I have a 1964 Compact Fairlane with old 289 v8. (Dont cry)

I need to upgrade the front drums to discs. I know that i can simply fit the whole stub axle off a later Ford but how late can I go. I can get NC fairlane stubs and calipers but what then?
Will the tie rods be too long or too short, what will the steering do?
Does this mean I need wheels with diferent centre holes than the back?
I want to run 15 inch mags all round.
What about the booster and master cylinder. I need to know what m/cyl fits and works and where to mount the booster remotely.

I am going to drop a 5 litre EFI motor in it and as its a 289 carby I wonder what problems I will encounter. The main one will be the fuel pump as they were in the actual fuel tanks in later cars.
I want to keep my own tank and use an external fuel pump??
Does this sound right? There must be an after market set up??

Any help would be greatly apreciated.

C**k Sam.

You would be looking at X series brakes and stub axles...not E series.....completely different.

Hi Sam, I modified a '62 compact several years ago and I fitted XY vented rotors and stub axle straight up to the Compact front end. On the bottom arm of the stub axle you will need to grind it back from the bottom to 17mm in thickness. when you bolt it into the car, the bottom ball joint goes right up into the tapered hole and all that is needed then, is to install a large washer under the bolt to tighten the ball joint up into the stub axle opening and fit the split pin. The car was inspected by an RTA examiner and he agreed that it met all requirements. The booster that I used was off the same XY donor car and the bracket was modified to suit. You can install a VH40 booster which is what was fitted to the earlier model XR-XT & ZA models but the XY booster does fit between the firewall and the tower with a bit of room and some manhandling. Don't forget to change the rear wheel cyclinders to suit as well. Any decent acessory shop will have them, just make sure they are compatible for the booster. XW will also suit it's just that I used the XY as it was the donor car. If you get stuck or are confused, then feel free to get in touch with the Fairlane Club of NSW and one of the members will be only too happy to explain it to you. All Ford wheels from 14" up to 17' will fit the original bolt pattern and the later stubs that you install. I had 15" EL XR6 wheels on mine, XY front stubs and stock compact studs on rear. There are some early model fords floating around with the later motors in them now and they are using external fuel pumps. Check out some Street Machine mags for articles.Hope this helps. cheers AU055

For the EFI conversion info, go to {DESCRIPTION} and have a look around. Heaps of very useful info.
Try and find a complete V8 e-series as a donor car, that way you will get everything you need, and some parts to sell off later.
You can use a Bosch in-line fuel pump, same as used in a commonwhore. They are available aftermarket.
IIRC, up to XB brakes are the same as XY, so they might be easier to find.
Good luck.

Castlemaine Rod Shop should be able to help with the fuel pump, a Bosch 055 of similar should suit, I think they also have the brake conversion as well.

Hi au055,
Was really interested in your post. I'm wanting to do the same on a 1965 Compact. A couple of questions please.

1) What sort of issues did you have with the fitment of the firewall mounted booster?
2) I understand that disks generally won't fit 14" wheels and 15" are needed like you mention you were using). This is unless the disks are only 11" dia. Do you know for sure if 14" wheels will fit? Can't seem to find information on the dia of the XY disks....

Thanks very much!

Hi NZ65, When you say your doing up a '65 Compact I assume you mean the '64 model that was available over here in Oz. It's the model with what can be described as having rounded guards on the front and back. If it is the actual 1965 Fairlane that only came out in the USA, then this model can easily be identified as it had squareish guards. Anyway, with the Oz vesion I do know that this conversion definitely will fit all Compacts from '62 to 64. I assume that the firewall on a '65 model would be the same it's just that with the '65, it only came out in a left hand drive except in Cananda. Sorry if this sounds complicated but I don't won't to give you any wrong info or lead you up the garden path.

Right, the backet that goes onto the rear of the booster was modified by a mate of mine who did the same to his '62. The bracket was fitted to the firewall using the original bolt hole for the original brake master cylinder and then the booster was fitted onto the bracket. It was a bit tight but it did slip down onto the bracket and the lines to the wheel cyclinders were connected okay. We did use an adjustable rod between the brake peddle to the booster just to get the length right as well as for correct lenght for comfort.
As I mentioned, I used a V8 XY sedan as the donor car, (don't panic guys it was completely rusted out), and it did have 14" wheels fitted to it which is what they do run. The only wheels that wont fit are 13" as I did try to throw a set onto the car to move it around and they would not clear the rotor or caliper. Also to put your mind at ease, I did have 14" chrome 12 slotters at one stage as well as 14" Globe centerline wheels so I can give you a 100% assurance that 14" wheels will fit the standard XW-XY discs. The earlier XR & XT discs & ZA-ZB will also fit if you use them with their stub axles but it's preferable to use the later vented brakes for added cooling. I have a Kiwi mate who fitted the earlier brakes to his "63 without a booster and they did work but no where as good as having them boosted.

Just remember, the bottom ball joint arm on the stub axle will need to be reduced to 17mm to allow the original ball joint to fit right up tight into the stub. When you grind it back, do it from the bottom, (where the ball joint enters) and not fom the top,(where the ball joint nut fits) otherwise the tapered ball joint shaft will float around and not fit snugly. cheers AU055

Hi au055,

Thanks for taking the time to update to respond and thank you for the great information!. I''ll definitely keep an eye out for the parts off (extremely rust and non restorable XW-XY)

Actually the car is indeed a 1965 with square guards. It came from NZ, my father bought it was 18mths old in NZ and I brought over here to Aus a couple of years ago to restore. Still trying to work out whether it was assembled in NZ, or came fully imported from either USA or Canada.

Regards
NZ65

Only too happy to help. I've got a bit of a soft spot for Compact Fairlanes especially after owning 5 of them. There is every chance that your car was a Canadian model as they were still running right hand drive around that time. If if was Australian made nine times out of ten you can tell by the sills. The Canadian and North American cars had galvanised sills due to the salt used on snow area roads. Aussie assembled cars had normal metal sills. This I learnt from a guy who lives in the USA and has quite a bit of knowledge when it comes to 60's model Fords. Good luck with the mods. Steve.

cheers au055 and NZ65. I have recently bought a 62 Compact and have been scouring the net over the past week for this exact info, pulled the 260 + 3sp out of it last week (still going well) and looking to put a 289 back in.