piazzanoob's 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 seeeedaaan

piazzanoob · December 10, 2018

So with now having the engine black ready to bolt on everything I looked at it and was unimpressed how well it looked being that the engine bay also being black as then there would of been too much black.

so ended up sanding all that off and painting it this colour.

so these galaxie's ran black engine blocks from 1959 till 1965

then in 1966 they went to this blue colour which looks alot better than black.

then after letting the paint dry i put the rest of the bolt on items back on the motor.

then did some more painting on bolts

And nuts

And cleaned up the throttle linkage bit and turned it black

No more Orange

And cleaned up and painted other bits like the engine and trans dipsticks.

then joined the two together to go back in

then in the hole

Also polished up the rocker covers and bolted them back on too.

now its just piece everything back on while tidying bits up like the wiring and painting and cleaning bolts.

piazzanoob · July 4, 2019

so last year in 4 weeks i stripped the front and resprayed the engine bay.

gave the engine some new parts and a spray can rebuild.

chucked it back together as i wanted to take it to an event. got it mostly done the night before the event worked till 2am that night.

did some more in the morning as had carb issues. then took it to the event and hoped for no breakdowns.

i had pushed myself to finish it in time as a woman wanted to go to the event together and was keen to go in my car. plus would've been extra brownie points right?

but it turned to shit before the event.

but ended up taking a male mate instead.

was good but still overheated...

been super slack and haven't been updating this thread will try and update it in the next few weeks

yeeah

piazzanoob · March 7, 2020

currently still own this and its still not going...

took it to kumeu last year running on 7 cylinders so after that i pulled it apart more.

pulled the inlet manifold off as it was bent and had that machined and checked the lifters to find out of the 3 i checked were worn out or broken a spring inside.

so motor out

this is the second time now

And took it to work and stripped it down

And in the strip down process i found one of the headgaskets had been placed on the wrong way causing no water flow on one of the cylinder heads. if the gasket says front i don't know how much clearer the gasket manufacturer could of been.

placed the block in the hot tank to give it a good clean out

and gave the heads a strip down too

then they were also placed in the hot tank too

to which the block was placed in the tank for the 2nd time due to rust in the water galleries. once it came out i bead blasted the water galleries and the outside. then i dug some more of the stuck crap in the water gallieries by stabbing it with a screwdriver. and then went round the block with a finger file and die grinder to tidy up the block casting this did somewhat get abit over the top too. and die grinded the oil pick up mick bigger as are small from factory. then hot tanked the block again.

And this is where the can of worms started

piazzanoob · May 24, 2020

So after all the motor parts were stripped down and cleaned all the parts were measured to see what was usable or needed.

bored went from standard to 30 thou over due to wear

and main and big end bearings went to 10 thou over due to wear too

so now a rebore and crank grind is to be done.

also measured the crank tunnel and found it needed a line bore too

then after many hours cleaning up the shitty 1950's casing on the block we set to work on some machining

but before we did machine work we had to wait for the parts to arrive from Australia as nothing local

measured new pistons then bored cylinders to suit.

then after all eight were done the cylinders got a hone

then after all cylinders were bored honed and the tunnel borred we surfaced the block

then after that was done the block was cleaned and carefully wrapped and stored until the rest of the rotating assembly was ready.

so removed all of the old rod bushes and pressed in some new ones

then machined the mating surfaces on the rods and rod caps so they are flat.

then after all rods are done the caps are done also

then after all the rod bolts were inspected some of the threads were found to be average so some Arp rod bolts were purchased

then bolted all of the caps to the rods and torqued them. of course keeping the rods and caps carefully matched with each other

then measured the gudgeon pin and honed the rod bushes to suit that way the bush can't seize onto the gudgeon pin

then measuring the big end side of the rods and honing them to suit.

then with the finished product

then the next job was to machine the crank to suit the new bearing size

so once the crank was machined all of the rotating assembly was cleaned and checked then sent away to be balanced as this is a must do when changing pistons or rods as if its not done can cause engine vibrations.

