So I think I have a problem. Well, sort of. What I mean is I have a 1964 ford galaxie 2 door hardtop. According to the VIN and warranty plate she was born in davenport in november. has a 3.89:1 rear axle, Raven black paint, black vynly bench seat interior, a 289 with a 2 barrel, and an overdrive trans. So here is the dilema. Is the #'s matching thing really worth it? Cause apparently I have ALL that come with the car minus the original trans. But I have a set of bucket seats and console for an sutomatic and a 390. What would you guys do? Restoration? Throw the 390 in it? Kind of torn here. Never been faced with this before.... And lastly. The overdrive trans it is supposd to have. Would that be an automatic overdrive? Or a 3 speed overdrive? Thanks guys. Learning can **** sometimes!
With you on that. Auto is just not the way to go IMO either. I have an RUG trans. Although NOT factory. But it is waht I already have. So I might do that. Just figuring stuff out right now.
Don't fret the matching #s on a 64 Ford. A 289 64 Ford is not worth it. If it was a high HP engine then the numbers might be worth putzing with but a garden variety 64 Ford like yours is not worth the trouble. Put in what ever you want. 289 302 or a 390 etc. etc. automatic or stick. It's your car and the desirability of your engine/trans is not that high. My buddy has a 64 that started as a 6 cyl stick and now has a 427 4spd.
If you opt for the 390 and 4-speed, you will need a different bell housing and flywheel. The 289 stuff does not fit.
Tommy's right. If you wanted to put a 289 in a #s matching 427, that would be crazy. But how can you go wrong with a bigger engine, right? Now go put that 390 in.
You don't have that rare of a car to not change it into what you want. Usually only the high performance and rare factory stuff is worth keeping it original unless its for sentimental reasons. You can put in one of the old 3speed overdrive top loader imposters. The fourth gear is overdrive and nobody will know but you unless you drag race it and break it.
What's your intended use and your budget? There's 'original', there's 'period', and there's 'whatever you want to do'. FEs work nice, are definitely 'period' and it's always cool to look for the intake sticking under the valve covers, but for functionality a 351/393/408W would work at least as well. If I were building a driver I would not use anything short of a 5-speed manual (TKO500, for one of those engines) or 4-speed automatic (AOD or 4R70W if you don't mind some electronics) and a 3.50 rear is always good with something like that. But to be 'period' you need a Toploader or nothing later than a C-6. The 'PCE' build-code iron Cruise-o-Matics work fine behind a 390 - IF you can find the parts to rebuild one. What would I do? Well, this thing: looks to be going back together with this: but it's neither 'original' nor particularly 'period'. And I've always wondered just how well a Toyota 2JZ-GTE would fit in an old Galaxie, but that's thoughtcrime Maybe a 240 six with a pair of GT25 or GT28 turbos...
Like what you are doing with it! We had planned to do something like that. But time and money. I am building this car so I can sell it and put a small down payment on my house I am renting. So we have to keep the money spent down unfortunately cause we have a time limit with the down payment. 1 year. I can do a lot in that time period, but I have to have the time to finish it AND sell it by then. I got a 390 for free. Runner. Needs 4 barrel and cool stuff like that. I was able to grab up a 500xl bucket seats and console for an auto on the cheap. $400. The car has a 289 in it. I have an RUG 4 speed and bellhousing/clutch laying around for it that I got free as well. I have no trans for the 390 yet. I have a few grabs I am looking at though. I have the shifter for the auto from the 500xl as well. Just lookin to make something cool but somewhat profitable as well. Thanks for all the replies.
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