Help me out with a drag suspension for my fairlane..

Hey All:

I'm looking to set up my 1966 Fairlane for some street strip action, and am lots more familiar with the late model Fox stuff than I am with leaf spring cars.

I do want to keep it leaf spring, but other than that, I'm open to suggestions. Want to do new front and rear springs, shocks, (maybe Cal-tracs?)etc.

Right now it's an all stock 289/C4 car with a stock 8" rear end. I'm looking to put a Mighty Mite C4 and a built up 302 or 347 in it.

Can these 8" rears be built to take about 400 - 450 hp or should I just chuck it and get a 9"?

Thanks for any help!

Steve

Stock replacement rear springs with polyurethane bushings (frt. and rear eyes), Cal-Tracs, and the front of each leaf banded. Stock front spring rate OK, or I believe early Mustang springs will also work. I would urethane the front suspension as well. You can ditch the front sway bar or disconnect the end links at the track also. Lakewood (or equivalent) drag shocks front and rear. Extend the shock length if needed so that they do not limit suspension travel. Make sure that there is zero tension in the brake lines with each wheel off the ground and the suspension unloaded. The 8" will take a lot more abuse than you might think if it is properly set up. I freshen mine every off season. Don't screw around with tires. If this thing is going on the track regularly, get a good set of drag tires right from the start. Probably 90% of the time crap 60' times and poor traction are the result of being undertired, not undersuspended. Both the MT ET Street Drag Radial and the BFG Drag Radial have decent street manners if you want a DOT tire instead of a slick. If you don't do giant burnouts they also last reasonably well.

Added later:
I forgot that the Cal-Tracs use an aluminum front spring bushing, so urethane is needed only in the rear eyes if you use them.

I'd do a monoleaf spring. Use a composite spring to really bring down the weight. Caltracs and a QA1 multi seeting shock in the rear. Up front, rollerize the control arms and strut rod. Drag springs and Qa1 shock. Get as big of a slick as you can....thinking the rear wheelwells on those fairlanes are pretty small.

the wheel wells on this car are pretty small indeed. I'm thinking I'll be able to fit an 8 inch wheel and *maybe* a 10" or 275 series tire.

Where does one buy a monoleaf spring?

Steve

If I was doing another car such as a 66 fairlane... I would definately use Caltracs along with thier monoleaf springs and ranchero adjustable shocks.
Definately find a 9-inch housing (easy with that car's dimensions) and you'll be set for years.
I would take a good hard look at a currie 9 inch complete housing... once you buy a housing and add axles, locker, gears brakes etc... it make a lot of sense to just buy a complete kit for 3000.00
Cool car and good luck!

Originally Posted by LXguy

the wheel wells on this car are pretty small indeed. I'm thinking I'll be able to fit an 8 inch wheel and *maybe* a 10" or 275 series tire.

Steve

The wells on the 62-65 Fairlanes are even narrower.I run Weld Rodlites on my '64, 15x7 w/ 4.5" backspacing and 235/60R15 MT ET Street Drag Radials. I run the Drag radials because the car sees a couple thousand miles a year, and in a good season 100+ dragstrip passes in classes that require a DOT tire.
Typical 60' times are 1.77-1.79 and the car runs 12.50's at 107 and some change. Modern tires are really good and a car with limited wheel well can run pretty quick on them. Since you are smart enough to recognize the importance of the whole suspension combo, I bet you'll be able to run pretty quick on limited size tires.

Thanks Man! I hope so.

What motor combo are you using to run those times?

Thanks again

Steve

Originally Posted by LXguy

Thanks Man! I hope so.

What motor combo are you using to run those times?

Thanks again

Steve

348, C-4, 8". Car weighs about 3180 and those numbers are at Bandimere, 5800 feet in the air. Using NHRA correction factors, the car could potentially run 11.70's at sea level. Of course that assumes I'm not undertired . See

Roadkill Racing

for more info.

Just a note,

I've wedged 28x10.5 MT slicks under my 66. I had to use a slidehammer on the fender lip and I ground about 3/8 of an inch into my leafs for clearance. But they fit in a straight line!!

Instead of hitting iner fenders do this . Take a small hydrolic jack and place it inside the fender wells sideways . The part that comes out of jack is pointed to the fender . Place between the fender and jack a 12 inch 2 by 4 so you donot push fender out in one spot and it lessens damage to car fender . You can push the fender out alot and get a bigger tire on . Also move leaf springs over and then you can get a 101/2 tire under a 66 fairlane .

I know I posted 2 cars for sale on fe with no pictures but I still have both . The 66 fairlane was a race car all of it's life coming from a wreck after it was bought new . That car still has a 9 inch housing , is a gta but has clutch for 4 speed , still has bucket seats as well console and a race shifter for automatic still in car . Leaf springs are already moved over for bigger tire and has 31 spline axles . Car is rough but very much a good car and has title . Cheaper for whole car than you can swap out the rear and labor . 1500 bucks but one needs to come in person so they can see what they are buying .