There’s nothing better than seeing a car that was modified back in the day and then never really touched or messed with again after. That’s pretty near the car of thie 1958 Ford which was modified by drag racers in the middle 1960s to compete in the then ultra-hot “Junior Stock” division of drag racing. The current owner has cleaned the car up some but he has not gotten rid of all the “good stuff” that makes the car so cool and the majority of that is in the drivetrain and it all starts with the motor.

The reality was that in 1966, if you were a normal hot rodder/drag racer guy there was nothing like Summit Racing Equipment or Jegs where you could pick up the phone and order all the horsepower you want. Hot rodding was very much a thinking man’s game of using factory equipment and working the hell out of it to make more horsepower than the guy in the other lane. A perfect illustration of that idea is the 352ci FE mill making the umph to push this big Ford down the track. Most noticeably it wears the tri-power setup that would have been found on the mightiest of the mighty 406 FE engines Ford installed in their early serious factory drag cars. The cylinder heads are factory castings, but from the 360hp version of the 352 that Ford had in the early 1960s. Due to class rules, there was no port work done but larger valves were installed on both the intake and exhaust side. The coolest thing about the engine is that it wears the stickers from Grant Piston and Ring company which built the race motor back in ’66. Other than a slightly tamer camshaft and a new timing chain, the engine is just like it was in ’66. Compression is 9.3:1 so it runs fine on regular gas, which is great.

The transmission was built by Art Carr and is a Fordomatic unit with a 2800 stall converter and according to the seller it shifts fast and hard. The rear end is a 9″ Ford packed with 4.56 gears and a traction-lok differential. The engine has a deep sump pan on it and apparently a removable plate that allowed access to the oil pump if needed (although if you were getting to work on the oil pump, it would seem like the rest of the motor may be in trouble as well).

Here’s another excerpt from the ad:

Custom long traction bars. I use rubber snubbers but the original steel adjustable snubbers are included. The air box, oil pan and traction bars were built in 1966 by Don Sauer, who used to wrench for Les Ritchy.

Four Stewart Warner Greenline gauges were mounted in the center of the dash and the Stewart Warner Greenline tach was installed up top. The tach was non-operational so I had it rebuilt by North Hollywood Speedometer with a modern VDO movement. Now it will work accurately with any ignition system. The oil temp gauge needs repair.

Original short exhaust system included. Exhaust system is designed to be quickly and easily removed at the track.

Custom Stockton Wheels “Milner” model wheels installed. 14×7 up front and 15×8 with custom 5.5″ backspacing in the rear. Tires are Mickey Thompson Indy profile, F70 in front and G60 in the rear. Rear wheels and tires are centered in their wells and are the max you can get without cutting or moving stuff. Wheels and tires are old but still very good with some abrasions.

Original stock 1958 radiator was bad and I replaced it with a 24″ Mustang radiator. Original radiator comes with.

I cut one coil out of the mid-1960s Galaxie station wagon front springs to lower the front end so as to get some upward suspension travel. I enlarged the rear brakes from the stock 1-3/4″ set-up to the 2-1/4 set-up. I also converted to a dual reservoir master cylinder for a dual drum system, both changes for safety. Car drives nicely like a stock 1958 Ford.

Car was weighed at 3610 lbs.

Mileage is unknown because the speedometer is disconnected due to it being set up for drags with a 4.56 rear end. Odometer reads all zeros.

There are two tow points at the front that are attached to the frame. A custom tow bar is included and an on-board tow light harness was installed in 1966.

New battery. I had the generator rebuilt with a new armature. I replaced the turn signal switch with a Fomoco part and recently replaced the headlight switch. All electrical is in good working condition.

The ad has a ton more information in it (like another 600 words of good stuff and history!) along with plenty of photos so hit the link below these pictures and check it out –

LINK: THIS 1958 FORD JUNIOR STOCK CAR IS AN AWESOME TIME CAPSULE