Here is our 1964 Galaxie 500, factory Big Block 390 Cubic Inch 4-Speed Car!
My love for the 64 is driven by its NASCAR heritage and what was to be the Hemi Killer had NASCAR not banned the Ford 427 "Cammer." I remember reading
an excerpt from an old story--In May of 1964, a ’64 Galaxie hardtop with a Cammer V8 installed was parked behind Gasoline Alley at the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway, where the assembled press corps could get a good look at it. The story piqued my interest and was only reinforced by the fact that Junio Johnson
drove Galaxies. He's my favorite NASCAR driver of all time!
She's a long-term project and this is as far as we are today. The body, undercarriage and doghouse is all done and a freshly built Tremec TR3650
(5-Speed) sits alongside her awaiting the 2016 Ford Coyote.
Interior Picts Coming Soon!
Drivetrain Picts Coming Soon!
On to the front brakes--drums out, discs in!
I purchased a set of spindles and caliper brackets from a 1979 Thunderbird, bead blasted, rust neutralized, primered and painted;
then installed them with new rotors, seals, bearings, caps, calipers and hoses.
She's coming home!
Goodbye, Indy, Hello Florida!”
It’s like Icing a cake as the stainless steel trim is meticulously buffed out and reinstalled on the car.”
Cut-n-Buff Time”
On with several coats of clear.”
The color is on, even and setting in preparation for clear.”
Final assembly--doors and lids have been reinstalled and aligned.
After some light sanding and masking work she’s back into the booth for a few final coats of color.”
This is a replacement dashboard located in Clearwater Florida—the original had several rust holes on the passenger side where the window to A-Pillar seal likely
leaked over the years.
The steering column was prepped and painted while the wheel is left original.
Although rarely seen, the undercarriage needs to be protected from rust so everything was blasted to bare steel, rust cut out and repaired, epoxy sealed and
painted “Hot Rod Black!”
After the firewall was painted the heater blower motor was removed, prepped and painted satin black for cleaner appearance.
Time to lay down some basecoat clearcoat!
The doors were solid and just needed basic prep
Next up, the roof line and passenger’s side quarter panel.
The driver's quarter panel was rusted along the lower halve. The Galaxie's quarters are so large they have to be purchased in sections. We were
able to do this job with just the two lower sections.
The entire forward section as well as the lower passenger corner of the trunk lip had to be replaced, most likely due to water accumulating above the
trunk seal which overtime lead to rust.
Area’s containing rust holes are cut out and patched.
All of the solid areas not requiring additional body work are epoxy sealed to keep out contaminants and prevent the bare steel from rusting, again.
Fresh back from media blasting on 2/6/15, both interior and exterior (top and bottom) has been stripped down to bare steel revealing all of the rust damage that has
occurred in fifty-one years.
Stripping began on 11/13/14 when the area’s most prone to media blasting warpage were worked down to bare steel and epoxy sealed.
The teardown started on 9/19/14 and only revealed a couple surprises. There was some rust on the passenger side dashboard (possibly from a leaking A-Pillar seal), and on
the inside of the driver’s front inner fender. The body, however, appears to be as straight or better than expected for a fifty year old barn find.
These were taken by the seller at time of purchase. We purchased this one (6/7/14) via telephone and hired a transport company
to get it from Idaho to Indiana where the restoration shop is located. She had 54K miles on the odometer and a 390/3-Speed just sitting
in the cradle. The original drivetrain was long gone—likely donated to a drag car back in the day. This particular motor is from an early
70’s truck; so it’s on the way out for something much more radical.
