Like FE Fords? Not as much as this guy. Here's a homebuilt garage stuffed with vintage Ford iron.
Chris Whitney
Sun Valley, CA
We featured Chris' '66 Fairlane wagon in last December's issue, and in that story we mentioned that he was a bit of a Fairlane freak. Well, here's the proof. His shop houses his other Fairlanes, plus one Comet and enough spare parts to probably build another Fairlane from the ground up. It took Chris years to save up enough scratch to build his shop, but now that he's got it, he spends as much of his free time as possible building up his fleet of fast Ford race cars. By the way, Chris is also the shop foreman at Galpin Auto Sports, Galpin Ford's in-house speed shop, so he gets to build cool cars during the day, too.
1. Chris stores parts in the loft. He likes to hang on to parts as much as he likes to hang on to his cars. Our own Jeff Smith can relate. The joke around the office is that if you bump into something in Jeff's shop, a '66 Chevelle will fall out of the rafters. In Chris' case, it would be raining Fairlanes.
2. Bringing up the rear is Chris' other '67 Fairlane. This was a 390-powered automatic-transmission car that Chris rescued from the crusher. He happened to see it in line to be bought for scrap in 1998, offered the owner $800, and drove it away. True to form, Chris replaced the 390 with a 427 Medium-Riser and a Jerico trans. This car has 5.14:1 gears stuffed inside its 9-inch rear. He's got big plans for this Fairlane-think Vortech blower and bumper-dragging wheelstands.
3. It should be apparent by now that Chris is a huge fan of FE engines, so it's no surprise that he's got a few of them lying around. The one standing on the ground is an aluminum-block made by his friend Robert Pond, who has recently begun manufacturing them. It's CNC-machined and has a laundry list of upgrades like billet main caps, extra reinforcing braces in the lifter valley, and heavy-duty side skirts. Removable iron cylinder liners allow for displacements up to 514 inches. Interested? Surf to robertpondmotorsports.net for more information.
4. The two iron-blocks are for future projects. That's a 427 top-oiler on the stand in front of the Comet. In between the Comet and the Galaxie is a 0.040-inch-overbore 390 getting freshened up with Edelbrock parts and CP pistons. It will be going into the Fairlane on the left.
5. Chris picked up this '64 Comet Cyclone for $1,500 from a coworker at his former job with Gale Banks. It's motivated by a 302/C4 9-inch running gear. He has no intention of racing this car; he's content with it being a cruiser. Cragar S/S wheels are mounted up front while Chrysler police car steelies are hanging out back. Though he kinda likes the weathered vibe, Chris says he plans to paint the car someday.
6. This '67 Fairlane is Chris' first car. He literally bought it with paper route money when he was 14 years old. Originally it was powered by a 289/C4 combination. Now its running gear consists of a 427 Medium-Riser FE and a Jericho four-speed. A McLeod clutch and Mark Williams spool and axles in the 9-inch rear round out the drivetrain. Chris started racing this car in 1989, eventually going on to hold records in NHRA B- and F-Stock. His best time to date is a 10.15-second e.t. at 132 mph.
7. The second car Chris bought was this '6311/42 Galaxie 500. He and his uncle went in on the car together in 1986, buying it for $5,000. It's also got a 427-inch FE under the hood, but this one is topped off with two Holley 600-cfm carbs on a Tunnel Wedge intake manifold. Behind it is a four-speed Top Loader and 4.10:1 gears in the Traction-Lok 9-inch. Chris learned to drive manual transmission in this car, and he got hooked. All his race cars are shifted manually. Even his Ford Super Duty tow rig has a stick shift.