I will be the proud owner of a '55Fairlane Fordor Sedan in a few weeks. It's the original 6V 272 w/ auto. Yes, I used proud owner and Fordor in the same sentence. The car will be an ongoing project as a mild custom/restorod, but I'm trying to get a plan together for the drive train. The car needs minor things to be road worthy in town and my goal is to keep it running as much as possible during the summers, then tackle different things in the fall and over winter each year.

I plan to keep the Y-Block, but I'd like to raise the displacement when it's time to rebuild the engine or tranny. The car will be primarily a boulevard cruiser, but I'd like some decent power. I plan to do a 12V conversion, change the steering and suspension, improve the brakes, etc. Once it's really roadworthy I'd like to use it to tow a small vintage camper or pop-up camper trailer so that will influence what I do to the drive train.

Since towing will be part of the intended use, am I better off just using John's stroker kit to take it to 310ci or would a bore to 292 before the stroker kit for a final 318ci be better? I'll be happy with anything over 325HPas long as it's as reliable as possible. What can I expect for max RPMs on the310 or 318?

I plan to keep the car an automatic, but I'm not sure if a C4, EOD, or other transmission conversion would be best? I know there are adapter kits to put another brand of transmission on the Ford, but I'd like to keep everything Ford, Merc, or Lincoln. I'm planning to change the rear suspension and swap ina 9" rear end/axle so a new drive shaft isn't an issue. Wheels will be bigger steel reproductions in 17s or 18s. Again, the goal is to balance reliability with improving fuel economy on the highway/interstate while towing. The longest trip I can see it doing is the 9 or so hours it takes to get to Detroit if we ever wanted to bring it to a major Ford show. Otherwise 4-6 hours covers 90% of the shows we would drive to. We'd probably hit 6-10 shows a year.

I know I'll have a lot more questions after I take ownership of my Fairlane,but for now these are my big questions that have the biggest impact on the project and budget.

Thanks,

Boiler