The frame is obvious in its importance to the car’s structural integrity. The condition of the frame, as well as “who made it,” are also very important. In this case, my need for a frame became obvious when the sheet metal was removed and we really got a look at it. As with the rocker panels that “weren’t there,” we were now staring at a frame that was more rust than metal. I lamely asked, “Is that surface rust?” “Nope,” came three answers in unison. “Goes clear through.”
Where does one get the best frame? That’s when I caught another break. Sam put a call in to Art Morrison in California and found that not only could he supply a frame, but he had also just made a ’57 Ford Fairlane frame for another customer on the west coast, and had the material and tooling ready to go.
We ordered a frame with four-point link suspension at the rear, upper and lower control arms up front, and coil-over-shocks at the four corners. We also opted for Wilwood drilled and slotted brakes with fourteen and thirteen inch rotors front and back respectively. After adding power rack & pinion steering to these items, we had quite a set-up.
I should mention that everything that was black got powder-coated, and everything that was not black got polished. As it turned out, the undercarriage of this car became, in itself, a thing of beauty. Every surface is body-color, black powder-coat or polished steel, even including incidentals such as the backing plates for the seat belts’ through-bolts.
The problem with making this kind of a beginning spoils you for all the other items that must be purchased. The car is now becoming a tuxedo and you can’t wear your old brown shoes. Therefore, the simultaneous & tremendously important decision, “what will the motive power be?” was easy to make; we went straight to Roush, through the Speed Fanatix folks in Boynton Beach. They supplied us with a new crate engine with 342 c.i.d. making 450 h.p. and 420 lbs of torque. It ultimately dyno’d at 433 h.p. and 408 lbs of torque. (Everything, of course, was polished.)
A month or so later, the shining engine was set on the obsidian frame and it was truly beautiful. We had also purchased a Tremec 600, five-speed gear box to get the power to the back wheels through the Strange nine-inch Ford 355 rear and Strange axles. Keeping everything cool is a polished, double fan Bee Cool radiator and A/C condenser.
Now it’s time to put it all back together!
Next: The Fairlane Gets Real Wheels