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Old Ford Fan
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Ohio
Posts: 337
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Re: Tell us about YOUR Galaxie
This list is dead...hopefully I'm not just talking to myself, but it kinda looks that way- anyway, kinda bored, so heres my car stories:
When I was 15 my mom gave me the rusty old galaxie they bought 7 or 8 years earlier- was a 69 two door hardtop, kinda turquoise where not rusted, perfect black interior, 429 4 barrel- was detectives car from town we lived in- came from police auction, had huge sway bar up front , all the cop car goodies, except wasnt 4 door.
The thing had ate a starter a year(these things are 10.3 to 11:1 compression depending which book you look at- dont crank too easy when hot), and the last time my stepdad- Jim- changed it I was visiting my dad in colorado- Jim had a paralyzed arm, and although he could do most things(was a machinist) it wasnt easy- somehow he managed to do it by himself- had to jack up car, pull out one motor mount bolt, jack motor up, probably dropped the old starter, but had to hold the new one up and start the bolts with one hand. Anyway when I got home the car was sitting- somehow a wire got against the exhaust, and caught fire under the hood. Mom was going to junk it as it was about shot anyway, but I begged her to let me try to fix it, not to junk it. Reluctantly she said if i could get it running in a week, i could keep it, if not it had to go- a cousin had offered to buy the motor out of it and scrap the rest.
I found wiring diagram at the library, made up new wiring harness for starter/alternator/ignition, and son of a gun it started right up. I had wanted this car since I was a kid, because it was the fastest thing I'd ever rode in. For a big stock car, it would peg you in the seat like an airplane taking off. I worked on it as much as I could, spent what money I earned working at a restaurant on it- had it looking like new inside, and under the hood- never forget, I put a big yellow Accell supercoil in it and was setting timing when the gas tank ran low- engine started to lean out/rev up, I panicked and pulled the coil wire off...50,000 volts...couldnt let go of it for several seconds as the motor coasted to a stop- my arm hurt for a week. Started slapping bondo in the rust holes(doh), most of the car was in primer when I got my license. took me all of three weeks to total it...never give a kid a bigblock.
Next I bought a 71 LTD with a 400 in it for $75. After minor repairs, polishing, touching up, it looked perfect inside and from 10 feet away outside too- but motor was shot, burned two quarts a week just going to school and back- smoking like a freight train...I had already pulled my 429 apart to rebuild it(although it was fine), put rings, bearings in, test ran it...but Mom and Dad didnt think I could swap engines by myself and said 'no'. I seized the 400 up(no oil), let it cool, drove two more blocks, seized again, let it cool, drove home and seized in the driveway...surely now they would let me swap it- Dad came home, we put oil in it and the darn thing ran for another year- I got a 'real' job, bought a 71 elcamino, and scrapped the 71 ltd- two guys came with a towtruck, I told them to just drive it, they did, and I watched it go smoking down the street...
Ended up putting a 396 in the elcamino- big cam, headers, straight thrush mufflers... almost lost my license with tickets. That thing was never nearly as quick or fast as the 429 though. Couple years out of highschool, bought a acapulco blue 69 mustang fastback from its original owner(she got it for graduation present!), drove it about a year with its 302, put edelbrock intake, mild cam, small holley, mach1 interior, slats, wing on it- then got the windshield busted out one night by some kids throwing beer bottles, got so frustrated, put it in the garage- pulled the motor and sold it to commit myself to the bigblock conversion, and it's sat there from '84 until this past summer. I rolled it out annually to wash/wax it, even put new tires/torquethrust-d's on it...
years passed, got married, divoriced, remarried, had three kids- one had major health problems, three open heart surgeries, two caths...anyway, that changed the priorities bigtime, he got better, we managed to pay off the medical bills without going bankrupt or loosing our house...now he's 5, and loves to help work on things, so been back in the garage for first real time in years...
When my neighbor Ben got deathly ill last year, I went to see him in the hospital- he told me he decided he wanted me to have his 65 galaxie, as he thought I would get it running and take good care of it- he just asked that maybe I'd drive it to the graveyard once in a while(his wife and my stepdad are buried in the same graveyard). Ben came home,and my nephew and I pushed as Bens brother steered the galaxie into my driveway- he wanted it out of his garage so he could have a garage door replaced, as he was trying to get his affairs in order. I started right away, getting brakes/carb rebuilt, got it going, drove it to his house, and got him to come outside to take it for a spin- he seemed really happy to be behind the wheel again. I had hoped to give the car back, but when working on it found the frame was really shot, and was afraid it would break- jacked around, looked strong enough to drive, but I knew it had to be looked at soon. Ben got better over the next 4 months, and I finally worked up to telling him I needed to pull the body off for safety reasons- At first he was like "well its yours, do whatever you want with it"- but when the frame rolled out and he saw it he understood why. He felt bad, said he would have just junked it if he'd known it was that bad underneath, but I told him it was just the frame, the car was in great shape otherwise, and I promised myself I'd do my best not to destroy it-or even scratch it...he had pulled this thing out to polish it often since it was new (up until his wife passed away a couple years ago), and it appeared to be rust free- on the outside. As I got the frame reconstructed, it was starting to look too good underneath- I kinda got carried away, and decided to detail out the undercarriage- as the undercoating came off, the rust started showing- and my little frame repair job took on a life of its own... The 65 has about killed me...I bet 500+ hours and at least $3000 in parts, paint, etc...plus had to buy a welder and run 220 to the garage...
Hopefully it will be done soon, and the mustang can finally get started- Someday it's getting that same 429 my mom got 32 years ago(but Ive been saying that since '84).
As my kids are getting old enough to help and are eager to say the least, it has been fun at times working on this thing, but I'm running out of steam. Hopefully It will be done in a couple more weeks, I can give it back to Ben and then me and the three stooges can start (slowly) on the mustang. but for now, they are all wanting to go for a ride in Ben's car.
The mustang can take another 6-7 years, thats fine by me, I'll never fool myself into thinking I could go over a car inside and out in a few months.
As far as Galaxies go, someday I'd love to find another 69 two door(non XL)
with the black interior, and 429 4 barrel. The dash in those cars was very cool as it kinda wraps around the driver, and to anyone thats never driven one of these big heavy cars, that ride cant be beat on a long trip.
I think most people miss their old cars, not sure if it's just "wanting to be young again" or not, but I still like to think it was the neat cars...to me 1969 was the ultimate styling year for cars- especially fords.
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Confidence: that feeling you have just before you realize the mess you've gotten yourself into...
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Re: Tell us about YOUR Galaxie
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