i bought a galaxie today

i bought a 1966 galaxie 500 4 door hardtop off the original owner today. it has a 352 and an automatic. amazingly dent and rust free. the lady who owned it didnt know much about it as it was her husbands car. anyone have one and willing to share knowledge? is the 352 a good motor for a daily driver? what tranny does it have? it comes home friday and i get to make it run after 20 years or so of not running.

anyone got any paint ideas for it either? its white with nice red interior. i am thinking a silver or gray body with black rims and roof.

 

Midnight blue is the only way to go.

352s are OK as a driver. its just the smaller FE motor. But it should get you around just fine.

If its a '66 it should have a C6.

 

Dear fellow Ohioan.. Probably noones gonna replie to your post due to the 1964 cut-off limit. But Ya, thats a cool car. I just picked - up a 1966 buick electra 401cid for $750. Been in a barn for 20 years.Brakes went out and it got parked.

 

My parents had a 65 4 door sedan at one time. It had a 352 and automatic. It wasn't amazingly dent free after being caught in softball-sized hail. It was a very solid and trouble-free car. The 352 was completely reliable and capable of towing a heavily-loaded U Haul (once) or boat trailer (regularly) at 75mph all day long. Transmission will probably be an FMX, which will have a cast iron case. I always liked these and Fairlanes from the same years even though they're about the boxiest cars ever built. Any plans for it yet?

 

I have a 66 2dr Galaxie with the 4brl 352 and automatic. I love the forward look of the car. I think they are under appreciated. Its little new for discussing on the HAMB so I don't mention it unless I have a stubborn issue to resolve.

Parts are plentiful for the 4 doors. Lots on Ebay.

There are a couple of Galaxie lists you can get on and learn a lot. I'll look for them and send you a PM. There is also a Galaxie forum on www.fordmuscle.com that is helpful.

The FE motors are strong and reliable. You won't win any races with the 352 in stock form. Speed parts can be pricey. There was some pics of someone's Galaxie on here that was kind of a satin red color with chrome smoothies and bagged that looked pretty sharp. For me, no other color but black thrills me on these cars. Since its a 4 dr you could go with an old cop car theme for fun.

 

i'm just gonna make it a nice looking driver. my grandfather says it needs whitewalls and full wheelcovers with the skirts that are on it. i am thinking dog dish caps with trim rings, blackwalls and no skirts.

the cop car thing did cross my mind since its white already.

 

Its not going to be a C6 and its not going to be an FMX transmission. A C6 is a common swap though. I understand there are about 3 variations of the Cruise-O-Matics. They look very similar to an FMX. Both have a cast iron case while the tailshaft and bell housing is all aluminum. I believe the FMX has the dip stick tub going into the cast iron housing where as the Cruise-O-Matic it goes into the side of the pan. A C6 is entirely amuminum case. The only way to know for sure is to get the numbers off the door tag and someone can decipher on one of the forums or lists. You'll see the name Russ Owen pop up a lot. He is a Galaxie guru and super nice helpful guy.

 

the 352 will make a fine driver, i have one in my '64... and yeah you'll hear some bitching that it's a '66 and even more because it's a four door... but then again it's a good looking car and it *is* a hardtop. here's my '64...

 

here's some quick&dirty photoshop for you. just get it running and while you're at it - get it low. for color, i say black body + black steelies, it will reduce the "land yacht" look.

 

The black 66 is mine. The 64 was just one I saw parked. There is also a pic of the red bagged one I mentioned.

 

I'd like to hear more about your ideas. Let's get some photchopiing going on.

There's a clean looking 4 -door for sale around the corner from my house. I've been driving by it for about a week wondering how it would lokk in my driveway.

 

The HAMb won't be to inviting for you and that car But Los Boulevardos CC will be if you do it right...It is a 4 door hard top it will look bitchen...you will get a lot of whinning and bitching about 4 doors and it being a 66 and all that....Lower that thing and drive it. someone will say throw supremes on it and pinner whites....whatever on that....roll that thing on the steel rims and pinners with spider caps...

Gooz you a fool for not picking it up on the cheap....

 

way cool old ride! my folks had a white one with a light blue interior. It had the 390 fe engine in it with automatic. It was a real reliable driver for several years and lots of road trips. black steelies,baby moons,trim rings and thin stripe whites.Shave the door handles,cut one coil all 'round and drive the sox of it!Color choice?semi gloss black with SILVER pinstripes and possibly some stripe flames outlines. my .02 cents
R.R.

