, painting and cleaning some of the faded plastic interior parts, etc. Ultimately the outside of the car needs a new paint job - the paint got destroyed by the portable shelter I had it under when it took flight during hurricane sandy. It has been a labor of love with the car and it has a long ways to go before it is finished - but it is finally road worthy again after all these years. I still have MM caster camber plates to install, a MM strut tower brace and need to finalize the exhaust system - I have Mustang LX tailpipes that would need to be lengthened but have to decide if I want those or just turn downs. The car will be used for cruising and as a weekend car.
Here is how is looks today as I took it for a ride this weekend.
I am truly thankful to this forum for all of the information and advice I have gotten over the years - I am by no means a trained mechanic and was able to do the work on this car myself with the help of this forum. Thanks to all!!
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