David, you do a great job with these kinds of projects. The cars you build require a considerable amount of vision to be able to see what you want the finished product to be. I am looking forward to the day we see this finished and I love your photos of progress made along the way.
My dad bought a brand new Fairmont in 1978. It had the anemic 4 cyl motor in it. He bragged about the gas mileage. To make a long story short I ended up with the car eventually. By then the anemic 4 had gotten more anemic. Parking it with the manual trans in first gear would not hold it on a fair hill due to loss of compression. I sold it for $500 to someone who needed it more than I did.
I did not realize, until just a few years ago that the Fairmont was built on the same chassis as a Fox body Mustang. In the first picture of this car, the 1:1 race car, the Fox body shape is unmistakable. I did not like the real car I had. Sure would have run lots better with a Ford small block in it I bet. Here is a link to the Wikipedia entry on the evolution of the Fox body at Ford Motor Co.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Fox_platformGreat work, keep it up and share it with us.
MB