Thread: I don't know anything about fords??

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I just come across a 1963 2 door ford fairlane, with 280?-260? looks good ! auto and air, power steering ? he want $2000.00 ? One of those "in the barn 1st owner" storys. It came from down south? had his grandson paint it,back to the baby blue it was, Everything else is said to be( & looks, But in really good condition) original? the question is what do you ford guys think. Did they come with those options? I thought the all came with 6s & what would the value be on something like this?

'62 Fairlanes had a 221 small block V8 in addition to the 170/200 6. In '63 the 260 was the smallest small block V8 available as an option, still a "Windsor", "thin wall" cast, engine. The HiPo 289 was a rare option toward model year end. (Tried to buy one a month or so ago, but didn't want to pay what someone else thought it was worth.) The '62 and 3 Fairlanes have limited popularity. The '64 seems to dominate this era for popularity (probably due to lose of "fins" and the Thunderbolt image). The '62-3 can make a nice street machine if you really like them, just need to understand that at resale time the line of potential buyers is shorter, so don't pound too much money into them. For the one you described, the price doesn't sound too bad as long as the interior is good, and original. The body shouldn't be rotted out, and there shouldn't be a bunch of nasty repair under the repaint. Lastly is condition of repaint. If it's really amateurish and you plan to re-do it then it's decision time. Sanding off all or most of a bad repaint can be a lot of work, especially if there's a bunch of overspray on the trim, especially around the windows, and seals. Just scuffing it and adding a third paint job would be the "resale", quick an dirty thing to do.............not the "keeper" thing.

The air is likely an add on, perhaps dealer (if it's got a small Ford "crest" on the face plate), or after market. As for asking price vs. buying price, that comes down to, how many other people are looking at it, and how good do you negotiate?

the paint looks pretty good ," it was done about 2 years ago" is what he said? I don't want to keep it , I just figuered it would be a good deal , to resale it. what about the power steering ? It looks factory? I'm pretty sure I can get him to go 15 or 12 !! I just didn't want to get my hopes up on it and find out that it a "plain jane"' . It looks relly nice . the rubber even looks good , just like i said, It supposedly sat in a barn untill 2 years ago when he moved to Okyville , the he had it painted? and drove it to the store an back , a few times ? " I DON't know ? I just don't know anything about fords. Thanks

As Mike P. suggested in another thread, take a look at ebay, both current listings and completed listings. It will give you an idea of what the marketplace thinks the value is. The good thing about ebay is that it reflects SELLING prices, not ASKING prices. You can check Traderonline.com, and Carsonline.com for asking prices and then SWAG what actual selling prices might be. And Mike's words of wisdom certainly apply........................sellers almost always over estimate the level of condition in their descriptions.

I remember doing a valve job on a 63 Fairlane (yes it WAS a 63) with the 221CID engine..The Motors Repair manual warned about how Ford used some sort of super glue on the head gaskets..Well..I got one...We ended up using a small bottle jack perched on the cam galley to break the heads loose...And then....The SCRAPING...It took forever !!!!...I always thought the 63 Fairlane was kinda cool because it was like a minature full size..The grille etc...Fords and their burnt exhaust valves kept me in the black (profit wise) for years....

I don't think that would have helped in this case..I bet if the compression was 100-1 on that Ford it would not have budged it's cylinder heads...Slick idea though..Al....

Originally posted by Bob Parmenter
'62 Fairlanes had a 221 small block V8 in addition to the 170/200 6. In '63 the 260 was the smallest small block V8 available as an option, still a "Windsor", "thin wall" cast, engine. The HiPo 289 was a rare option toward model year end. (Tried to buy one a month or so ago, but didn't want to pay what someone else thought it was worth.) The '62 and 3 Fairlanes have limited popularity. The '64 seems to dominate this era for popularity (probably due to lose of "fins" and the Thunderbolt image). The '62-3 can make a nice street machine if you really like them, just need to understand that at resale time the line of potential buyers is shorter, so don't pound too much money into them. For the one you described, the price doesn't sound too bad as long as the interior is good, and original. The body shouldn't be rotted out, and there shouldn't be a bunch of nasty repair under the repaint. Lastly is condition of repaint. If it's really amateurish and you plan to re-do it then it's decision time. Sanding off all or most of a bad repaint can be a lot of work, especially if there's a bunch of overspray on the trim, especially around the windows, and seals. Just scuffing it and adding a third paint job would be the "resale", quick an dirty thing to do.............not the "keeper" thing.

The air is likely an add on, perhaps dealer (if it's got a small Ford "crest" on the face plate), or after market. As for asking price vs. buying price, that comes down to, how many other people are looking at it, and how good do you negotiate?

Btw, the 63 had the 221cid v8 as well