Yet another setback

Behold the mighty Galaxie 390 in all her glory. Are you impressed? I do hope so because a lot of sweat went into this and let me tell you some tears as well, here's how it went down.

But first another picture,

Sweet isn't it? Oh what the hell, one more

So she is all set to go back in and for reasons that at the time did not make sense Marco decided to fill it with oil before we put it in. The car is lined up and the engine is on the lift and we are set to go. Suddenly the FE390 starts to perform a re-enactment of the Exxon Valdez incident and oil gushes everywhere.
Back on the ground we diagnose a leaking sump pan gasket so we drain the oil and remove the pan only to find nothing really wrong. So the gasket is put back on, this time with a touch of silicon sealant and we start again. Once more we get to the position above and oil starts to pour out. After much scratching of gonads (our own ones, natch) we diagnose a warped oil pan. Good old Red Weaver (the guy in the foreground) told me that he had a 65 parts car with the same pan which was mine for the taking. 90 minutes later we are back at the ranch and an hour later I have the pan scrubbed clean of 40 years of sludge, sandblaster and painted, this time in chrome. So we replace the pan, fill her up with oil and start again. Can you guess what happened next? So it isn't the pan. Therefore it must be the block or more likely the rear crankshaft cap which of course was messed with to replace the seal. Marco decides to work on it while it is swinging on the hoist. Normally I would have recommended that we block it first but I was way beyond caring at this stage and as far as I was concerned OSHA could shove their rules where the sun doesn't shine.

Then we find that the cap is not central on the bearing because someone who shall be named (Marco) put the seal in backwards.

So all in all it was a complete waste of a day although had he not oiled it up I would have not discovered the reversed seal until I fired the beast up and then the engine would be coming out again. Now it is back to AutoZone to buy the third oil seal. This is getting old.

More frustrations

I didn't blog last Saturday because the day went pear shaped right at the start. The plan was to replace the rear crankshaft oil seal then the oil pump, replace the sump pan and then fit the new timing gear. Of course the new oil seal was the wrong one and everything just stalled. Why there can possibly be two versions of the same part for the same engine is beyond me but Autozone are obviously in love with me and relish my many repeat visits.
To make life more untenable, the good ol' boys promised that NAPA would have the part and so commenced an exodus across southern Virginia which of course resulted in absolutely nothing apart from me adding to my carbon footprint and burning half a tank of gas. I did almost get lucky in sourcing core plugs but they only had five. Later I returned to the original Autozone to exchange the crankshaft seal and get the final core plug. Interestingly their computer showed 5 plugs in stock, I suspect they order in 5's regardless of the fact that you need 6 per engine.
Anyhoo I think that I have all the parts so this Saturday should see some sterling progress. I am aiming to get the engine and transmission back together so that it can go back the following week. Then it is back to block sanding, deep joy.

More Woes

Well after months of other projects and procrastination on the Galaxie last weekend I made some huge leaps forward. Of course I forgot the camera so no pics (sorry yawl) but I will take some this Saturday.

So following the debacle over the size of the clutch I finally got the right one as well as a rear crankshaft oil seal. I don't actually need the clutch yet as the engine is still in the cradle but very soon I shall be putting things back together as opposed to tearing down. The block has been cleaned and let me tell you what a piece of useless crap a pressure washer is when it comes to cleaning engines. (Actually it is a piece of crap when it comes to anything). So after mucho hours with a scraper and oven cleaner and solvents I got the block painted and let me tell you it looks sharp. The oil pan (or sump to my English readers) is off and horror of horrors I found chunks of metal. Fortunately a closer inspection of the timing chain showed some missing pieces and I already have a new one ready to go. Tonight I shall clean the pan off and spray it fluorescent yellow (because I can). Then on Saturday I will install the new oil pump, rear crank seal, timing set and start putting the covers on.

I was going to change the core plugs as it is a real easy job with the engine out and an horrendous job with the engine in. Naturally when I ordered them I needed to know what size they were. Look people it is a 1963 Galaxie 500 FE390 4 barrel. How can the plugs be different sizes? This insanity has to stop, bring on the metric system.

Back to the Galaxie

Right no more messing with stuff that isn't Galaxie from now on the only work will be undertaken to get the Galaxie on the road as soon as possible. (The smoker is finished and at home, the test run is this Saturday and the gray truck sold on Ebay for $1525 which was a tad disappointing but whatever).

