New Toys

Well I should have worked on the Galaxie last Tuesday but you know what? It was just too damned cold and the thought of lying on a concrete floor disconnecting the transmission was more than man and boy could handle. It is going to be colder tonight but for some perverse reason I am going to go do some work, I guess I just miss it after all. (In addition I felt ashamed of myself for watching House MD on Tuesday, it really has turned into pointless drivel).


I have been feeling somewhat torn about the finished product for as you know I would like it to look basically stock but then again changes have to be made, alternator, disc brakes and so on. I was going to sandblast the rocker boxes (valve covers to you colonials) and air filter and then paint them gold to match the original. I can source the original decals and I thought that would look sweet but then I found this.



Isn't that a pretty set? Well I twatted around for a while in a tizzy of indecision and then Gene arrived. Gene is the oracle for all things Galaxie and his opinion counts. It transpires that Ford used to offer a "dress up" kit and so this chrome stuff does not break any unwritten code of Galaxie men. With Gene's approval I was set to go and now this is what the top will look like.

Rock on Baby.

Good News

Lots of good news for this post. First of all I got a break from the loathsome sanding. It's not that we are finished you understand (far from it) but there were other things to do. So this weekend we started to remove the engine. Out came the radiator and expansion box, off came the carburetor and out with the a/c compressor. On the very good news front, as I disconnected the high pressure line I heard a fairly significant hiss of R12 venting to the atmosphere. (Yes I know, no need to point out that I have irreparable damaged the ozone layer, but who would have thought that the freon would still be there)? So perhaps I am going to be saved a compressor rebuild, and a few hundred dollars. Also on the good news front, I know I can hardly bear it myself, I tested the compressions whilst I could still crank the engine. This was necessary as I needed to know if there was going to be any engine work while it was out. The cylinders ranged from 125 to 140 psi and that is plenty good enough for me. I got the hood off and then was able to get the hinges off. This then revealed the two hidden screws that enabled me to get the fender trim off. It also means that the trunk and hinges will be blue while the engine bay is sprayed black, sharp. Back underneath to get the prop shaft out (if this puzzles you please read to the end) and that was the end of my day.
Next time I hope to disconnect the overdrive cable and electric, disconnect the speedometer, the clutch cable and the gear selector rods, undo 4 bolts and lower the gearbox onto a trolley jack. Then wrap a chain around the block, undo the two engine mounts and pull the motor. Doesn't that sound easy? We will see.

Gene had a buddy down from New York and like most of Gene's buddies he knows cars. My problem was that I was outnumbered by Americans and when they were telling me what to do they spoke a language of their own. Now I will grant you hood (bonnet) and trunk (boot) as bonnet does seem to be a little twee, but I think for the rest of the car parts we should stick to the following;
The two enclosures at the top of the engine are rocker boxes as they contain the rockers. They are not valve covers as the valves are inside the cylinders. The body panels below the doors are called sills, not rocker panels (there are no rockers in there, they are on top of the engine). There are two types of transmission, automatic or manual, let's forget straight gear, stick shift and similar nonsense. Power is transmitted from the gearbox by the propshaft (I can't even remember what the Yankees called it). Power is applied to the differential, not the pumpkin or ham or whatever. We then have the half shafts, not drives shafts, drives shafts are reserved for nasty little front wheel drive cars.

I am sure that there were a few other butcheries of my Mother tongue but in the interests of cordial international relations I will let them pass. Just remember boys if we all speak the same language then the job will go a lot faster.

Anyway that is it for the week, the evenings are to damned short and cold to be working especially underneath on a cold concrete floor. Next week I shall take the camera and treat you to a picture of the engine coming out.

Toodle Pip

Happy Thanksgiving

I was expressing an opinion that the light was at the end of the tunnel apropos this sanding malarkey when Gene looked me in the eye and said "My boy used to make people sand with a paint stick"

Now I have absolutely no idea wtf that means other than (with a sinking heart) there is more sanding to be done. Still looking on the bright side it could be worse, I could be having bowel surgery in the woods with a stick.

