A long restoration road nears the end....

Project nearing completion, 2015.  The carburetors on the car had several issues with leaking fuel, so I spent 2 weeks trying to fix them.  Ultimately, I replaced one of the fuel bowls...on the back carb.  Took the car out for a photo shoot, pictures turned out real nice.  A few other bugs need to be worked out, including rebuilding the transmission.

September 2013....After a long process of bodywork and paint, the Galaxie is back on the road.  This picture was taken with a majority of the chrome trim re-installed.  I polished all of the chrome with a buffing wheel and various compound.  Still have to put the windows in yet, and all of the interior panels.  

Car ran good, but occasionally has a miss.  Throttle stuck on me again as well.  And it is still way too loud...but I have purchased new stainless steel mufflers.  Will install them the first chance I get.

I am now installing the weatherstrip into the vent windows and have ordered additional parts.

Unfortunately, the trunk lid did not turn out as well as I had hoped.  I will be heading out to Rohner's junk yard the first nice day I can to find a replacement.  More bodywork and paint ahead.

Sold the Black Galaxie, Purchased a 1976 Trans Am!

What....sold a Ford and purchased a Pontiac?  We sold the 1969 Corvette and were looking for a replacement.  I did not start out looking for a T/A.  I almost purchased a 1967 LeMans....would have if the guy would have had a clear title.  Almost bought a 1969 Firebird off of ebay as well.  While searching for a 1969 Firebird, I came across this 1976 Trans Am.  It is a Special Edition with 455, 4-speed and T-tops.  That makes it 1 of 110 ever made.  Drove it around this past summer, but it is off to storage now that the Galaxie is painted.

Summer 2013

Success!!!  The Galaxie gets a new paint job.  After many years of replacing body panels and performing body work on the Galaxie, it finally has been painted in August 2013.  This photo was taken about a week after the car was painted.  Below are pictures of various stages of body work before the paint was applied.

New look to an old car!

The 1963 Galaxie Boxtop has a new look...yes it is a teardrop hood and blackout out high-beam heaadlights.  The teardrop hood is all fiberglass, and the headlights were blacked out by removing the headlights, then replacing them with the same wire mesh I used on the hood scoop.  Looks is pretty cool.  As of July 2012, total investment in this black Galaxie is less than $3500.

May/June 2012-  Restoration has restarted on the Galaxie convertible.  The original hood had been modified to accept a teardrop hood scoop.  This involved cutting and oval hole, welding up the cross braces that were cut through, and then bonding the scoop on with 3M adhesive.  Next came the body work to blend in the scoop including body filler and primer. 

Next, front fenders were sanding down, repaired as necessary, then primered and block sanded. 

Then, I spent an entire day straightening the quarter panel on the passenger side.  Although half of the panel was new, there was an issue where it came together with the old panel. The panel was straightened with a come-along, body hammer, and air chisel. 

A Distraction....1963 Ford Galaxie 2-dr Sedan Purchase!

I am definitely crazy to purchase ANOTHER GALAXIE!  But, the deal was too good to pass up.  It is a 1963 2-Dr Post, with 390 and automatic.  Purchase price was $2800!!!!  I then sold $200 of stuff off of it (amp, woofer, and carb.)  So really, I paid $2600.  Look at it, try to buy a car this nice for this price.  I took care of the timing, oil leak, and swapped wheels from the convertible.  Car runs like a top and drives great!!!

Summer of 2011...Body Work continues!!!

The high temps this summer made work difficult and often times impossible.  Both rear quarter panels were removed and replaced, including rebuilding the inner wheelhouses on both sides.  On the driver side I mananged to obtain a full replacement quarter which made the work much easier.  I also replaced the inner panels behind the wheels with aftermarket replacements (fit was terrible!)  The passenger side was a struggle, I used an old quarter panel of my parts car for the front, and a new replacement for the rear of the quarter.  Then, I moved onto the doors.  The driver side door was a disaster, it had previously been repaired. Trying to fix this, I warped the panel!  YIKES!!!  Luckily, I found a very good used door at a local swap meet in August.  I followed this up by painting the door jambs and trunk jam, inside of truck, and have put them back on the car.  Passenger quarter still needs a little work.  Front fenders are next on the list.  They are in really good shape and shouldn't take long to get into primer.  Looking to get some work done this winter, including reassembly of doors, interior, ext...them wait to to the body work when the weather gets warmer.

Cold Slows Progress!

