65 4dr 289 maintenance ease?

[Winums2]

Hi

A 65 4 door 500 with a 289 v8 engine in nice shape is available near me. I have never worked on cars, but thought this might be a good one to start getting a little experience with.

Is this a relatively simple car to work on, repair and maintain for a novice do it yourselfer?

Are parts readily available and affordable?

How is the gas mileage with these engines?

[427fordman]

Anything that is this old is a heck of a lot easier to work on than a new car. It is a good one for a rookie. 289 parts are easy to come across and reasonably priced. Auto Krafters is a good body parts source. Your mileage will be around 15mpg(just guessing). Have fun with it.

[Winums2]

Thanks! I hope to.

[Winums2]

Yesterday I read that the 65 Fairlane had a unibody construction rather than a frame. Seems pretty early for a unibody. We put salt on roads up here, so that wouldn't be too good. When I asked the seller, he said it had a frame rather than unibody. Is the seller correct?

[427fordman]

I can't tell you for sure cause I've never looked on a 65 but my 66 was originally a unibody. I think yours is too. Look underneath, right by drivers door. If frame stops by tranny then goes to floor and starts frame in back again then it is unibody. You can connect the front and rear frame rails with some 2x2 iron to make it stiffer.

[Winums2]

Ok, Thanks.