so while i was waiting for the rotating assembly to come back from balancing we did some work on the cylinder heads.

pretty much same protocol as the block

strip and clean then cleaned up the castings and tickled up the ports a little bit

then the heads had new valve seat inserts and valve guide insets. and a new set of intake and exhaust valves

and new valve springs and keepers.

then we machined the exhaust and head facing so they are flat.

then cleaned heads and lapped the valves in

then once they were lapped in we checked the spring heights and machined some off the top of the valves to get the correct and even spring height

then once the spring heights were correct the head was stripped again cleaned then reassemble with valve stem seals.

so everything on the heads have been replaced apart from the casting itself.

then wrapped them up until they are ready to be fitted.

piazzanoob · May 24, 2020

Also between doing the engine stuff some small stuff got done on the car itself

tried pulling the steering wheel off but still can't left a puller on it over a few nights plus crc and heat pretty much just ended up stripping the threads in the wheel.

removed the seats and put some fabric paint on them.

Three coats later

and back seat

then removed the door cards and inside door handles and painted them \

some previous owner had recovered the interior stuff and has done a half ass job. much like the rest of the cars previous work

so im just painting bits as its the best bang for buck.

then masked and painted

and decided to keep part of the orange to break it up a bit.

good enough for this ruff old car

done 3 of the 4 but will do that one at some stage

then removed the front drivers quarter window mechanism and found the back casting part had broken away which caused the gears to get out of mesh.

cleaned the gunk out of the gears and regreased and made a back plate.

now i just need to find a clip to hold the winder on

piazzanoob · May 24, 2020

now come tell me how im doing everything wrong on this car here

piazzanoob · March 21, 2021

fuck im useless at updating this thread.

motor goes and had a few hiccups on the way.

Hei dizzy being shit and causing a misfire

And me misplacing one pushrod not into the lifter causing one cylinder having no compression

and still some overheating problems

polished up my rocker shafts and machined the rockers to suit

and in the hole.

during the engine rebuild i spent some time and made a fan shroud

its definitely nothing flash but worked with what i had and my current skills

I then loaded it on a trailer to get the cam break in procedure done at work on the dyno.

after that i fixed up my old points distributor and got that working as the HEI caused a miss and fitted a new set of ignition leads

new cap rotor points and condenser

and changed the mechanical fan to one with a better angel which works much better

which is actually a chevy one

I also got these valve covers as a freebee from work as they required welding as had been broken and customer never came and got them. and sat out the back for years

so had them welded and started to polish them up

Ive put these on the backburner as spent hours on them and painted one and the paint peeled off and the more polishing i do im still not happy with them as they are not the greatest casting. i suspect these are from the 70s

also shows where it got repaired

And while i was on a trip in the usa prior to covid i got some needed parts

which i still need to fit.

also just before i rebuilt the engine i cut off the rear mufflers and straight piped it as was really quiet no v8 rumble at all. then was loud and sounded like a tractor so rewelded them back on.

to be continued...

piazzanoob · May 19, 2021

After doing a few miles the motor needed the heads being retorqued

After the heads were retorqued i fitted the MSD ignition system i bought. i also bought a black msd cap and leads.

And replaced the high beam headlights as both inside ones had clouded over. these current ones were cheap ones from repco but they didn't last.

then got the car ready for OS drag day in 2020

piazzanoob · August 16, 2021

well well well

Drag day was good did some skids and average times and got a warning for static burnouts aswell as getting it abit warm a few times otherwise ran mint

after drag day i went to a friends Christmas do thing had a beer and left and did a skid.

