Vehicle Description
FORD followers will look at this car and immediately recognize the
lineage that accompanies this iconic paint scheme. This Thunderbolt
tribute is a near perfect example of the Thunderbolt that Len
Richter piloted to the AHRA Championship in 1964 and was featured
in the movie "The 1320." This Thunderbolt tribute is the
beneficiary of a multi-year rotisserie restoration that was
finished in 2002. Powering the Fairlane is a 1967 FE 427 side
oiler, 4-speed, and a 9" custom currie 31 spline rear axle.
The history of the Thunderbolt begins with America's love for
competition. The famous motto, Win on Sunday, sell on Monday" was
not just an idea, it was absolute fact at the time. The big "3"
knew customers could identify with vehicles that they saw at the
track and in the showroom. If you happened to see a 427 Galaxie
rumble past you at the starting line, you may not purchase one on
Monday. But you sure went and looked at one as soon as you could in
a Ford Showroom.
This amazing car was built by a gentleman named Ed M. in Michigan,
who is a retired Iron worker. The Car underwent a total rotisserie
restoration roughly 15 years ago. The entire build is documented
through photos and a build book. Many of the photos are featured
below. But what seperates this from most well-done tributes is the
famous driver of the original Thunderbolt - Len Richter was a close
family friend to Ed and helped him during the build of this car.
You can see photos below of Len sitting in the vehicle at the time
of completion. "Len was in my shop at least once a week when I
built that car in 2002. He wanted me to build an identical clone of
his original race car, all the way down to the lettering. But I
decided to change it up to avoid confusion, changing some of the
lettering, using Hemi Hunter on the trunk lit like Len used on his
1965 Mustang drag race car," Said the builder Ed. "We also choose a
more dependable Side Oiler instead of the correct Center Oiler, and
for better street drivability we used a Low Riser heads and intake
set-up".
The Thunderbolt tribute also has a shade different gold paint then
the original car. After the car was finished Len Richter signed the
dash. This car is not to be confused with the original, rather a
true tribute to the amazing original car, Len Richter himself and
the history they made together!
Speaking of the engine, you can see a complete spec sheet below,
but today it cranks over easy and provides an unbelievable amount
of torque. It runs great on pump oil, the current owner uses a 2 to
1 mix of non-ethanol 90 octane and 110 racing fuel. This make it to
run very smooth, clean and cool around 170 to 180, even on hot
days.
It was never used for competition drag racing, but could impress on
the track! This Thunderbolt is definitely not for the faint
hearted.
Facts;
1967 FE 427 Side Oiler C7AE-A
.600 lift cam - C8AX-6250-D
Forged Pistons
Low Riser Heads C3AE-6090-D
Low Riser Intake C3AE-9425-J
Ford Shelby 500 Holley Dual Quad 600 cfm Carburetor
(matching set - C3AF-9510-BK & C3AF-9510-BJ)
Correct and original aluminum Thunderbolt Intake Air Box
Original NOS Intake Hoses from Dearborn Steel Tubing
Original Borg Warner T-10 4-speed Side Loader Transmission
Ford Shifter
New 11" RAM Powergrip High Performance Clutch - 98769
Original NHRA approved R.C. Industries Shatter Shield Bell
Housing
New Hi Rev Mini Starter
New Ring Gear
New Fan Shroud
9" Custom Currie 31 Spindle rear axle
Manual Brakes - discs on front, drums on rear
Front aluminum tow hooks
Correct rear steel wheels with new Towel City Pie-Crust style
cheater slicks (235 / 75 R 15)
(used set of used original Hurst Pie-Crust slicks included (235 /
70 R 15)
Correct front racing wheels with new Customs (205 / 75 R 15)
(used set of used Mickey Thompson Track front tires included (28 x
7.50 - 15LT)
Original correct interior with Boston Front Bucket seats
Correct factory rear seat cloth cover
Rear Arm Rest Delete
Rear Window Regulator Delete
Radio Delete
Heater Delete
Passenger Windshield Wiper Delete
Crites Headers
Customer Exhaust system with Badlanz Electric Cutouts
New and correct Tie Rods, Steel Sleeves, Idler Arm & bushings
("Rare Parts")
Rebuild original Center Link ("Rare Parts")
New U-Joints
Original and new Autolite BF42 Spark Plugs
New OEM Ford Motorcable Spark Plug Wire Set
Battery Cutoff Switch in Trunk
Completely rebuild wire harness
All light inside and outside work
Tune-ups;
Ignition tune-up (timing, plugs, wires)
Valve adjustment done
New fuel filter
Brake Tune-Up (shoes and pads like new)
All fluids changed
Engine (Mobil 1 - 15W-50)
Transmission (Royal Purple Synchromax fluid)
Rear Axle (Royal Purple 75W - 140 high performance gear oil)
All service and parts list available
Extra Parts;
Set of working vintage Autolite horns
Passenger Wiper Linkage
1 boxes of Autolite BF42 for street driving
1 box of Autolite BF32 racing plugs (only had them in the engine
for a few weeks)
DOES IT WORK?
Air Conditioning N/A
Heater N/A
Speedometer YES
Oil PSI Gauge YES
Temperature Gauge YES
Fuel Gauge YES
Tachometer YES
Wipers YES
Horn NO
Radio N/A
Headlights YES
Tail Lights YES
Brake Lights YES
Reverse Lights N/A
Turn Signals YES
Runs & Drives YES
