THE AUTO BUILDER

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Kirby Kennedy grew up around street rods in his hometown of Selmer, Tennessee. His father, David, had several rods and even operated his own shop. Kirby hung around Kennedy’s Kustom Auto Shop and helped with many of the projects. He also learned many of the required skills to build a rod along the way. Once Kirby reached high school, he knew quite a bit about the history of hot rodding and had developed a fondness for traditional hot rods. His school required each graduating senior to complete a project before they reached graduation. While only a sophomore, Kirby decided to build a traditional-styled hot rod.

Strong Armed

Chevy engineers began using trailing arm and coil spring rear suspension designs back in 1958, and in one form or another, this treatment ran through 1964 without much change. Good news for families but bad news for performance enthusiasts, the crossframe cars were remarkable in that they began an era in which suspensions concentrated more on ride quality than on nimble handling.

ROLL WITH IT

The name Cusco is synonymous with high-end, well-made performance parts. Even though we don’t often see Cusco parts on U.S. soil, when someone has them, people seem to recognize the parts immediately. Cusco specializes in many specific aftermarket automotive parts, but this month we’re going to get a firsthand look at the ins and outs of installing a six-point Cusco cage into a Nissan 240SX.

Spotlighter

Slick 66

One Killer Big-Block Fairlane

Doug Schultz of Maple Valley, Washington, is not your typical home builder. Several years ago, he owned Street Works, a shop for hot rod and racecar fabrication. He built a black-and-silver ’62 Impala, which we featured in the December 2002 issue of this magazine, as well as a ’67 Nova that earned Goodguys’ Street Machine of the Year honors a few years back. Today he’s a fabricator and press-brake operator with his local municipal government, but during this time, he never lost his love for cars.

Author

Will Smith

Photography: Josh Mahler & Doug Schultz

A New Direction: The ’66 Ford Fairlane

After owning some 20 early Novas, Schultz decided it was time for a change, so he purchased a complete and running ’66 Ford Fairlane. He eventually scrapped his first few ideas and renderings—he considered them too trendy—in favor of a car that would be, in his words, “a crisp, simple, functional fast car,” while maintaining the car’s muscle car heritage and adding a few contemporary styling cues at the same time.

A Frame Built for Performance

Schultz wanted his Fairlane to be fast in more than a straight line, so he designed a completely new frame for the car to provide a solid foundation. He built the frame using 2×2- and 2×4-inch mild-steel tubing. He added X-brace stiffeners and a 10-point rollcage to make the frame incredibly strong. There’s nothing stock about the new suspension, either, as a Heidt’s Superide IFS has replaced the original components. The owner narrowed the stainless front control arms by 5/8 inch per side and then added gussets to the lower control arms to improve stability under braking. Air springs eliminate the need for a conventional coil spring and add adjustability to the suspension. The custom front sway bar actuates via a scratch-built bell crank, and Flaming River components make up the steering. Twin-piston Baer calipers and 13-inch rotors handle the stopping chores and are nestled behind the 18×7-inch matte-finish Boyd Hot Rod wheels and 215/45ZR18 Michelin Pilot Sport tires.

Innovative Rear Suspension Design

The rear suspension is no less impressive. A 9-inch rearend remains, but that’s really the only connection to the original design. That rearend now measures 59 inches across the hats of the 12-inch Baer rotors, and internal axle components include 3.50:1 gears and a limited-slip differential. Rather than riding on leaf springs, the 9-inch is now connected to the frame via parallel four-links. To keep the axle centered within the frame, Schultz designed and built a custom Watts link that eliminates the problem of a Panhard rod pulling the axle to one side during suspension travel. In keeping with his interpretation of what the car needed to be, the owner added 20×12-inch Boyd wheels and much wider 335/35ZR20 Michelin rubber.

Powerhouse Drivetrain: A Ford Racing 514ci Engine

The basis for the Fairlane’s drivetrain is a Ford Racing 514ci crate engine. With a 4.350-inch bore, 4.300-inch stroke, and forged internals, the short block is more than stout. But adding Super Cobra Jet heads (with 10.2:1 compression), an Edelbrock Victor Jr. intake, and a solid-roller cam with 0.647 lift on both the intake and exhaust and a 254-degree intake, 258-degree exhaust duration really makes this 514 Ford a standout.

Attention to Detail in the Drivetrain

However, it’s not nearly complete yet, as Schultz decided the combination needed fuel injection. He made much of the system himself, matching an Accel throttle body and huge 65-pound injectors with rails of his own design, and modified the Edelbrock manifold with new injector bungs. An MSD distributor and 6AL ignition box light the mixture, which exits the exhaust through a custom owner-built exhaust system. These parts combine for 635 hp, and while you can never have too much horsepower, this Fairlane definitely has enough.

Custom Styling and Interior Refinements

While the profile of the Fairlane still looks close to original, numerous little changes do improve its overall looks. Schultz performed some of the modifications, including designing and building the metal decklid spoiler and shaving the door handles and all the trim. He also filled the gas filler door and moved the filler neck inside the car. The owner even created all the under-hood sheetmetal, building new inner fenders, a core support, and more.

For upholstery and interior work, Schultz took the Fairlane to McFarland Custom Upholstery in Puyallup, Washington. There, the shop stitched titanium-colored leather and suede over a pair of Fiero buckets, as well as the Byers-built rear bench seat and center console. That console houses the Long shifter, and under the armrest you’ll find the controls for the air suspension, line lock, wiper knob, and more.

Awards and Recognition

Touching on all the custom alterations performed on this Ford would take forever; there’s no way we can list them all, so study the photos and you will see how much work has gone into the car. Show judges have noticed, as they have given the car a Boyd’s Pro Pick and an Air Ride Low-Cool Smooth award, both from Goodguys Columbus. To pick up these two awards at such a big show speaks volumes about the quality of this car, so you don’t have to take our word for it—Chuck Schultz has built one wicked Fairlane.