So I got the bell housing off and then the clutch and the flywheel. Finally it is off the dolly and chain and mounted onto a real engine cradle. I have drained the fluids and tossed the oil filter. The next step is to wheel it out of the barn and pressure wash it. For the sake of removing 8 more bolts I can take off the inlet manifold and replace the gaskets. Whilst it is off I will spray the block blue and the manifold silver. It should look sharp. The sump will be yellow (and the answer to the question why? is because I can). The bell housing and transmission will be black as most of it will be out of sight.

I also gave the body another block sanding and then sprayed the rear quarters and wings in primer. The bad news was that it showed the defectsin the filler the good news was that there weren't too many of them. In fact I was very encouraged to see how close we are. Of course it goes without saying that I would much rather see the nasties now than after the final coat of Viking Blue.

Onwards and Upwards

Time to Modernize

Look people you are seriously going to have to get with the program here, let me explain. This weekend was to be a major Galaxie push and in preparation I went off to the EroticZone or AutoZone or whatever it is called to buy a new oil pump and clutch. I did not really expect AutoErotica to carry parts for a 1963 Galaxie and I was prepared to order them. What I was not prepared for was to be asked if the car had a 10, 10.5 or 11 inch clutch. Good grief why would Ford do that, the bastards? Now I have to take the old one off first and make two trips. (And I am going to bet that no one knows where to measure to determine the size).

Similarly I had to buy a new towball for the barbque trailer because my one is 2 inches and I needed 1 7/8. A short while ago I borrowed a trailer and purely by chance the owner let it slip that it needed a 2 1/8 ball. Apparently he put it on a 2 inch ball and it fell off and hit the back of his truck. If you ever see my truck, which is the greatest in the world and entirely not a penis substitute, you understand why I had such a narrow escape.

So,far be it from me to hold up the metric system as a paragon of professionalism but the metric system is actually a paragon of professionalism. In Europe a tow ball is 50mm. The end, that's it we are done. Don't you people think that is a sensible system?

As I said get with the program colonials

The Smoker

Now I am getting seriously guilty about the lack of work being done on the Galaxie. Not only have I not worked on it forever, I didn't even work on the trucks. As soon as the clocks go forward I am absolutely going to concentrate entirely on the Galaxie.

In the meantime I have always wanted to build a real bar-b-que and this weekend I made a huge start on that. This is the plan which is based on two 50 gallon drums and a kit originally designed for a shop wood stove. Anyhow I spent most of Saturday with cutting torches and angle grinders and ended up with my hands cut to ribbons.

I also decided to mount it on a small trailer. I have this idea of a "Have bar-b-que will party" business. Well we will see. I also got me a little trailer, with any luck this should be my passport to a few parties.I am thinking that you keep feeding me beer and I keep cooking. Hopefully I can get this trivia out of the way and start back on the Galaxie real soon.

More on trucks

Once again I have nothing to say about the Galaxie, in fact I am a tad pissed as I failed to buy an authentic aerial today. Well I could have bought it but I dropped out when it reached an outrageous $46. I shall just buy the cheapest that I can find in Autozone and that will look fine and should cost about $2.50. Bastards. Still on the positive side I did get a new set of locks and keys and a very nice authentic door mirror so that is OK.

Saturday was a nice day and I should of worked on the Galaxie, there is still much to do before I prime it. Still the urge to make money from the trucks was too strong and I sold my soul for the Yankee dollar. The 53 is just about ready for the auction block. Would you like to see some pictures? Of course you would.


This was after spending hours and hours and hours sandblasting and sanding. Now with a coat of primer she is looking good.

I was going to get her ebay this week but we may have a buyer and if I can get $1500 and a front end for this, I will be well pleased

This is the 55 and what makes her special is that she had a 1998 F150 engine, suspension and brakes. It is hard to imagine but by the time I am done I am looking to clear $3000. Finally here is a shot of the other two which are both 67s and of very little interest to me.

However I have a tentative offer of $1000 for the black one. My secret plan is to clean up the green one and drop in a spare 390 that I have. In English they are called Q cars. They look like plain Janes but when the local boys challenge you they eat your emissions, so to speak. Anyway this is our little secret as Gene wants to turn that into cash as well.

Watch this space.