CRAIG "2TON" CAPRARO Founding Member
Gotta Hot Rod Ford...
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Craig Capraro competes for Team Roadkill in the Top Street class in his four door, 1964 Ford Fairlane. Craig's 2007 season was a tough one, blowing the engine that had powered his Fairlane to consistent 13.50's and .60's for the last 8 years. Since a new engine had to be built, the decision was made to step up the performance a little. To that end, Craig built a stroked 302. Returning to the track at the end of the 2007 season, the car went a best of 12.519 at 107.93 mph. During the offseason, some tuning changes were made to the engine. Those changes paid off. So far in the 2008 season, the car is consistently running 12.30's at 110 + MPH. The car is driven regularly on the street and features a full interior and fully functioning lights and accessories. The car is all motor; There are no power adders.
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The engine, transmission, rear differential and all vehicle mechanical systems were built by Craig. The Fairlane is powered by a 1965 vintage Ford 289 block bored .040" and stuffed full of 3.400" stroker crank, 5.400" rods, and Probe flat top pistons. The compression runs about 11.0:1 on the flat top pistons. The camshaft is a custom solid roller provided by Cam Research with lift in the .545" range and 335ish duration at .050". The cylinder heads are Edelbrock Victor Jr's. that Craig did some mild port work on. The heads were also milled .015" to increase compression slightly. Scorpion roller rocker arms, K-Motion valve springs, Comp Cams pushrods, and link-bar solid roller lifters from Cam Research round out the valvetrain. The intake manifold is an Edelbrock Victor Jr. and carburation is a 2Ton modified Holley 650 DP. An MSD 6AL and distributor are used to fire the spark plugs. The Headers are modified Hedman headers and the exhaust is 2.5" dual with 4 mufflers to keep the whole thing stealthy.
The transmission is a 1970 vintage C-4 that Craig rebuilt using heavy duty frictions and bands. The torque converter was built for the application by TCI. Craig performed the valve body and governor modifications to the transmission to ensure that shifts are quick and on time. The differential is the original 8" housing fitted with a factory limited slip differential and Richmond 4.11:1 gears. Mickey Thompson ET Street Drag Radials put it all to the ground.
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Craig and his wife also own a 1964 Galaxie 500 XL. Craig originally ran the car in the early '90's with some success, and ran it during the 2007 season while the engine for the Fairlane was being built. The car is a survivor, with it's share of little flaws. It is an original 4V 390 car, with the Cruisomatic transmission. The engine remains but the transmission was ditched in favor of a C6. The rear differential is a Ford locker 9" with 3.55:1 gears. With the full XL bucket seat interior the car weighs in at a massive 4320 pounds, but with the modifications that have been made, still runs in the 15.80 second range. Not bad for a sled this size. Plans for the car include paint and bodywork and (of course) a little more power.
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During the spring of 2007, Craig sold his Escort wagon to his son Cody. Craig had run the 1994 Escort at SCCA solo events on occasion. Cody had planned on racing the Escort, but unfortunately, he was hit by a red light running fool. The car was totalled and these pictures are here to prove only that the Capraro family members don't care what they race as long as they are racing.