Take my advice and don't listen to drunk people wanting you to do skids

trans slipped and wouldn't skid on 17x9s on tarseal

lost reverse and top gear

time for round 2 rebuild unfortunately trans shop was also too busy so had to wait till 2021 before they could make a start on it.

had trans shop strip it down and i blasted and painted the housing

also used @Mr Vapour vapour blaster and blasted the bell housing and tailshaft housing

then gave them a coat of clear coat to pervent them from getting oxidized

then after an extensive wait i got the trans back done.

i also made a attachment for the trolley jack to hold the trans and not fall off or damage the pan

and got a new trans mount from rockauto

then unfortunately the weekend before beach hop i gave it a test drive to buy rego and trans had an issue where when it was warm it wouldn't select forward gears. so monday morning had the vehicle towed to the trans shop to have the issue fixed. they found a seal had been nicked when being installed which is a easy mistake to make. but unfortunately when they put the trans back they didn't make sure the convertor was all the way in and damaged the front pump so trans had to stay out while they found another pump and go through the trans again to make sure there was no metal fillings present. then they couldn't find the same size pump so convertor had to be changed to suit different pump.

so car didn't go to beach hop ended up just going for a look anyway. but during the time my trans was being sorted they had staff leave and other people fill in so took them 3 months to get it sorted. unfortunately the car has to go back still because the trans fluid put in wasn't what i had requested and was lost in translation due to staff leaving.

better living everyone

piazzanoob · August 29, 2021

So while i had the trans out as i couldn't use the car i decided to tackle some rust the car had. My wof inspector had mentioned it a few times and thought i better fix it after him being nice and giving it two prior wofs as it was. 2nd inspection i put some insolation tape over the holes after i had poked around with a screwdriver haha. I was also lucky that this rust was never noticed while the car was complied or had the repair cert done. I knew it was there but kept my mouth shut.

Ah no bondo bob has been in here.

I cleaned up the bottom pieces with a portable sandblaster and applied a few layers of crc zinc it

well that would be why its rusty. full of dust and dirt that at some point has been wet or had moisture in it.

also cut a piece out of the inner wheel well. i had previously when the car had been blasted and painted of the underside i applied a small layer of bog over the pinholes and blended it back in with black paint.

I firstly made the curved bit to keep a guide of the shape and location and welded that in. I then cut the outer piece out and made a replacement. This piece was made with 5 different bits all welded into one patch.

Also made a new piece for here with 2 bits and curving it to suit the wheel well shape.

Then applied a small layer of bog to keep it looking nice. sanded and painted area black to hide all the sins.

Then i became bondo bobs brother

The reason why this got bogged back up is because at some point the car has had a hit in the passengers rear quarter one big enough that had required the chassis to be repaired when i got the car. im not keen on removing the rear quarter of the car to get the body lines good as the rest of the car isn't that perfect either. So body filler was used to get the door and quarter lines looking good.

Sanding and shaping the bog actually took me more time than the metalwork that was done.

Gave it a shot of primer. You will also notice that i have prepared and primered a wheel also. Will get into detail with that in next post.

Gave the primer a sand and shot of paint.

Ended up happy with the result. i knew i was never with my skillset able to blend it in without being noticeable but once the sill trim and door is closed its not too noticeable.

better living everyone

piazzanoob · August 29, 2021

piazzanoob · September 1, 2021

so because i told you i would fill you in with the progress i will.

This would have to be the highlight of doing this old girl up and being able to use it. from getting this car back home i was never really happy with how the car sit or how the wheels didn't fill the guards but the priority was to get it legal and drive it. but liked the style of the car and wheel combo.

hummed and ahhed for abit and a work friend had a contact that did mag wheels so contacted him and told him what i wanted. wanted to keep the same wheel centre caps i had but after doing some measurements i was shit out of luck.

did a quick measure on the car to what wheels were available. and paid and waited two months for them to turn up.

