1958 Ford Fairlane Hardtop Watson Style 429ci

1958 Ford Fairlane Description

I bought this 1958 Ford Fairlane several years ago with the intention of turning it into a street custom, not a show car, but a boulevard cruizer. It already had the '57 front clip installed, which was good, and I like the '57 much better than the '58. The "Thunderjet" ('73 Thunderbird) 429 was in place with a C6 tranny. I started with the body, which was in good shape to begin with, and went from there. I never liked the '58 front end, nor did I like the bugeye look of the '57 headlights. So, I grafted the '58 quad lights to the '57 fenders, which was no small task. I then rounded the front hood corners, keeping the early custom theme in place. I always liked the Bonnie taillights in '58 bezels, so I had the bezels chromed and added the lenses. It took two sets of lenses to fit properly. Think dollars...... I always liked the Super Duty hood scoops, so I found one and added it to the hood. After lots of block sanding, the pearl yellow was applied. We went through lots of different shaded to get just the right one. If you're wondering why yellow, here's the story. Back in 1960, I saw a '59 El Camino (pictured) that had been customized by Bill DeCarr and painted by Larry Watson. I loved the colors, and told myself that one day I would paint a car like that. It took a while, but finally got it done. The green is House of color, and the pinstripping is gold, as the El Camino was. The tires are new, and narrow whitewalls, in the 60's style. The wheels are new, with perfect chrome, and are 5" and 6". The hubcaps are '56 Ford and perfect... The side trim was okay, but not good enough, so I had a local polisher make it extremely nice, as can be seen in the photos. The bumbers are '57 Custom 300 units, and need to be chromed. The upholstery was crap, and would be the last thing done. At this point, a friend asked me to come to the drags and race for his club, in a Club Challenge series at Firebird Raceway. I did, and realized that the 429 was a great mill. It had been completely rebuilt, with a Crane cam, and never run till I bought it. I raced it for a couple years, usually 6 times a year. It saw a total of maybe 250 miles on the street. I kept adding better parts to the engine, like a complete MSD 6AL ignition system, an Edelbrock air gap intake, and an 850 cfm Holley, which had been modified. Also added were a new aluminum radiator and shorty headers. Then I realized how much HP was eaten up by that C6 tranny, so I had a shop here build a C4, which works great, but cost about 3 grand. The exhaust system is new, with turbo style mufflers and 2-1/2" to the rear. I added low gears and a posi to top off the go fast. When I did the rear, I also completely rebuilt the front end and brakes. It turned out to be a 13.00 to 13.30 racer at 105 MPH. Not bad for a big 'ol Ford. Then I remembered why I started the critter to begin with, and figured I'd better quit before I messed up that beautiful paint. So here I am, with a great looking streeter, and no race car. I don't have the ambition to finish this critter and build a new racer, so the '58 has to go.

So basically here's how it sits. The paint is done and all the running gear is done. It is street legal, and sounds outstanding. I have detuned the monster mill, so that it can be street driven. The tranny can be left in drive, and I have installed a '57 9" with 350 gears. It is great fun to drive, and did I say, it sounds great !!! The car needs upholstery and detail work. I have added the black seat covers just to show what it would look like. The pictures do NOT show just how smooth and shiney the paint really is !!
Any questions can be sent through Ebay, or you can call me direct. Bruce (208) 695-3956
As you can see by the "No-Reserve" I am serious about selling. I have more invested in the engine than the opening bid.....