A dime or a big dollar rocket?
 

I have a 78 Fairmont 2 door 200 c4 all original any potential in this combo?

Re: A dime or a big dollar rocket?
 

What engine has it got? You say 200? Do you mean 2000? I know they put 2300's in a lot of them. Really don't know what other engines were available.

I did have a 79-80, can't remember which. Bought it as a beater back in 87. Drove it until about 1995. It was pretty rough when I bought it and rougher when I sold it, lol. Some kid bought it and rolled up and down the roads here for awhile. Then it disappeared. That old car was tough as nails. It had a 2300 with a four speed.

Looked it up, I'm dumb. It is a 200ci 6 cylinder. Factory hp is 85. NHRA rerate is 140hp. The car is a natural R. I'd move it up to T, the index is 14.40. Just doing some quick figuring, if at 19lbs for T. Minimum weight for the car with you in it would be 2830lbs. It would take approximately 190hp to get to the T index. I'm sure Billy, Yac or Dwight Southerland could tell us whether this combo has any validity. I'm willing to bet the Ford 200 could be capable of making hp, just not sure about this version of the 200.

As a racing combo, just have to poke around the guide and see where it lands.

Re: A dime or a big dollar rocket?
 

I tried it in a wagon. It's got potential, only if you can get the NHRA to refactor it to where it belongs, like V. Not sure where they got 140hp; I was told it was a typo and should be 114? The combo works in older Mavericks and Comets. Dave Turner on here used to run one. The integral head and intake design is a bottleneck. the plus side is Fox-body parts are cheap. My wagon came manual brakes and steering. I was thinking if the refactored 302s stay the way they are, then a guy would have something!

Re: A dime or a big dollar rocket?
 

I don't think it would make 140 with a turbo???? I'm just thinking outloud may just put adapter on it with 2v and bracket race it! Anybody have a camshaft for this what specs is the cam anyway if anybody wants to tell?

Re: A dime or a big dollar rocket?
 

Keep duration at .050 around 240. Lunati does have a grind for this motor. Check out www.classicinlines.com, all he does is inline Fords, especially the 200. They can make 230-250hp with some work, in stocker trim I'd guess 150 max? The head/intake design is poor.

Re: A dime or a big dollar rocket?
 

I think the best route would be a 302, very cheap to build and find headers, etc. for, plus a 4cyl. K member is the same as a V8. If it stays at 139, I'd say U/SA terror. If it goes back to the original 162, I'd think it would at least hit the Q or R index?

I am still thinking about getting my old wagon back and going V8...

Re: A dime or a big dollar rocket?
 

Ok, a little more back figuring. IF you could get the 114hp. You could look at W, car would weigh, minimum, 2906lbs. You're looking at 125 or so hp to run the 16.65 index. I'm kicking this around in my head, seems an anemic 200 could make 125hp? Here again, I don't know this engine. How much cam has it got? How crappy is the intake/carb? Factory hp is 85, it has to be pretty restrictive.

Here again, a good budget C4, a small converter. Some gear and a set of tires that would work. You could start out with a set of drag radials like I've done with my Achieva. At least starting out, you shouldn't kill the tranny and rear end. Pretty sure you could find some kind of headers.

I may be way off base here, fun excersize. Then again, the 302 might be the better way to go.

Re: A dime or a big dollar rocket?
 

Classic Inlines makes a header; Hooker does for the Maverick, which could be modified to fit. Going junkyard crawling, look under Aerostars and Rangers, they often have limited slip rears with 3.73 gears, and 4cyl Rangers sometimes have 4.10s.

Re: A dime or a big dollar rocket?
 

I am looking into the '78 Fairmont 302 2 bbl (139hp) combo for U/SA.
Looks promising.


I had a '79 Fairmont 2 door with the original 200 six but it had the V-8 /2.3 k-member, so I think the oddball 200 six x-members came out in 1980-1981 or so. Not sure tho.