Ended up with specialty wheel smoothie in a 15x8 all round in primer. I got these through BG Marketing and got this brand over a cragar because the centre cap quality is better and i could get them in primer. special order from the US with a 7.5 inch baby moon cap

now to pick a colour right. black or chrome is fine. Nah go away barry im here to not be like you.

this was the hard part of the wheels i had a few colours in mind but the car being orange made it abit more difficult.

so after i cleaned up a old wheel and primed it i went to the paint shop for a colour sample. asked for a colour chart to look from. couldn't find something that stood out. old indian joker says he will mix something up so calls me outside to take a look at the colour and gets it bang on first time. buy that and give it a spray.

Note Don't put too much filler primer on a wheel because it cracks

how about cream right

this photo also shows where i had previously painted and blended it in.

Unfortunately i liked the colour but just didn't suit the orange of the car. seemed too light for me

so i went back to the paint shop and had the colour changed after going to bunnings and mitre 10 and going through the colour charts on a sunday.

sprayed the modified colour on

Found this colour was more like salmon not what i was after.

so found something lying around in the shed in a different colour i liked. slept on it and went back to the paint shop with another colour to be matched. so they made me a small sample and i gave that a test spray and fitted to the car.

Hmm brown you say..

so had some more mixed to paint the wheels and figured if i didn't like it ill just paint them black and be done with it.

so figured ive got some nice new wheels how will i paint them nicely. figured its not easy on the ground and had an old hub lying around in funny enough the same stud pattern.

so welded the hub to a steel stand

And i happen to have two hubs so meant i could weld two at a time choice

so a splash of this colour over all 4 wheels then gave them a shot of clear coat. couple of ugly bits but nothing much noticeable and wheels can be tricky to get all the paint into spots

test fitted the wheels revealed the enviable.

cut cut the front was never level with the rest of the car so this had to be done. plus it wasn't low enough

painted the cut bit and put them back in for a level test. level looked good would be nice if it was much lower but the car has to be able to be driveable or get in the driveway which involved a 45 degree entry on the old wheels

for tyres i purchased some vitour galaxy 245/60/15s from sta parts. i was lucky enough a good mate had a tyre machine and fitted them for me on a sunday. will balance them if they need them but currently they are good.

so after the wheels were fitted i washed it and left it outside for the night where i got it towed to go back to the trans shop the next day. unfortunately i got it back 3 months later. upon me driving away he did say the wheel did scrape oops haha lets find out for myself.

And if you wanted to know the colour

lion brown mate makes for good beer battered fish

piazzanoob · September 1, 2021

so after a road test revealed a few things. ive lost alot of steering lock due to the wheel touching the inner lip on the gaurd. i will be getting a metal expert to roll the lip on the front gaurds.

the rear only rubs on extreme angles but hasn't on a bumpy highway drive.

in terms of steering lock it means i can only go around big roundabouts but it scrapes haha so now that it means i go round the block than around the roundabout

i may do down to a 235 width tyre but will wait until the gaurd is rolled.

a couple of days after picking up from the trans shop i did a bolt check and a wash and went for a drive.

went to whakatane for some mainies and back the next day

you will notice the car is still a tad higher in the front than rear. its not so noticable in person unless looking so will keep it this way.

quite stoked with the colour and fitment combo. first trip in this involved someone at the gas station coming for a perv at the wheels and asked a few questions about them. also vehicle handles a huge amount better now less of a boat feel. gave me a huge amount more confidence in driving it around corners too. but should really upgrade the rear shocks to something stiffer and a good wheel alignment too

yes you can tell me now how ive ruined my barry car

piazzanoob · September 8, 2021

Since forever this car has always had a power steering leak from somewhere. currently I've rebuilt the power steer ram fitted new p/s hoses from ram to control valve and low pressure hose. rebuilt the p/s pump and fitted a new front seal on the pump 3 times. not sure why it still leaks from there as seal has a good interference. the only thing left to do was the control valve which i had ordered a seal kit a few years ago. it didn't leak a huge amount but did become annoying having to wipe up the fluid or place a drip tray underneath.

