Don’t look now, but the multi-year saga of Project Fat Lane, the formerly stock Fairlane turned blown, Heavy Street drag class machine has taken a significant step forward. The car is off the chassis table, and rolling on the floor. While it still needs to be wired and plumbed, have the glass added, paint job done, and other finish work, the chassis is 100% complete an Tube Chassis Designz owner Jon Sandahl hopes to have the car to painting ace Blair Smith in a month. How is it going to be painted? Like a proper Thunderbolt, that’s how. Wimbledon white the right trim in the rear quarter panels and the red accent stripe. As mentioned above, the car was built with the intention of running in the Heavy Street class at events near and far to the New England region. We have been following the car on and off for a couple of years. The car started in one direction, changed owners and took another. Along with those changes there was time spent on other work and waiting on components, etc, but the big deal is that the car is officially looking a lot like a car now and to see it on the ground in all of its blown glory sure put a smile on our faces.
The stated goal is to have the car ready to hit the track come spring time, so the work of electrical, plumbing, and all of the other systems will be front and center in the coming weeks as the guys try to get this monster to the painted in a month. There’s going to be some long nights! Such is the nature of the business, we guess. Anyway, here’s a photo tour of Projet Fat Lane as it sits on the floor at Tube Chassis Designz in Hanson, Massachusetts. This thing is going to be AWESOME when completed and we can’t wait to blast a full feature for you when that time comes. Truly the Thunderbolt from hell!
SCROLL DOWN AND CHECK OUT OUR PHOTOS AND CAPTIONS TO CATCH UP ON PROJECT FAT LANE’S CURRENT STATE!
Thar she blows! Project Fat Lane down on its own wheels and looking like a Thunderbolt from hell with all that supercharger coming through the hood.
One of the cool things about the car (and there are LOTS) is the front air dam which started life as a piece that belonged on a Nova. After lots of cutting and nipping and tucking, it looks great on the front of the Fairlane. The car is actually an inch high from where it will be at race height. 3.5-inches from the ground to the bottom of the chin spoiler. Minimum is 3″.
The fiberglass Thunderbolt pieces came from Crites and guys at the shop added the mounting hardware. Those two stubs slide into receivers on the front of the chassis. We took the nose on and off a couple times and it fit well, was light, and was easy to mount. We’ve seen some cars that require an acrobatics crew to get the pieces and parts mounted.
Space is super limited with the engine in the car. Jon and John are fabricating a custom 8-gallon fuel tank that fits in snugly next to the Moroso catch can.
Other pieces that are being fabricated include the rear spoiler. We dig the fact that the guys are following the rounded body line of the rear quarter panel with the sides of the piece. It’ll look slick and it’ll help keep the car stable at more than 200 MPH.
The American Wheels look boss and the headers, which were made in house fit great. This was the first set of headers that the guys made and they came out great. Jon loosely bolted them on the engine for us to see. It took the guys about two days from start to finish to make the 2.5-inch diameter pieces. They are sexy as all get out.
Body alterations were made and once the car is painted only trained eyes will notice that the rear wheel openings have been stretched by 5″. They look awesome.
Another look at the wheel opening stretch.
Note that the curve on the edge of the spoiler matches the curve on the rear quarter panel. When done, this is going to look really slick.
As it has always been with this project, the engine is a supercharged 540ci big block Chevy that will be injected on alcohol. Horsepower will be large by huge. Believe it or not, it is a pretty tight package in there.
One last peek at the spoiler.
Here’s a look at the header on the passenger side. The concerns were several in making stuff fit. Between fitting them around the tires, making sure they fit around the chassis pipes and than building them so that they can come on and off, it took planning, for sure.
Here is the driver’s side header. The welding and fab work on these is great and they slid on and off in minutes.
You can see how far the engine is moved back by how deeply the cowl is cut to fit the blower. The firewall has been completely worked as well.
The bubble Thunderbolt hood is present and accounted for, cut and notched to fit around the supercharger.
A peek from the other side shows how the hood fits around the big blower.
Mother of mercy this is evil looking.
When this car is painted in factory colors and it is sitting like this there will be few more evil looking Fords on planet Earth. Yes, it has a big alky burning Chevy motor, but we’re over that.
Here’s a shot of the header free of the engine. We rubbed up on this thing in an inappropriate way.
The car was literally driven into the shop back in like 2007 or 2008. The guys pulled it apart, put it on the chassis table, and started chipping away. They’re now at the stage where the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t coming from the front of a locomotive.
