1966 Ford Fairlane GTA

Quick inspection `66 Ford Fairlane GTA

Owner: Bill Barnes

Engine: Bliss Performance in Spanaway, Washington, screwed together a 427 for Bill's street-oriented intentions. Sporting the same 3.78-inch stroke as the 390, 427s were always heavily race oriented and built cubes using an application-specific block with 4.23-inch bores. Bill's block is a pre-'65 casting-meaning it's a top oiler rather than a side oiler-but all 427s sport race-bred cross-bolted main caps. Edelbrock aluminum heads, a modest Comp Cams hydraulic bumpstick, and forged pistons yielding a 10.5 compression make up the basics of this build, while an MSD distributor, an ignition box, an Edelbrock aluminum water pump, and a Milodon high-volume oil pan fill in the gaps.

Induction: West Coast Restorations supplied the N.O.S. Ford Medium Riser intake, but rather than fit it with 1,300 cfm worth of dual Holleys as the factory did, Bill opted for a pair of Holley 390s. The resulting 780 cfm may be a little shy for all-out power production, but Bill reports throttle response and driveability as excellent. For what it's worth, there are still 65 more cfm than Ford fitted to its single four-barrel version of the 427.

Exhaust: Headers from Ford Powertrain Applications are metallic ceramic coated and hug the floorpan like few others. The remainder of the exhaust consists of 21/2-inch aluminized pipes with an H-pipe and Flowmaster mufflers.

Transmission: The original floor-shifted C6 automatic remains, though rebuilt by Jim Green's Performance Center. West Coast's main man Larry Berkovich has been twisting Bill's arm for the go-ahead on a five-speed conversion. Hey, Larry, twist it too much and the automatic will stay by necessity.

Rearend: Moser axles and a Detroit Truetrac differential fill the stock 9-inch housing. We'd give Bill grief for the 3.00:1 ring-and-pinion if it weren't for the fact that he drives the Fairlane all summer long. Given that, we'll cut him some slack.

Suspension & Brakes: The suspension was simply rebuilt to original condition, though a front disc kit from Stainless Steel Brakes was installed along with a dual-reservoir master cylinder. Would you believe discs were not an option on '66 Fairlanes-427, GT, or otherwise? This was remedied for the '67 model year.

Wheels & Tires: The ubiquitous American Racing Torq-Thrust IIs look as good here as anywhere. Bill kept with the period theme by using 15x7s shod in 60-series rubber.

Interior: Other than new upholstery, the GTA's Palomino interior is largely original save for the LeCarra steering wheel, Auto Meter tach, and Secret Audio sound system. Thankfully, the GT/GTA package came standard with bucket seats and a floor console/shifter assembly-as any good factory performance package should.

Paint & Body: The body wears its original shade of Raven Black paint, applied way back in 1989 using DuPont urethane. The scooped fiberglass hood was used on all '66 427 Fairlanes, optional in 1967-this one being a reproduction piece from Crites.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• 1966
• Ford
• Fairlane
• GTA

[twasbrillig33]

Gorgeous restore, I would be so afraid to drive that on the road, but how could you not?

[chippy5359]

Thank you for help, I am LQQKING at a 1966 Ford Fairlane 390 GTA with 90, miles

it dont LQQK bad They are asking $7 Thousand . what do yoy think?

it needs some work, not much Thank you very much. Charlie

[65mustangkcode]

@chippy5359 the GT stands for grand turismo, basically an upgrade from the stock version, and the A stands for automatic transmission

[chippy5359]

Hi my nane is Charlie, I just love all you cars.

What is GTA thank you very much .

[anthony1bad351]

YEP HHHHHH THATS MY CAR GUYS!! LOL!!!