It is now the end of January. I have managed to cut the rear quarter panel off on the passenger side. I had to fix the inner fender, and am working on the replacement quarter panel. It has been so cold, I haven't been able to work much on it lately.

I did get the re-chromed bumper back a couple of weeks ago. It looks great, cost was close to $500.

Progress and New Parts!

Restoration continues! I sent the rear bumper in for chroming, the am/fm radio in for repair, and have purchase the following parts:

• door scuff moldings,
• trunk light,
• master clyinder chrome cap,
• door weatherstrip, trunk weatherstrip,
• convertible top weatherstrip,
• seat covers,
• door panels,
• sheetmetal (trunk extensions),
• battery top ,
• 406 license plate,
• hose clamp set,
• clips,
• fiberglass tear drop hood,
• fact book on 1963 Galaxies, etc.

I am having the inner windshield moldings rechromed along with the 2 moldings for the convertible top boot and shift boot plate. I am sending the parts off to be chromed in Massachusetts, at a place called Nu-Chrome.

Tomorrow I am off to look at a driver door and possibly a trunk lid.

Current progress on the Galaxie...2010

The Galaxie was driven this summer and it runs great. I am at a crossroads in the restoration, since we have moved and I no longer have my shop to work on cars. We are going ahead with the restoration. In October, I have purchased a rust-free door, lock set, heat riser replacement, door sill plates, etc. I have also sent the am/fm radio in for service.

Next up, I need to take the bumper in to get rechromed. And, several pieces will be taken off the car for rechroming, including the inner windshield moldings, boot moldings, and possibly the console top plate.

I have also been reading up on how to polish up the trim moldings on the car.

Next major project is to replace the quarter panels on both sides.

Update Pictures of work done in 2009, including new top and interior!

What happened to the Galaxy in 2009?

Wow, time has REALLY flown by. In October 2008, I took the car on it's first test drive. In the spring of 2009, I began working on it again. When I first tried to put the top down after buying the car, I actually broke top on the driver's side (it was frozen and the hydraulics actually snapped it in half!) So, I had kept an arm off of a 1964 I parted out and used that.

After removing the top from the car, it was fixed, clean, lubed, and repainted. I then ordered a top. I order a bright white top, not the off white (cream) that was original on Fords.

Next, I refurbished the entire dash. I have decided to leave the padded dash off for now (money is always a factor for me.) Seat belts have been installed, but the backs are too big and fronts are too short, so I have to work on that.

Next up, I began the task of installing the convertible top. Luckily, I Had saved the old one which was helpful. I had some problems with the back bow and window. I actually pulled all of the staples out one, and had to re tighten the back. All padding and wires were replaced. Not bad for only my second attempt at installing a top!

Then it was time to get new exhaust installed. I took it to the place in Foley, MN. The guy there did a great job, for $250. The smell of exhaust in the interior has now gone away when driving!

I then began driving the Galaxie almost every day. I took it on a trip to Litchfield, MN. On the journey, the engine developed a miss. It got MUCH worse, finally to the point it would not run. I limped it to my dad's house. The points had gone funky on my brand new Mallory distributor!!!!! I called Mallory and they sent out 2 sets of heavy duty points. Problem solved with the engine missing, but now the exhaust has developed a leak! I think maybe the exhaust gaskets have been ruined by the gas not burning when it was miss-firing. TBD

Next up was clean up. I pulled all of the doors, hood, glass, trunk lid, etc. off of the parts car. I even cut the roof off to use the sheet metal. Then, I dissected the rest of the car in to smalled pieces and hauled it off to the scrap yard. I saved the frame.

That pretty much took us to the end of summer. The Galaxie awaits next summer to get it's panels replaced!

Test Drive!

Click on the link of my first test drive. At this time, the car was without mufflers. The tires are not balanced and the front end is not aligned, but she goes down the road amazingly well. Tranny shifts well, brakes are a little weak.

September/October 2008

Once the trunk floor was in, I cleaned, sealed, painted, and installed the gas tank. It took two gas tank senders to make one that worked. Then, I ran new fuel line from back to front. Finally I installed the hood and bumpers, and spent some time getting all the lights to work. The plug-ins for the turn signals and headlights are the same, so at first the headlights flashed when I turned on the blinker!

Once I got the car running off the tank, I needed to put muffler on. Took them from the parts car as well...they are glasspacks. This quieted the car way down. The only thing left to do was test drive it!