The Thunderbolt body panels were sourced from Crites and the modified by a local fiberglass guy. They fit great and look sweet, even in this state.
You know that you have a man-sized supercharger when you have to notch the cowl nearly back to the frigging dashboard to get stuff fitting right. Looking from the driver’s seat is flippin’ cool!
One last shot of the gas tank that the boys are building as an illustration of how little space there is to mess with up in the nose of the car.
There is still a long way to go, but just seeing the car sitting there as a car is great and a milestone in the project.
This is is absolutely freakin’ awesome. We can’t wait to keep you updated on the progress as Jon and John go full speed ahead on the car for the next month to get it ready for paint!
Nobody can fabricate like Jon and nobody but nobody paints like Blair. Who owns this beast ?
Impressive craftsmanship.
Good looking build…..but after going through all the work on this why is there a generic chevy powerplant? Why not build a ’64 chevelle? And dont call it the Thunderbolt from hell…unless it has the 427 Ford.
I totally agree, building a Thunderbolt with a GM motor is like building a Cobra kit car with a SBC GM motor. Great execution on many levels, poor provenance for the Thunderbolt
Amen! Ford in a Ford!
Why ruin a good Ford with a Chevy engine? And I agree with Glen Hayes don’t call it a Thunderbolt unless it has a Ford 427 in it.
What?!? A Chevy engine?!? Then it’s NOT a Thunderbolt!
Some of you may be over that but some of us are not!!!! (Chevy engine)
I agree, I was on board until I saw the BOWTIE.
F*%$# that “ShoveRolete” Henry would roll over in his grave to see someone DEFILE a T-Bolt like that
“Nuff Said”
how many frame jigs do they have that this car could sit on one from 2008 till now.. when they were at the rockland/hanover line, they only had one iirc
beautiful work….but I’m a little nervous about a fuel tank that wraps around the blower drive….
Liked it untill it showed the engine. That’s a shame they didn’t change it to something proper. A 427 Ford is obviously the first choice but a 460 or Windsor would even be OK.
Awesome car, I’m a FORD fan, first car was a 59′ t’bird (352fe) still have it. Now own 69′ fairlane Cobra 428cj, 69 Mach 428cj. Nothing wrong with Chevy power plant just not in a FORD, I love thunderbolts, but this is an epic fail without Ford horsepower. Even if it wasn’t an FE, a 429 boss, or 460 would’ve done the trick.
My Pontiacs both have chevys, but even so this ain’t right!!!!
As a builder of thunderbolt clones all I can say is that is FU**ING COOL. My dad raced a thunderbolt in 64-65 in the Midwest at us 30 dragsdtrip. I have been hooked on these cars for a long time and built my dad a clone of his car from 1964 (but with a ultra high rpm sbf with a 500 shot on her. she is a lot of fun. I am now working on one for me….think AF/X. A 64 post car with less than 30,000 mile on it…straight axle(bumper height is aprox 4 feet) tunnel rammed 466 bbf 4 speed and we are gonna drive it like a stolen car.
oh, so Ford don’t make engines then? great work fellas, but you broke an un-written rule there, sorry.
Ford Fairlane with a Chebby motor? Sorry. Interest gone.
Oh no a Chevy in a Ford! That never happens! Get over it. You would think the Ford guys would be over their shock after all the years of seeing Chevys in Fords. Maybe the car’s owner wants to get the most bang for his buck with reliable, proven power, and not spend a lot more on a Ford motor? Ever think of that? No I guess not.
Remember when Billy Glidden put his Ford Powerplant in a GTO/Camaro/Buick Electra225/whatever GM is? Ah the Chevrolet guys went nuts. If they want to put a Packard V-8 in this Fairlane, thats fine but it is not nor will it ever be a Thunderbolt.I agree with Pat. I was on board until I saw the engine.
the car looks awesome I saw it when it came in and jon started work, I wish I could have witnessed the progress because they both are so talented. I live in florida now and missed the weekly trips to jon’s shop to see the progress. good luck and look forward to seeing it done and maybe witness it go down the track. gene
You Ford guys are funny…
That is one nice car with some careful attention to detail.
I don’t care what it has in it.
What matters is how it runs, and in event that something catastrophic happens, keep the driver safe.
Magic right here. I will be able to go to your document. Appreciate it a great deal with this particular having a look in advance to feel a person. Would you like to you need to drop us a e-mail?
Currently building a 64 Fairlane and really like this build; HOWEVER, A Chevy???
That Sucks. Almost a sacrilege to even infer that this car is a Tbolt. With that said, it is pretty awesome.