1978 Ford Fairmont

Futura Coupe

6 - Cyl.

Automatic

8E35T533119

Clear

Gasoline

This is a 1978 Mercury Zephyr Z7 2 Door Sport Coupe. The Zephyr Z7 is the Mercury twin of the Ford Fairmont Futura. I am listing it under Fairmont as there is no such category for the Mercury Zephyr and it is essentially the same car with Mercury badges and "Ride Engineered" suspension. This car was purchased new by an older woman back in '78 and she racked up 54,000 miles between then and March 2007 when I bought the car from her as she was in her 90s and could no longer drive. As you can see in the photo of the title, it is marked as a NEW car title by New York State. I also have much of the matching original paperwork including the owners car, owners manual, various other documents and even the Car Owner's Companion folder listing the owner's name, the serial number, the selling dealer (her next door neighbor) and even the key codes. I also received a photocopy of the original bill of sale for the Zephyr with the car. It is dated 5-10-78. Here are the specs. Base price $4,118 Optional equipment $1,255 D&D $237 Insp. fee $3 Sales Tax $332 License and title $10 Total Cash Price $5955 Mabel traded in a '68 Mercury and got $866 off for it. Optional Equipment 3.3 Litre 200CID $120 select shift automatic $368 WSW radial tires $42 pwr steering var. ratio $140 def. elect. rear window $63 radio AM $72 App. Prot. grp. $36 Mirrors dual $30 Custom white vnyl roof $190 Prep. $75 Undercoating $35 As you can see, this is a very low optioned vehicle. Particularly desirable are the absence of air conditioning or power windows. According to the title, this car weighs a mere 2,652lbs. It is extremely light and would be an excellent basis for a sleeper. This was my plan when I purchased the car. Zephyrs and Fairmonts are FOX chassis vehicles, and as such most 5.0 Mustang parts will bolt right up. I have a few of those and that is exactly what I was planning on doing before I got promoted and transferred to Manhattan. Many of those parts have now been loaded into the trunk and are included with the vehicle. Over the past 4 years I have made some repairs to the car but really haven't had time to do much else and that is why I'm thinking about selling it. That and I'm getting married in September. Here is what I've done to it since I've had it. First of all, when I bought it, it ran quite poorly. I had noted that the master cylinder was leaking and presumed, quite correctly, that it had leaked inside the booster as well, destroying the integrity of the diaphragm and creating a vacuum leak. Both of these parts were indeed bad. Rather than merely replace them, I upgraded to the Heavy Duty dual-diaphragm booster designed for a Mustang GT as well as the Mustang GT aluminum master cylinder in lieu of the original cast iron unit. Both of these re-manufactured parts were installed in 2007 and have essentially no miles on them. At that time I also overhauled the carburetor and later located, purchased and installed an new Motorcraft vacuum choke pull-off. The car now runs excellent. It fires right up when you turn the key and is ready to take you wherever you want to go. Just depress the pedal to the floor once to set the choke as per the owner's manual, turn the key and va-vroom, the trusty 200 CID six roars to life. I do this once a week and drive back and forth in my driveway to keep everything limber. The cap, rotor, plugs, and PCV valve have all been recently replaced and I also have some new wires for it that I had planned on installing. The current ones tested fine with an ohmmeter so I left them alone and the new wires are included with the car. The battery and tires are brand new. I replaced them in the summer when I got sick of dealing with the weak and crusty ancient battery and 1980s vintage dry-rotted and leaky tires. Now she's rolling on four new Goodyears with nothing but weekly back and forth driveway driving on them in the way of mileage. The battery is an upgrade as it is larger and has more cranking amps than the wimpy original battery. It should easily spin over a V8 should you choose to install one. When I pulled the wheels off to have new tires put on them, I noted that the car still had it's original 1978 date coded front rotors in good condition. The pads are also original, and after 54k miles they are looking a little thin, about 1/8" to go before the wear indicators start touching the rotors. I bought new pads, however I have not yet installed them. They are included with the car. I also replaced the valve cover gasket on the car as, not surprisingly, it leaked. There do not appear to be any other significant leaks and the engine itself runs excellent. It does not knock, ping, or blow smoke. Timing has been properly set to 12 degrees BTDC with the distributor vacuum line disconnected and plugged and the idle set to 550 rpm in drive with the brakes applied. The transmission is a C4 according to the door tag, and it shifts great. The rear axle is a 7.5" unit with 2.45 gears in it. I have a spare 3.08 geared 8.8" Quad-Shock Traction-Loc Mustang GT axle I was going to swap in. For $100 extra I'll throw it in with the car. Or, for $50, you can have the disc brake 3.27 geared Lincoln Mark VII 8.8 rear which I also have. Both rears are complete with brakes and have been stored indoors since being removed from their respective vehicles. Axles must be paid for and picked up the same day that you take the car. I have some other V8 conversion parts that are also included with the car and have already been loaded into the trunk. Included is a low-mileage '93 Mustang K-member and control arms which will work for either a V8 or even a Turbo 4 swap. There is a transmission crossmember from a '79 Mustang Turbo Cobra in great condition. My friend used this crossmember to install the Summit Racing H-pipe on his car and it worked. I don't know if it will clear a stock 5.0 Mustang H-pipe or not, but hey, it's free with the car. Speaking of stock Mustang GT H-pipes, one of those is included and is loaded into the trunk as well. There are two Mustang dash clusters inside, one from a '79 Turbo Cobra and the other from an '85 LX. Also there are some suspension upgrades including springs and a full set of low mileage take-off shocks and struts. The struts are from an '87 GT and the rear shocks are Monroe Sensi-Trac from an '86 GT. The full set of springs from the '87 GT have been tucked behind the driver's seat on the floor and can be seen in the photos. Also from the '87 GT is a a fast ratio steering rack. The driver's side inner tie rod currently on the car is bad and makes a clunking noise. Rather than simply replace it, I was planning on upgrading to the Mustang rack when I swapped out the K frame to install a 5.0L H.O. V8. The exterior of the car is a bit weathered from three decades of sun, wind, and rain. The vinyl top is actually in pretty good shape considering its age. The body is very solid in general. Floors, trunk pan, and undercarriage are all solid. Bottoms of the doors are not rotted out as seen in the photos. There are some spots of surface rust, mostly on the lower body. The only real rust on the car is around the lip of the trunk underneath the lid and in the quarters behind the wheelwells. The rust is not too bad and could be easily patched with a little fiberglass. I have already patched the trunk lip to keep the water out and prevent the rust from getting any worse. Terms of sale are $295 non-refundable deposit due immediately, balance of $1,000 to be paid in CASH at time of pickup. Vehicle to be paid for and picked on or before 5:00 pm EST on July 10, 2011 or sale will be cancelled and deposit will not be returned. Title and keys to be transferred to buyer only after final payment has been received. Vehicle sold AS-IS. There are no warranties of any kind, either explicit or implied. Please feel free to contact me with any questions. Oh, and Thanks for Looking. :-)