Realizing that even I, with all my literary skills, can no longer write an interesting blog on sanding, I present for your interest and delight the picture below

Yes I know, its a 62 not a 63 and yes I realize it is a T ' bird not a Galaxie but behold, it is Viking Blue and Corinthian White and notice those fender skirts. Isn't that the greatest color scheme? Just looking at this picture makes me feel anxious down below.

Right I am off to gorge myself on turkey and then drink myself into a coma. Happy Thanksgiving Colonials

PS I nearly forgot. I bought new fender ornaments last week so I decided to sell off the old ones and perhaps reverse this dreadful money sink. So if you would like a spot of memorabilia go here and bid nice and high

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1963-Ford-Galaxie-Fender-Ornament_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33654QQihZ012QQitemZ220175388579QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

Peace out,
Dave

Onwards !

I really think that we are getting close to the end of the nauseous block sanding. The rear quarters are looking very smooth and although I will be glad to see the back of the block sander I absolutely realize the importance of the preparation. There is no way that I will ever stand next to this finished product, look at a bad spot and wish that I had tried harder. So here I am having given the quarter what for, spraying a guide coat of primer on. With the primer glistening in the sun you could see just a small area that needed more attention, but how nice to find it now rather than after the top coat is applied

This shot is after the primer dried and is really just to show the fender skirt that I forgot to photograph last week. You have to admit that the skirt just makes the car, doesn't it?

There really isn't a great deal to log about last Saturday because once again it was all about the

sanding. Here is a shot of the Kim (as in kimscar.blogspot) discovering the dignity of honest labor. It took her all of 15 minutes to realize that it is impossible to exaggerate the tedium of sanding, and retire to toast her ass on the shop fire with Gene.

Repairs

The Galaxie has a crank handle which opens the vent window (yes it really is over-engineered but whatever). To convert the lateral action to vertical there is a small gearbox inside each door. Both of these were broken allowing the vent window to be simply pushed open. Apparently this is a common problem but I figured that I had nothing to lose by taking them out and trying to repair them. And so it comes that under the guise of education I present my gearbox repair 101 course.

First remove the inside door trim (I didn't have to do this so if it is a bitch, sorry). Now locate the two screws that hold the gearbox to the door and the one that couples the shaft to the window and undo them. Once you have the screws undone you can wriggle the gearbox out of the door. Now reach into the bottom of the door and pluck out the end cap that will have fallen off.

This would be a good time to re grease the gears so go ahead and push on the shaft and drive the worm out. Whilst the worm is out, drill out the rivets that held the cap on. Now all that you need to do is reassemble the worm and twist it counterclockwise to seat it. Then bolt the end cap on and you are done.

If, however, you can't find the end cap, which is the piece lower right, then you can always just make up anything to stop the worm disengaging as shown to the left. Either way the vent will now crank and you are Captain Bigpeen.

Excitement !!

I did something exciting today. I drilled out the rear wheel arch and screwed in the locating pins for the fender skirts. That's it. After what seems like weeks of sanding, drilling and pining was like a breath of fresh air. Now the Galaxie sports a very handsome pair of skirts and when you see a Galaxie in skirts you can't imagine why anyone would drive one with naked wheel arches. Of course to mark such an important step I forgot the camera, Merde! OK photos to follow.

In fact the sanding is going well (even though I now have a repetitive stress injury). The rear quarters are very nearly there and the nasty behind the driver's door is down to the final coats. In order to break the monotony I have been grinding down the stone chips in the paint and filling those up.

The only thing that keeps me going is the certain knowledge that this is going to be the finest Galaxie in four counties.

