1980 Fairmont V10 Swap

You're sure going to some great lengths on that Fairmont, and I'm so jealous. I remember putting an AM/FM/CASS stereo in my '78, how I cut out the plastic where the radio control stems came through, just to make mounting easier (ATT, only Blaupunkts in 1 or 1.5din existed, and there were NO adapter kits in existence). And since it was a 2-door sedan, I cut the rear side panels where the armrest holes were, to mount the 6X9s.

 

I cut the plastic back and made an aluminum frame to fit a single Din radio. Nothing fancy. Just a $55 Walmart Kenwood c/d deck with blue tooth and aux input. cheap 6x9 speakers in the stock station wagon locations. My favorite music comes from the engine!! The radio will probably be used mostly when sitting still with engine off. Good sound deadning still makes it useful at speed though. Might upgrade in the future but wanted a hole filler for the dash. There has never been a radio in the car since I bought it in 2012. Photo of simple radio and 20 year old Garmin GPS used as a speedometer!

 

The home of the brains inside the glove box. Simple but does the trick. Might try to modernize it some day.

 

Ah, nice work. The glovebox is the only place, with the fact you have A/C in there. If it didn't, a good place for electronics is under the center of the dash pad, as there's no ducting underneath it.

 

Thanks everybody for your comments. Makes all my work worthwhile!!

 

Have come a long ways from this photo. Started with lowering a bare block in, then putting cylinder heads on, found out no room for brake booster! When I finally figured out that it would fit, I built the engine out of various pieces from multiple sources and many new parts. The fact that my brother owned Silverstate Motosports in Las Vegas helped as he had many assorted induction pieces that I was able to use to finish the mass air in a suitable location with minimum hood interference.

 

Yeah, having a brother with a race garage helps immensely, not to mention, a car that once could sport an online six engine, and have room to spare. It's a big leap from 3.3 to 6.8 liters! So, what did you do for brake boost, and is the wagon equipped with rear disc brakes?

 

I installed a hydroboost system from an unknown year 4 cam mustang. Had to modify a few things..correct proportioning valve, brake lines, ect. The rear axle is a disc brake axle from a 1998 Mustang GT. I also installed a Mustang quad shock setup and adjustable pinion snubber to help control axle hop. It has adjustable tubular rear lower control arms to provide strength and fine tune the pinion angle. The differential is a gear driven Tru Trac with 2.73 gears and a B&M H.D. finned diff. cover. I used 1350 series u-joints and a shortened 4 inch aluminum drive shaft from a Crown Vic police interceptor. Basically almost everything had to be modified at least a little bit. The windshield wiper motor was moved an inch or so to clear the hydroboost lines. I have hi-temp heat wrap shielding the brake proportioning valve and in several other places where needed.

 

My brother's business had been closed for several years before I even bought the Fairmont but he was a good source for parts and test fitting and checking the feasability of different things. I seem to remember that even the hydroboost had to be relocated a little bit towards the fender for more engine clearance. The clutch cable was a close fit luckily it fit fine. My Nephew helped weld up the stainless headers. Still, very tight fit on both sides.

 

Too bad that you signed up here so late. Another member who was doing similar had a similar problem solved with a much simpler solution: http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/threads/crabs-63-bagged-and-ragged-ranch-wagon.48573/page-3

 

The hydroboost solved more problems than relocating it would have caused. I'm familiar with the Bronco booster relocating setup and decided just to keep it simple.

 

Those online six engines are pretty crazy...

 

I've seen older ones with non-integral casting heads (separate intake from the head) make 500+ HP. I also read about Car Craft putting EFI and a 50-shot to one, blew the piston out (I think it went full lean and detonated), but the crank and rods survived!

 

If you're talking about the 240 and 300 c.i. sixes then they can be made very powerful. Ralph Hope out of Canada used to campaign an altered that ran in the low eights with a sectioned Cleveland head and Hilborn injection..no boost. There's a rail that got into the high 7's with one.. Stout engines with machined down forged crank and 7 main bearings.. One of my favorites. I dropped one in a Fairmont years ago to check the fit. The main problem as I remember had something to do with the oil pump location and the rack and pinion/ crossmember. Before tubular cross-members came out.

 

Actually, I was referring to the smaller 144/170/200/250 inlines. IIRC, those heads come from either England or Australia (or both). My '78 Fairmont had the 200CID, and with the seven main bearings, those make stout race engines. But yeah, a 240 CID engine would've been interesting in a Fox body. BTW, with that 6.8L, how is the steering and braking? Or do you drive yours a quarter mile at a time?