63 Fairlane Ranch Wagon

Well I bought this off of craigslist for 2,000 a little over a year ago with the intentions of putting the motor and trans that were included with the purchase and making it a daily driver. My wife said ha ha, you can't help yourself, you know you won't stop there. After I got the motor and trans in [no stock motor mount adapters so I had to make them and the cross member] the first thing I did was build a set of headers for it, and then a custom exhaust system [I am lucky enough to have a bender and have been doing exhaust for over 30 years]. Then I ordered a generic aluminum radiator from summit and massaged it in with a little metal re-organizing on the frame. Then came the wiring mess. The original ignition switch has the fuse box built on to it and someone cut the wires and took the switch. I got a fuse box from a 65 Ford truck and after looking at a lot of schematics I was able to get everything but the turn signals going. Then came the steering column which as it turns out has been replace with maybe a mustang one or something other than stock so my friends at the local NAPA store helped me find a turn switch that would fit the column and after getting it wired correctly that just left the horn which was wired different than the original. Instead of the horn button just grounding it actually had two wires one which came from the horn relay and the other I figured out was to ground. After that I came to the missing left quarter panel window and found a used one on EBAY and got it. Then the biggie, no one makes the rubber to install these and mine were rock hard, broken and missing pieces. I tried everywhere and finally got in touch with Steele Rubber products and was able to talk Eddie into taking my patterns and eventually manufacturing these for the 62-65 Fairlane and Meteor wagons. It will be a year or more before he can get the molds made as they are very busy but he was able to make me a pair of ones that will work for now but they won't cut it as original so they won't sell them, rather they will wait until they have them exactly correct, send a pair to me and I will check the fit and assuming they work then Steele will begin making these for sale. The next thing was since I had to replace all the window channels in the doors, new rubber for the quarter windows and a new windsheild was needed I decided while all the glass was out I might as well paint it. Ha ha, so much for the putting a motor in and start driving it. What was left of the interior was shot and smelled like rat piss [and you should have smelled it the first time I turned on the heater]. Needless to say it now has a new heater core and the heater box has been cleaned and painted and all new ducting for the defrosters. I have the main body painted at this point, most of the carpet and dash are done and the seats and headliner in a couple of weeks. Doors are ready to paint just have to get the fenders, hood and tailgate further along, lots of work to do yet and then theres all that pesky rear interior trim that's all dinged up waiting for me, it never ends....... But that's kinda the torture that we seem to live for isn't it?

 

Welcome timmo! I love your '63 Fairlane Ranch Wagon! I'm glad your wife is right, you can't help yourself! You're compelled to make this Rancher the coolest!

Love the Rangoon Red paint! It's going to be such a wonderful wagon!

David

 

Well, at least with the modern column, you can now hook everything up to the lockable ignition switch, to at least prevent someone from hotwiring the car. This would free you from having to deal with the combo switch-fusebox, also

 

That thing is awesome Timmo! Love the mods you've done there!

 

Thanks guys!

This is the first forum I have ever participated in and it's great to hear from all you other wagon lovers! At some point after I've driven it for a bit I am going to do a 5.0 EFI conversion. I did that on my willys jeep and it's so nice to just turn the key and have it start easily every time, even if it has sat for six months.

 

Nice read. We'll be watching your progress Timmo.

 

Yeah, Fannie. We'll stand over his shoulder and breath down his neck unil he gets it all wired up onto his old harness

 

Gauge bezel

A while back I found this company called Alsa Corporation that specializes in special effects paints and coatings and they advertised spray chroming systems for doing things like plastic parts or anything really but are priced out of what I will be doing at this time. However they also advertise the most reflective coating in a spray can that you can get anywhere and they call it mirra chrome. You can buy a whole kit that comes with a can of black base coat, a can of chrome coat and a can of clear. I already have black base so I just bought the chrome and clear and followed the instructions very carefully. You have to spray the black base and then clear over it, the key to this is to get the most glossy black you can possibly get to spray the chrome color over, it is key that it is VERY GLOSSY. I should step back here and tell you the way I prepped the gauge bezel: First step you have to wet sand all the old stuff off with 320 or 400. Next go to 600 then 1000 so it is really smooth. If you have grooves or hard to get to places then use varying grits of scotch brite pads. Then it's on to priming and sanding again with 1000 and then the base coat, etc. After you have a glossy black you let it cure completely for about 10 days. When you spray the chrome stuff on it goes on really dry and you MUST mist coat it very quickly back and forth several times until it looks in my opinion kind of like black chrome and then stop. At this point you buff it lightly with a polishing cloth to get any excess off [it will be dry almost immediately]. Let that cure for whatever the instructions say [I can't remember right now] and then if you want spray the mirra clear on. When it's done it doesn't look like chrome but more like a slightly dark polished aluminum but ended up matching the factory aluminum dash piece that goes next to it perfectly and that is all I needed. It is pretty reflective but definitely not chrome, but still better than anything you can buy at the parts store.

 

Beautiful work you're doing there!

 

Patches

Well after grinding away about 3/4" of bondo and fiberglass from the lower fenders I got down to making patch panels and welded it all up yesterday and today and got rid of the antenna hole and "260" emblem holes as well. Then I did a little beating and now ready for a small amount of filler and they should be in primer by the end of the weekend. The third headliner from SMS auto fabrics is on the way today and hopefully it's the charm[first one was the wrong color, second one looked like they drug it through the parking lot] . I went through the same thing with the front bumper, picked up rechromed ones from "The Bumper Shop" [out of L.A.] and the front one had welding pits in it where they put patches in, it also had grind marks and scratches. I had them bring another one to another local swap meet and they unwrapped it and guess what, grind marks and a large scratch on top. I told them to take it back, redo it again and send it to me and they had the nerve to tell me that I would have to pay for the shipping! After two complete screwups on their part they want ME to pay for shipping? I was so pissed I just grabbed it and left. I finally called them yesterday and of course the guy I was talking to can barely speak English so he says send it back and they will bring it to the next swap meet. Unbelievable. I told him to have his boss call me back but of course nothing today and I don't expect anything any other day so I just want to put the word out to not do business with THE BUMPER SHOP in Los Angelas. Complete lack of any kind of quality control or customer service.

 

Welcome aboard, timmo!
I love what you're doing to the wagon.
That dash/cluster is beautiful; VERY nice work!!!

Your car reminds me of my first experience with station wagons. My Dad had a 63 Comet wagon when I was about 10 years old. It had the same color scheme as yours; bright red body with a white top.

My brother and I have fond memories of family outings in the Comet to see "Flipper" and "The Nutty Professor" at the Drive-in movies.

Can't wait to see yours when it's all done!

 

Thanks JMT! I should have the doors and fenders painted by the end of next week, then they can sit for a few days while I sew the seat covers and get the headliner in. It's great to have memories like you have with the comet wagon, cheers.

 

OMG! I don't know which one was worse. The neurotic dolphin or Jerry Lewis. Our parents spared us kids that kind of torture and took us to the drive-in via 56 Chevy 210 2-door sedan to see clown Dick Van Dyke driving that Model T into the sky. Since then, I've had a constant urge to go live in windmills

 

Wow Timmo Nice work.. Gave me some great Idea's Seeings How your in Snowhomish I'll have to cruise up there some time and go cruising with ya

 

Just let me know, every saturday as long as the weather is good there is a get together at the local Albertsons, usually about 75-100 cars if it's really good weather.