Projects 1962 Galaxie build

I am new here, but I thought I would share my ride. It is a 1962 Galaxie 500 that I have owned since 1996. It was pretty much my daily driver from 96 to 2001 until I parked it and left it feeling neglected. I have been through a lot in this car(a lot of fruit jar master cylinders as well) and now it is getting some love. The car is named Albert after the original owner and was treated poorly by the second owner.

The body mods-Removing a lot of the moldings and leaving only the thin stainless that runs the length of the car. Paint will be the original Baffin Blue(light blue) and the top might go white. No flake

Suspension-stock with lowering blocks in the rear and cut springs in the front.

Steerng-Power rack & pinion

Brakes-78 Thunderbird disks in the front and stock rears, power booster and dual reservoir master cylinder.

Wheels-Chrome stock style wheels with spyders with narrow whitewalls.

Engine-A mild 390 with a little cam and headers

Transmission-Tremec 3550

The interior-stock, but new

I want this to be a reliable cruiser that is done the way I like it. Everything is subject to change as I tend to change my mind a lot. Let me know what you think and I am open to suggestions.

 

I love Galaxies. It's generally not the kind of car that gets a lot of coverage here, but if you keep posting updates, I'll keep looking.

 

I meant to include this link to my cardomain page. This has more pics of the progress. http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3091676

 

Nice progress pictures. What are the clutch master & slave cylinders from orginally? Did you have to cut the tunnel to get that Tremac in there?

 

These blue ovals are super cruisers, our own Nick aka Malcolm on here just sold his great car, and I will miss seeing it around. I like what you are doing , perfect cruzer!! Enjoy bro!! ~Sololobo~

 

I love Galaxies you should check out Ian's 62 its bad ***!

 

I almost bought one of those one time. Bad *** cars. Those tail lights are ***s!

There's always lots of early to mid 60's clean driveable Ford cars in the trader here if anyone's looking.

 

Lookin good....what did the Tremec 3550 come out of? Will it bolt up to the factory housing?

 

School me on the Rack I have a 63 I'm working on... Thanks

 

I love the vision you have for your car. The mild custom with stock paint colors, and interior materials will be a great look for this car, keeping it subtle and cl***y. I've always liked the '62's as well. Good luck on the project keep us updated.

 

Domino, What Bellhousing are you using for the Tremec to FE???

I did the power rack conversion too on my '62 Merc Monterey (same ch***is as the Galaxie). It was fairly simple.

34toddster. Look for a late 80's Pontiac Sunfire or similar GM product for the rack. I made my own mounts and steering linkage.

 

I bought the Tremec used out of a 94 GT. It would have bolted up to the factory bellhousing if I had one. My bellhousing is off of a 66 F100 with a 352. I will have to run a spacer between the trans and bellhousing to get the right depth on the input shaft. If I had used a car bellhousing I could have just used a shorter input shaft.

My rack is from an 89 Cavakier if anyone wants a specific application.

 

nobody seemed to care for mine either, but I loved it!







...and isn't that what it's all about?
.
.
.

 

The 62 is my favorite. The only part I have NOT been able to get so far is the clutch pedal. I am not paying the ridiculous ebay prices for one.

 

Neat old car, and it seems you have a clear vision of how it should be when finished. Keep us updated as you go along.

 

Rustynutz- The master(5/8 bore) is out of an 84 Toyota pickup and the slave(3/4 bore) is out an 84 Mazda. I hope it works. All the math says it should, but math never was my best subject. I am hoping to make some progress on the body over the next couple weeks. I don't do body work and the guy that is helping me is busy at his 9 to 5 job. The body looks rough in the pics, but is actually very solid. The p***enger's side quarter was s****ed at some point and fixed poorly. I ground out all the filler someone put in and discovered it was a very shallow dent that runs the length of the quarter. We pulled most of it with a stud gun and the filler will be minimal. There have been 77 trim holes welded up on the body where various badges, moldings and scripts have been removed. I am using the front cap and several other parts off of the fordor parts car I found locally. I want the car to look like the parts I am changing could have come on it. I love the cl***ics, but some things needed upgraded. The original master cylinder and generator were constant problems before and have rightfully been replaced. Safety and reliability are key components in this build.

 

I had a '62 Vert.

Man, that car was really fun.
Overlooked Galaxie in my opinion.

 

390/5-speed, '62 Galaxie... I'm liking this already!! Keep it going, looks like you have a great start with a solid foundation. Thanks for posting.



Malcolm

 

Nick...you sold your Galaxie...??? What were you thinking....??? I thot you said you'd NEVER get rid of that car...!!! So many miles and so much love in that car...why...???

OK, so much for that...now that it's gone...now what...???

Sorry to hijck this thread...but I musta missed Malcom (Nick's) thread on him selling his Galaxie...

R-

 

Nice project! I love old Galaxies. Malcolm, you sold yours?

 

Cool stuff on this thread! I'm also a 62 fanatic (actually 60-64). My Merc is basically a Galaxie except for the nose and tail. Pretty much a restored stocker, just lowered, 68 390 with .560" Lunati cam and a 63 Cruise-o-matic with about a 3,000 stall converter.

 

welcome aboard.. Very nice and a great vision. These cars have allways been an overlooked comodity. Not really expensive and nice lines. I'm most interested about the disc brake setup. I have a 61 and the engine is just about done. I have a 351 C.

 

Hey that looks familar. Here is my dads he bought a few months back. Plans are for a mild custom. Sorry to hijack your thread. Looks like you got a good start

 

That is a nice car. The '62s have great proportions that can realy be enhanced with subtle modifications. I've always thought that they were just overlooked gems. Keep us posted on the build.

 

1962 Galaxie build

 

Frozen Merc have you had an engine and exhaust mocked up in you frame with the Rack installed in that position? The reason I ask is because on my 61 I had to mount the rack lower with the inner mounts of the tie rods actually above the rack to get it to clear the exhaust.

Scott...

 

Thanks for all the kind words guys. This has been a slow going process due to funding and time. There is never enough of either. The only part that I am unsure of is the hydraulic clutch. If I can make that work I can do all the rest. I traded a perfectly good running 90 Firebird Formula with an LT1/T56 swap to a friend in exchange for body work and paint. I am trying to this right.

Malcolm-I love your car. That is what I am shooting for. A nice cruiser that gets noticed.

Outlawsteel-That car looks very familiar. Riding a little high there. I am ***uming there is no engine in there.

 

I liked my 62 but it was fickle. when I tried to drive it out of town and sell it, it threw the fan belt, after repairing that the left front tire blew at 75mph, and the guy called the next day to say the trans quit shifting.



love the lines, and the taillights. my brother built a revell 1:12 model of one when I was 8 or 9 and I always remember the taillights like jet exhausts. gorgeous

 

I feel like galaxies get overlooked. they can be so bad ***! keep it up

 

one37tudor: I mocked up the engine, but no exhaust. I have room for the exhaust, but it will be tight, I may have to modify or make custom headers.

390merc: That is a Stunning Car!