REAL-WORLD REPAIR
THE COMBO
“I’ve always been a car guy,” Don Hicks recalls. “I’ve owned a lot of Fords, going back to a 1969 Boss 302 Mustang in college. I love working on cars and going to shows. About nine years ago, I found this 1973 convertible sitting in a local farmer’s barn. The price was right, and my wife and I think convertibles are really cool. Later I found out the car was originally sold in Honolulu, Hawaii, and—from what I am told—was at least a ‘drive-around’ car for the cast on the original Hawaii 5-O [TV show] back in the 1970s.
“When I retired, I finally had time to add a complete Global West front suspension and SSBC front disc brakes. I put a new top on it, then a fiberglass front bumper which took 70 pounds off the front-end. I swapped the FMX automatic trans for a T5 five-speed manual, clutch, pressure plate, and cable-clutch bellhousing I found for sale on Craigslist, then installed it using a Modern Driveline kit. I exchanged the 2.75:1 rear gears and open diff in the 28-spline 9-inch Ford rearend for a 3.25:1 ratio with a Locker. At first, I was just going to rebuild the existing 351C-2V engine but found out a stroker kit was almost the same price.”
A local shop bored the block 0.030-inch over, and with the now 4.030-inch bore plus the
