1966 Fairlane GTA gets laundry list of upgrades
Company Name: Valley Vintage Cars
Company location: Hadley, Mass.
Category: Restorations - Classic Car
Member name: Michael Cahill
Vehicle Make: Ford 1966 Ford Fairlane GTA
Work performed? Yes
Hire again? Yes
Approximate cost: $7,756
Description of work:
My 1966 Ford Fairlane GTA needed some upgrades. Mike DiCola [the owner] picked up our car in Framingham, Mass., in his closed car trailer and brought it to his shop in Hadley, Mass.
Mike did excellent work upgrading the Ford as follows:
- converted manual steering to power steering
- converted manual 4-wheel drum brakes to power front disc and new rear drum assemblies with new brake lines
- added an extra leaf on rear springs with new bolts/clamps/rods
- installed a new Griffin aluminum radiator, thermostat housing and thermostat
- installed new transmission oil pan
- installed a new distributor
- replaced the transmission mount
- modified the outer tie rod ends
- installed a new spark plug wire set
- installed a used Holley 650 carb
- replaced valve cover gaskets and a leaking freeze plug
- performed a lot of miscellaneous adjustments and corrections as needed
Member comments:
We gave Mike a very good Classic that needed to be upgraded and made safe to drive as a safe dependable car once again. He succeeded on all counts as I knew he would after having a number of discussions with him before I turned the car over. When we drive the car now we have no concerns regarding safety or operation.