Sand and Spray

Once again I have to report that progress was the same old, yes indeedy, sand, sand and more sand. Still if progress can be measured by the grade of the grit (and of course it can) then I am flying because we are now using 220 (as opposed to 80 and 150). It seems like most of the big stuff is nearly done and I am now looking at the small chips and imperfections. Each of these will now be flattened, filled and sanded. The end result will be a car that looks like new. At the end of my day I ran a coat of cheap primer over some of the bigger areas to act as a tell tale. It is interesting (or should that be depressing) to look at what appeared to be a perfect repair and see lots of little bubbles and scratches pop up as the paint dries. Naturally it is better to catch them now, when they can be taken care of, rather than after the top coat is spayed on. I can also report that my skills as a sprayer are marginally better than as a welder.

What I don't understand is why some areas looks smooth as glass and some like the surface of the moon. Oh well at least is is only a tell tale coat which will be sanded. When it comes to the final coat I shall stick to plan A and pay the sprayer.

Still, as predicted, my fire worked beautifully and I was toasty all day.

The manual

Warning: This entry is off subject and not worth reading

Many years, nay decades, ago when I used to tinker with vehicles they were pretty straightforward and you could look at an engine and see what was supposed to happen. These days things are packed in so tightly that in general you need some sort of guide and so it came to pass that I read a Haynes manual.

As you know Gene has been working on the much reviled block sanding during the week when I am not available. I return I help him out on things that his ancient old frame can't handle. Last night I replaced the radiator in his Mazda 323. I have no idea what Mr Haynes is thinking off when he writes his manuals but I could have saved myself some serious time by tossing it on the fire (at least my ass would have got a warm). Haynes manuals are simply a tissue of lies. They are to auto mechanics as Dish network is to telecommunications, utter crap.

BTW of course it goes without saying that I am now King of the Mazda radiators

The fun never ends

Another very full day for team Galaxie (albeit that the invisible man seems to have gone forever, with my $20, the git). As it happens this is not slowing us down at all as there is still a veritable cornucopia of body work to be done. Gene has been very kindly working on the Galaxie during the week so I offered to trade a few hours on projects for him, which has the added bonus of keeping the damned block sander out of my hands.

So I started my day by installing a nice word burning stove in the Galaxie garage. Check it out, my ass is going to be toasty all winter!
OK so the flue is a touch Jed Clampett-esque but I testing it with some cardboard and kindling and is draws just fine and that is all the matters.

Gene decided that it was about time I learned how to use the torches, so we set about cutting the centers out of wheels (I would tell you why but it was a bit complicated). So he starts off with a perfect circle cut freehand and passed the torch to me. Let me tell you people that when it comes to cutting and welding, I am complete and utter crap. I don't know how I did it but the wheel went super nova and fell apart. I am sure that Gene had never seen anything like it as he just looked at this puddle of molten steel and quietly turned off the gas bottles.

On another miserable note here is why I hate sanding. Below is the left fender (or wing, to my European readers). Gene had previously welded up the holes where the remote control mirror was (and where the spotlight will be). You can see in the center the green filler, and around the edges the white finishing filler. Notice how beautifully I have feathered it all in. Now look at the four corners and you can see bare metal. This means that the metal is too high, so I will have to beat it down with a pecking hammer, fill it all again and start sanding again. You see why I hate this sanding nonsense, just like those Aegean stables, it never ends, call me Hercules

Below is a picture of the replacement drivers door. The image does not do justice to my skill as a sander as I think that it is almost done and thus ready to be installed.

I also took a cartload of tires off rims and sorted some scrap from good stuff. I ended up with these

Now I know that the purists will whinge on about them not being the right wheels but ;

I need 15" wheels to accommodate the disc brakes that will eventually be fitted. The car must have discs, not just because of the greater stopping power but also because a single line braking system is about as sensible as assuming that the parking brake is a good emergency backup. The only Galaxie that had 15" wheels was the 427 so whatever I do will be wrong. In any case only the most tiny penised of pedants is going to care. I think that with the accents painted in Viking Blue they are going to look sweet. In addition I got them for the scrap value of the metal, not of course that that affected my decision.