'63 Fairlane Sports Coupe?

Am contemplating the purchase of a '63 fairlane. Its without Engine and box, which is no stress to me. My question is how big can I go with the motor? Is a 460 out of the question? If so, is a 351C possible? Stupid question, possibly, but these things are relatively rare here in Australia and theres no-one to ask and I don't know enough to make the call. Its going to see track time, so I want to be able to put some cubes in there. Thanks

yes a 460 will work if you cut the shock towers. check here www.critesrestoration.com

How hard is it to cut the shock towers on these things? Never done it before, but I feel its not too much hassle. Is there anyone in Australia that deal with early fairlanes and Galaxies that can help? Crites have some interesting stuff, but the exchange rate for the Aussie peso makes it a very expensive exercise. Can anyone help?

The shocktower mod isn't too bad. Maybe a couple of days worth of work, and it costs about $100 U.S. The mod is necessary for anything other than a 289/302/351W.
The 460 will work, but you will spend some money. You have to use Crite's headers, motor mounts, and lower cross brace. The motor mounts lift the engine I think, so you have to use the teardrop hood as well. Also, you'll have to run a much larger radiator, which will require you to move the battery to the trunk and chop out the lower radiator suport/strut rod gussets.
Knowing the abundance of the 351C in Oz, you can go that route for a lot cheaper. I run one in my '65 (same chassis from '62 to '65). You can use the same 289 mounts, and the stock hood will work with a Performer intake and a 3" air cleaner (and maybe a 4&quot[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]. Don't try to use a stock-type brass/copper radiator. Even a 3-row Mustang rad will make the engine run 195-200 deg F on a mild day. Buy an aftermarket, universal aluminum radiator on E-bay. It's somewhere around 19" high and 21" wide. Mine runs 185 all day, and 195 at a traffic light.
Get rid of the Cruise-O-Matic trans, and install a '70-81 C4. No change to the trans mount, d/s or rear is needed.
The biggest problem with the 351C is headers. Even after you chop the shock towers, you'll only have around 2" from the exhaust port to the upper control arm mount. Stock exhaust manifolds will work fine (that's what I'm running in mine). There may be a header available from Tubular Automotive. Look in the Fairlane forum, where headers were just discussed. Good luck, and let me know if you need any digital pics.
[addsig]

Brian is right. Only 221 to 351W will fit without mods.
I have a 351C in my 62. It does however require mods to the shock towers. The 351C will drop straight in however there is only approx 1/2 inch clearance between 2 exhaust ports and the shock towers on each side.
There are 4 ways (that I know of) to get around this.

1 - Do a test fit then sledge hammer the shock towers at the offending exhaust ports. This is functional but ugly. You'll also need custom headers. Manifolds won't fit.

2 - Same as 1 however instead of the sledge hammer, weld in curved sections in the shock towers where the exhaust needs to go. This is the method I used. The advantage is unless you really know what you're looking at it looks like it left the factory that way. You will however need custom headers (I built my own). Manifolds won't fit.

3 - Use something like the crites kit. This will give you a bit more room. The crites site does gove some good pics of what's invloved.

4 - Go the whole hog and remove the shock towers. This does require rack and pinion steering along with lots of other mods (sorry I don't have any experience with this). This will give you lots of room to fit anything you like (well maybe not a rolls royce merlin!!)

You'll also need to up the radiator. I don't know of any factory one that will fit and do a good job. In Australia I would recommend Aussie Desert Coolers in Melbourne. They can make you a 3 or 4 core radiator for this application.

I don't have any suggestions on headers as I made my own. You can try contacting the Compact Fairlane Club of Australia. They have lots of expertise with the 62-65 Fairlanes. Sorry I don't have contact details in front of me however there is a link to the club from the RubberConnection web site (www.rubberconnection.com).

Hope this helps
Tim