This job i had put off for some time due not doing one before and that if not set up correctly can cause the vehicle to pull to one side. And things like steering and brakes if touched by the wrong person can cause an accident.

After doing one on a 70s corvette i had a better understanding on how they worked and how to set them up. so did mine.

well the balljoint wasn't meant to come out of the bronze sleeve. unfortunately it hadn't been off the steering link for some time. i had applied crc and some heat to help it pop off while giving it a good shock with a hammer. ended up using a ball joint fork which can damage boots and do this but can be affective on tight joints. ended up using a hammer and working the balljoint off the steering link in the end.

strip and clean

when i had ordered the parts i had only ordered a seal kit. so got a new balljoint and sleeve from northwestern ford in palmy. but it happened to come with another seal kit.

cleaned everything down and beadblasted a few items

after some time later everything had been fitted back together and i adjusted the nut which controls when the valve opens to where i thought it would be.

gave it some paint.

after some time and going into lockdown i decided to stop looking at it and fit it onto the car. when i had removed it i counted the amount of turns it when onto the steering so did the same amount when refitting.

After being fitted on the car and connecting the hoses i cleaned off the excess power steer fluid from the hoses with brakeclean which took the paint off the control valve. so had to touch up the paint in place. refilled the powersteer system and bled the system best i could prior to starting. greased the new balljoint and sleeve then ran engine and checked adjustment appeared good because if adjusted wrong the wheels will naturally stay off centre until adjusted. roadtest of vehicle showed my guess was good and didn't get any pulling and steering wheel still remains off centre but a puller and heat and crc and it still won't come off. and now has stripped threads in steering wheel from trying. will try again some other time.

one thing on the list is now down and hasn't leaked any fluid from the control valve yet.

And my drivers side handbrake cable is sticking now so have de adjusted the one side brake drum and put the handbrake in a non operation status. will have to do it for the wof i guess. but involves removing the rear wheels but removing the hub caps isn't easy as last time i chipped the paint getting them off to retorque the wheels. they are on there tight. so need to figure out a easy way of removing them without damage

Also my trans pan leaks too. when the car goes back for the shop to change my trans fluid ill get them to sort that also.

better living everyone

piazzanoob · January 30, 2022

With recommendation i tried it

can confirm does not work. these suckers are on quite tight.

Also had @RXFORD work his magic on the lip on the front gaurds so now i get much more lock and less rub but won't damage the tyre now

in other progress the car has had a oil change

And the drivers handbreak cable has been unseized. I was lucky that my young nephews decided they wanted to help so ended up pulling both cables out and both lubricated and working nicely.

Also removed the door lock buttons and gave them a bead blast and paint.

Im still having an issue where this runs on the hot side more than i like. When sitting in traffic the temp climbs to 200F and will climb up to 215F if you sit there long enough have not noticed it boil or blow coolant out though. Many say FE motors tend to run hot.

have fitted a front pusher electric fan on a switch which helps to maintain the temperature but looking to solve this issue altogether.

spoke to radiator shop who thinks adding an extra core into it should help it. Its currently a factory 2 core rad. will also move trans cooler and move electric fan closer to the top rad hose.

but also on the fence with replacing rad with bigger aluminum unit and fitting falcon electric fans and shroud. which will also mean my alternator will need upgrading.

otherwise the car got a easy pass WOF and have been using it.

Did kumeu with the OS boys

Also my rear leaf springs appear to be resetting themselves to a lower setting now. can confirm with @RXFORD and dog in the back the left rear tyre rubs round corners

better living everyone

piazzanoob · February 19, 2023

Another yearly update on this thing

did a pre wof check on it myself and found some play in the front top inner arm bushes. so had to order the parts in from the USA

since ive owned this car i always had thought it had a rubber bush for the top inner A arm bushes. but no they actually have a nut and thread and use grease to keep them quiet and not wearing out. my car never had any grease nipples in there to keep them lubricated. bit of a shit design really but that's what they came up with.

pulled the arm off