Why not a Y-block? The 312...
Why not a Y-block? The 312 was treated to an Isky solid cam and forged pistons (9.4:1), all fed by a trio of Stromberg 48 carbs breathing through an Edelbrock manifold. Saum Engineering assembled the engine, which was finished with a set of Red's headers, Smithy's mufflers, and finned Offenhauser valve covers. Dyno pulls put the rear wheel power rating at just under 200 horses. A four-speed Toploader, prepped at The Tranny Shop, uses a Hurst Competition/Plus shifter to select the gears.
There's an old saying: "You can never go home." But in the hot rod world, you can get awfully close. Growing up in Wichita, Kansas, Tom Devlin's earliest memories include driving around town with his dad while the elder Devlin sold Paramount movies to local theaters. The car was a company car: a 1957 Ford Fairlane, and it was showroom new. Unfortunately Tom's dad passed away when he was just 10 years old, making the Fairlane the last car his dad would ever own.
In the next few decades Tom would go on to great success in business, and he eventually got to a point where he wanted to have a '57 Fairlane of his own. Now if the Devlin moniker sounds familiar, it's probably because Tom's son, Tim, has made a name for himself in running Devlin Rod and Customs, a Wichita-based shop devoted to building dream cars for their customers.
To get things rolling, Tom's oldest son, Tommy, began looking for a Fairlane on the Internet and soon found what looked like a good starting point. Tom bought it but soon realized it was in worse shape than he'd originally thought. The floors were half gone, the gas tank rusted, quarter-panels rotted away, and trim missing.
The car was delivered to Tim's shop, and the thought on the project was not to alter the overall design but just clean things up. Little custom touches were OK, but Tom wanted something that looked like it could have come out of the lil' page hot rod books he saw as a kid.
Tim's shop began with the chassis, which features an 8.75-inch rearend that was narrowed 2 inches as well as a set of de-arched springs and a pair of Monroe shocks. The front utilizes a couple of Fatman Fabrications 2-inch-drop spindles, two Jamco dropped springs, and a Wurth-It power rack conversion. For brakes, the stock drums were used out back, but the fronts were updated to a set Wilwood discs along with an 8-inch booster and a master cylinder with a 7/8-inch bore. The Wheelsmith welded up a set of smoothie wheels for the Fairlane (15x7s and 8s), which were then wrapped in Cooper Trendsetter P205/75R-15 and 225/75R-15 rubber.
This time machine looks the...
This time machine looks the part unless you look real hard. A tach is located up in front of the stock (but reworked) dash gauge cluster, and the shifter was moved from the column to the floor. A Hot Rod Air A/C system and Pioneer stereo are well hidden, and the factory Ford vinyl/fabric material used on the front and rear seats was expertly stitched up by Downey's Auto Upholstery.
A hopped up motor was essential to a proper '50s hot rod, so the '57 312 Y-block Ford was given over to Saum Engineering in Wichita. Saum's used a stock crank and rods, but assembled the short-block with forged dome pistons (9.4:1) and an Isky solid camshaft and topped the block off with an Edelbrock 553 intake, a trio of Stromberg 48 carbs, and a pair of Offenhauser valve covers.
A PerTronix Ignitor III ignition system works in tandem with Moroso Blue Max wires, and exhaust exits through a pair of ceramic-coated Red's headers and aluminized Smithy's mufflers. Tuned by Mike Walker of Buffco Performance on a chassis dyno, the Y-block produced 193.6 rear wheel horsepower at 2,700 rpm. Helping get that power to the ground is a four-speed Toploader trans (assembled at The Tranny Shop in Wichita) guided by a Hurst Competition/Plus floor-mounted shifter.
Besides the extensive rust repair, the Fairlane also benefited by custom tricks that included '55 T-bird door handles, frenched headlights and taillights, and a rolled rear pan (behind the bumper and below the frenched license plate).
Though he thought the car might end up a shade of blue, Tom did some research and found a Cumberland Green and Colonial White combo that he fell in love with so, after completing the bodywork and prep, Devlin's painted the Ford its two-tone layout. Once the pieces started going back on the car (including a heavy dose of new chrome by Sherm's Custom Plating in Sacramento, California), the attention turned to the interior.
At first glance things look fairly stock, unless you notice the 8,500-rpm tachometer mounted to the column, just in front of the stock gauge unit that was reworked by Bob's Speedometer. The stock radio was also converted over by Jim Sales and Service to control the Pioneer stereo and CD changer. Another well-hidden option in this build is the A/C system that was provided by Hot Rod Air.
De-arched springs in the back...
De-arched springs in the back and a set of dropped spindles from Fatman Fabrications get this Fairlane down in the proper position. The Cumberland Green and Colonial White paint by Devlin Rod and Customs was added after they cleaned up the exterior with '55 T-bird door handles and frenched headlights and taillights.
Before the threads went in, Devlin Rod and Customs used Lizard Skin insulation wherever they could to deaden noise and provide some protection from heat. Downey's Auto Upholstery in Wichita then laid out the factory Ford fabric/vinyl combo on the stock front and rear seats, then installed dark green carpet as a contrast. Heat-pressed vinyl was used on the door panels for an even more authentic appearance.
Once his car was completed, Tom went down to his son's shop and climbed in behind the wheel and then realized it was the first time he'd been in a '57 Fairlane since his dad had passed away. He then took Tim on a drive, completing a circle that was decades in the making. So who says you can never go home?