 

ya know seems like alot more ppl saying beware of bitching because of year and body style then i actualy see bitching about it.

its close enough that done in the correct style its fine on the hamb. how many 66 rivis and ect do you see around here? plenty.

dont build a 66 like a "50s" custom. build a 66 like a 66. thats were most the problems lay with questionable years. that and 64 keeps out muscle cars

 

frank's car is a great example.

 

The great thing about a 66' is the coil springs in the rear. It's an easy drop. Every Ford up to that point had leafs on the rear. I have a no title complete 66' 4 dr. hardtop that I saved from being crushed in about two hours, I was told at the time. Seems those wrecking yard jerks from the middle east give no value to great old American tin. All they see is scrap. I had to literally beg them to sell it to me. They had already mashed a complete 64' 4 dr.. I didn't even wan't the 66', but I couldn't stand to watch it dissappear. Just call me sentimental! Now I've got another car I need to sell. Ugh!

 

My Grandparents had a tan 66 Galaxie 4-door hardtop with a 352 in it. They owned it until about 1977 when they traded it for a new LTD II. It was reliable or they would not have kept it so long. I know it would do 90 mph since I rode to church with them one Sunday with Grandma at the wheel, Grandpa riding shotgun and me in the back seat watching the speedometer.

Make sure you inspect the frame just in front of the rear wheels, those old Galaxie frames like to rust and break in that location.

 

I've been looking for a 65 or 66 Custom 500 2 door post. I would drop it down, put on red steelies with spider caps, thin whitewalls and metal flake the top (silver). That original orange color emberglow? would look nice with some extra pearl in it too.

 

here are some pics. its got clear vinly seat covers on it still. 35,126 miles

 

I think they are cool, a good rule of thumb is dont make it something it's not, keep it within the era it is suppposed to be and it will be fucking rad, that bagged one Frank posted is a good example.

 

Nice lookin' '65. I scanned down the thread and saw the pics.. Here are the membership addys of the two Ford Galaxie lists:

http://lists.twistedpair.ca/mailman/listinfo.cgi/galaxie

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/fordgalaxieclub/

http://www.fordmuscle.com has a pretty good Galaxie forum.

I also co-own a Ford based website/Yahoogroup located at:
http://www.world-of-fords.org

Galaxies are prime discussion material there.

I've got a '64 Custom...baseline fullsized Ford, but with my recent purchase of a '37 Chevy circle burner, the Custom will get just enough work done to cruise reliably this summer.

BTW, we're neighbors. I live in Niles...

Jan

 

THose pictures are great! That's a 65 in the photos. Interesting splash shield work on the front fenders! As nice as it is with the low miles, wild vinyl top, great interior, I'd just drop it and still add the red steelies and spider caps. That thing's cool just the way it is. (I might remove those "custom" splash shields on the front fenders though...) Nice skirt - do you just have the drivers side?

 

Looks like a '65 judging by the headlights and grille. Did you get a title with it?

 

How about a red flake roof and wheels with narrow band whites and spiders?

on the floor of course

 

the other skirt is in the trunk. she thought it was a 66, i'm picking it up friday, it has a title. i dont know anything about these cars. the price was too good too pass up. what kind of mileage can i expect with a 2 barrel and stock exhaust?

i'll probably cut a coil or two. where i park at work has huge pot holes from the trucks going in and out all day so i cant lower it too much.

whats the best source for a plain dog dish hubcap? if i can find some older rims i might run a set of 46 ford caps just cause i like them. it will have blackwall tires, cause i dont like whitewalls.

 

Dude, that white Galaxie is a '65...

 

Woops, just noticed that somebody else beat me to that.

 

Why the hell is this post so wide?? It's unreadable!

Anyway, Galaxies are cool cars. Good luck with it, whatever you do.

 

the other one should join it and they should stay there other than that cool car

 

352's are good motors. Think of it as a destroked 390. I think they rev a little better with the shorter stroke but I haven't got a data chunk for you to examine on that subject. Consider this to be anecdotal information and at worst heresay.
If it's a two barrel you can coax decent economy from it. Autolite carbs are overlooked but are easy to live with.

I have heard that the 65-66 redesign had front end durability problems which were corrected by 67. Apparantly that's the reason there aren't as many around as there are 61-64s.