Cool cars and they be gotten down light because they came from the factory with thin glass and sheet metal as well as aluminum bumpers.

Re: A dime or a big dollar rocket?
 

I don't know much about the rules but if I changed it to a 302 would another year block pass if the heads were right or can it be done like that? Yea the Fairmonts are kinda neat I have 2 one is completley original and it also has a vinyl top! They have more over hang than a Mustang which should help also? Wish I could use a 289 I have a complete 66 engine?

Thanks!

Re: A dime or a big dollar rocket?
 

Yes, you can change the block. Heads and intake must be the correct year. On the carb, check the NHRA blueprint specs. There may be legal replacements for the factory unit.

Loved the old 289's. Had my share of them. The crown jewel was my D/MP motor. Tunnel ram, big roller, Crane heads, just built too weak a short block. The cast crank and steel rods just couldn't hack the 8000+ rpm shifts! Still have the crank with an attached piece of a rod out in the barn.

Re: A dime or a big dollar rocket?
 

Although the Fairmonts with 302 and 255 V8s used the same K Member, all the 3.3L 200 cube inline 6 cylinder cars used a K Member unique to the 6 cylinder. The brackets for the motor mounts on the 6 cyl. K member were much longer, and located further foreward. Not a big deal, as swapping K members is only 8 bolts worth of work. Years ago, I wanted to build a Fairmont for Stock with a 302 and 4 speed, mainly because I had several of the cars, but at that time NHRA had the 302 2 barrel engine rated at 200 HP, which at the time was only 5 HP less than the hyd. roller cammed, 4 barrel 302 engine used in the 85 Mustangs, so I built my Mustang for M/S. My 78 Fairmont sedan bracket car was bought as a 4 cyl 4 speed used car trade in, that I bought in 1986. It was a bare bones no option plain janer, and when I first bought it, it weighed 2680 lbs, with 1/4 tank of gas and the spare tire in place. The Fairmont was Fords first model that was designed around gas mileage and lightweight , and was the base the popular 79-93 Mustang was based on.Over the years, the Fairmont was offered with NA and Turbo versions of the 2.3L 4 cyl, 200 cube 6cyl, and 302 and 255 ci V8s.The V8s were all 2 barrels, but the FOX platform works pretty good, has huge aftermarket support, and are cheap to buy, although nice Fairmont 2 doors and even Mustangs are getting harder to find these days.

Re: A dime or a big dollar rocket?
 

Rory:

That '79 Fairmont I had must have been an oddball because all the stories I had read about the 200 six having a special k-member worried me when it came time to do a swap.
I had 460 Fox swap mounts and a rear sump oil pan and the ol' 460 slid right in there on the stock k-member.

I know no-one had messed with that k-member because the car was all original when I got it. I paid 50 bucks for it in 1998 and drove it home. :)

Pic of it as a bracket car with a 460/C-6 8.8 combo.
I bought that car 3 times, hence the Boomerang name. (it kept coming back)


http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...Fairmont02.jpg

Re: A dime or a big dollar rocket?
 

Yes, the Fairmont/Zephyr models had a large trunk and lots of overhang.
I know where there is a nice looking (in the pics) '78 Zephyr Z-7 with the 2.3 auto with cold air for $2,500. Appears to be all original except for the 15 in. whhels.

If I didn't already have 10 vehicles, I would have already bought it.

Never had one of those sport 2 doors

Re: A dime or a big dollar rocket?
 

Overhang? How about a wagon?

Re: A dime or a big dollar rocket?
 

Almack, your 79 fairmont with the 460, what was done to it and how did it run? I've got a couple 460's here (and c-6's) that I could drop in the mustang, just curious how it ran compared to what you did to it.
For me it's a toss up...no scratch that, I've got the heads/intake and carb to build a 302 crate motor which is what I'm slowly doing, but for bracket racing it's so tempting to drop in a 460. Any heating problems when going rounds? (not that would be my problem LOL!!)