I bought this 62 Galaxie decklid off of Randy (henrysnephew) on the HAMB a few years ago. It is an original lightweight peice that was never on a car and Randy was so kind to part with it. The inside finish was kind of crude and actually was scaling to where it would not take primer or prep work for primer. We took it to a sand blaster and removed the worst of the layered scale then kept blowing it down with a pressure washer and air. Finally we got to something stable that would take primer without flaking back off. I wanted the thing to look like a steel lid from the inside without all the hairy material. So I fabbed some templates and do***ented the install with pictures. Just thought some of you guys would find it interesting. Travis
I used some Black .040 aluminum for the panels and then run them through the bead roller with a step die on the bottom / round bead die on the top.
The black aluminum does still have the protective plastic on it in the pictures. The decklid looked good laying on the saw horses but really looked better once it was hung on the car. The roll bar to frame cover that I made the same way but with the dies reversed.
Sorry I did not snap any pics of the fastening process. I did glue them down with 100% clear silicone. Should stay flexible and silicone is an excellent adhesive.
The stock decklid is 86lbs and is huge. The factory lightweight without the aluminum and silicone was right at 15lbs. I'll have to weigh it again since the dress up.
They built 11, 10 of those were the last 10 '62s off the ***embly line in 1962. They were built mainly for the Nats at Indy. They performed poorly because of a lack of testing. Most of the racers got the cars only a week or two before the event. I was lucky to have helped Steve Magnante write an article about these cars for Muscle Car Review magazine. We entered the Peterson Archives in LA and pulled photos from the '62 Nationals for the article. It was a great experience. Many of the cars were rebodied as 1963 models. **** Brannan, Gas Ronda and Les Ritchey's cars were all rebodied with the newer body. Ford sold a "kit" to turn a standard '62 into a lightweight over the counter. This included fibergl*** trunk lid, hood and doors. Most likely this lid was leftover from that program. Travis is building an awesome car here. All of his work is great!!
Jody, What was the 11th car?? The last ten were SN#'s: 31 thru 40. Who got the 11th car? Also, which year/month of Muscle Car Review was the article you mention? Len
The odd car of the bunch was built earlier in '62 at the Chicago ***embly plant unlike the cars you speak of which were built in Wayne. Ford records show this car was an engineering test car and went to Stark Hickey. The magazine is the August 2008 issue of Muscle Car Review.
The Jalopy Journal
