I was enjoying a Double Double, sitting at an outside table, when I saw this parked across the way at a gas station. Jumping over two rows of hedges and a Dodge Durango, I jogged up to the owner to hear the story of his hot rod Fairmont.
The owner’s name was Brandon. He and his brother, Blake, owned and operated their own speed shop, until Blake passed away in 2016. They had both been into Fairmonts and this 1980 coupe was built in memory of him, as seen on the sticker above.
Brandon was very nice and humored my torrent of questions as he and his race crew stood around the front of the gas station, clearly waiting for someone else to show up. He explained that the car was owned by an old man and that it originally had the 2.3 Lima engine, but that had been taken out and replaced with the engine from a junkyard Explorer. A family member owns that yard, and apparently let him raid it for whatever he needed. This included the five speed manual from an SN-95 Mustang, and 8.8 rear end from the same car. The turbo kit was bought off Ebay, and the whole car was built on a strict budget, like he and his brother used to do when they started the business.
I hope they had a good race that day, and that Blake is proud of the work his brother has done, and of the car that bares his name.
Iirc Blake’s brother in law was on that Fastest Car show on Netflix with a very fast T-bird.
Blake died racing a Tbird(not sure if it’s the same one or not) I remember this making rounds on a few forums I’m on at the time.
https://www.hotrod.com/articles/drag-racer-blake-williams-dies-yello-belly-drag-strip/
The brother-in-law built a replica of Blake Williams’ T-Bird, and the replica is what was on the show if I recall correctly.
I like Fairmont 2-door styling better than the Futura. It reminds me of the Fiat 130 Coupe. I wondered when I’d see a hot-rodded Fairmont, with its light weight and relatively spacious engine compartment.
What’s the location of the In-N-Out? Though they are pretty standardized and this could be anywhere, it reminds me of Thousand Palms, as we stop there often when we drive to So. CA along I-10.
I love how the builder created a 90 degree pipe….since he didn’t have tube bender, he just welded some wedge rings together. Methinks he has a background in farming….or he his shop is so far out of town he refuses to run in for parts.
Going from memory here, but we don’t see these very often because Ford did a poor job of making most of its cars easily hop-uppable. The 4 cylinder cars need a different K member to accept a V8, and even then going from a LoPo to a HiPo version takes a lot of effort. Although I understand that the 5.0 as used on Explorers have a much better pair of heads than that that came on the Panther cars.
I salute these guys for their work, although the turbo might be one step too far for a streetable car you can live with. A Fairmont like this could be a lot of fun.
The only reason to bother with a Fairmont is to have something different from everyone else’s Mustang. Which can be part of the fun of hot rodding.
The 5.0 Explorer engine is essentially a detuned 93-95 SVT Cobra engine, they’re about the best factory 302 available, though the internals aren’t forged like on the earlier 5.0H.O.
Yes, I remember doing some research in what was necessary to make a Panther’s LoPo 5.0 into something more potent. I was surprised by how much effort was involved, and getting heads off an Explorer version of the engine was one of the steps. I believe that the job involves a completely different firing order as well. I am not sure which firing order the stock Explorer 5.0 uses.
Yeah, it’s honestly easier to just change out complete engines if you have the resources, it’s less annoying to put the Explorer heads onto a H.O. since they used the same firing order and you don’t need to change the cam, although I have heard there are header fitment issues with the spark plugs on later Explorer heads. Like you say, Ford inexplicably makes this stuff a pain
Aftermarket heads are reasonably priced in the swap meet and eBay world so a lot off people go that route. The newest Explorer heads are over 10 years old now and usually need rebuilds anyway. My coworker just finished a 302 build for his 83 Mustang and went aluminum head. Reconditioned rods, a turned down stock crank, mid level cast pistons, and a mild cam. There’s enough power for his needs and is happy in traffic with the A\C on. There are tubular K members for Mustangs that may fit the Fairmont. That would solve a good number of fitment issues with oil pans and such.
J P-
I fully agree with your sentiment, but wanted to clarify a detail-
In early Fox bodies, the 2.3 Lima motor, 2.8 Cologne V-6 and small block V-8 used the same K-member, while the straight 6 had it’s own K-member.
This applies to Fox bodies from ’79 to ’86, and I’m not sure which K-member the 3.8 V-6 uses. As is often the case, things are less clear cut after ’86…
Given the 200 6 cylinder was the go-to motor in the Fairmont, I’m guessing Ford built this car with the odd ball K-member, which could explain the engine’s nose-up attitude.
No you do not need to change the K member to drop a V8 in place of a 4cyl. The unique K member is the on for the straight 6. So yeah the 4cyl was the desirable option if you want to do some hot rodding. I did a 80 2.3 to 5.0 swap back in the day.
” the car that bares his name.”
This is a different meaning than you intend. The verb you want rather would “bears”; use it and your sentence will be clear.
The engine seems to sit significantly higher in the engine compartment than a 302 should, I thought it was a big block at first glance. I wonder if they spaced it up to use the 4 cyl K member and Explorer oil pan.
I’m not a fan of this kind of Turbo setup personally, I’m well aware that this shabby thrown together cheap eBay turbo kit rat rod 80s car is kind of a look these days, but what betrays that is it takes about as much fabrication to do this as it does to make it somewhat tidy. This is fine for YouTube project car to donuts in a loading dock once, but anywhere else it’s just a trailer queen… which it is fittingly sitting on. Still, may not be my taste but any Fairmont coupe getting attention is good
It’s not because it is a 4 cyl K member it is probably because they used the Explorer pan which is a single sump unit instead of the double sump used in the Fox and Panther.
To see the the same thing done to an identical car, properly, at great expense- February 2019 Hod Rod magazine.
I think I have seen their page about this car build on Instagram. Unfortunate about his brother, damn that sucks.
Yesterday a person In a certain support group said her sponsor told her “don’t pray for a Ford Fairmont when God wants you to have a Rolls-Royce.” Good advice thought I wanted to ask the millenial who said it if she had ever even seen a Ford Fairmont.
A Rolls is too rich for my blood.However, I’d thought of taking the cheapest Rolls I can find and making a rot rod out of it. Make it the loudest, most egregious car on the road.
A Rolls Royce Camargue? If that’s the case I don’t see the difference!
Interesting, very similar to the cream-colored turbo 302 Fairmont coupe recently built by EricTheCarGuy
Friend had an ’80 with a manual transmission, Clutch failed at 12,500 miles.
I put a new clutch in.
Afterwards he drove it straight to the Ford dealer and bought a new 1982…FAIRMONT! Go figure.
But this one had an automatic in it. Gave him 12 years or so of dependable service.