1964 Ford Galaxie

Manual 4-speed

For you consideration is my 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 2 door sedan. My dad bought this car new in May 1964 from Muennich Ford in Lebanon, Ohio, on special order because he didn't want the postless hardtop, but he wanted the fancier body. As a high school student, I can remember it taking several months to arrive at the dealership. I bought it from dad in 1970, and drove it several years while I worked and went to college. Then I parked it behind the garage for several years when the brakes went bad. In 1983/84, my son and I began the restoration of it. The car was torn down to just the body on the frame, and we began building it back. He turned 16 at the time, and we got him a '64 of his own. During those years we had up to 10 1964 Fords, of which, most were parts cars plus his and mine. They're all gone now, except this one which was dad's. Since the restoration back in 1983/84, the car is been driven for about 12K to 14K miles. Presently, it has about 110K miles on it. This car for me has many memories. Our daughter was brought home when she was birthed in 1965, then her first daughter (our first granddaughter) was brought home, then our son's first daughter, and then his first grand-daughter. Also, this car was used in our son's wedding. It's difficult to let go with all these memories, but I'm getting too old to go hotrodding, and go to the Friday and Saturday night drive-ins. I've driven some to work over the years, but I couldn't enjoy the drive during rush-hour on the interstate while the other drivers were playing "bumper cars." Nevertheless, for us, it has been a family affair with this car for almost 50 years! All the springs, shocks, rubber bushings, ball joints, brakes, wheel cylinders, master cylinder, brake lines, gas lines, etc. were replaced. The replacement springs and shocks all around were heavy duty and the rear leaf springs had 2 extra leafs added by the local automotive spring shop. The original surge tank that Ford mounted on the engine during that model year was removed and a Lincoln 460 Town Car 4 core radiator was installed to assure adequate cooling. The engine was rebuilt in 1984/85 and was bored .030" over size, and had forged, flat-top pistons with all new rings, bearings, gaskets, extra strength rod bolts, timing chain and sprockets. It has a 292 degree Crane Cam which has a nice lope at idle. The cam is very streetable, and not too radical. The heads are 428 Cobra Jet, and the intake manifold is an aluminum Offenhauser with a 750 CFM Holley double pumper. The exhaust manifolds are the big cast iron type that were used on the 406, and the 390 police intercepter, which are free breathing and have 2.5" outlets. The exhaust system was custom fabricated by a local shop and California Sonic Turbo's were placed under the floor which gives it a very nice deep sound. The distributor has the later model distributor cap for the high intensity ignition, with Pertronix solid state ignition. The ignition made this cammed engine very easy to start, almost, "explodes" to live when the starter is engaged. The engine has a MacColloch/Paxton superchager mounted to it. I mounted in a way so that the belt, along with the "bonnet" and piping can be easily removed (To put it in use or take out of use easily, but the blower remains mounted). When I was making the Friday night drive-in scene, I would connect the supercharger to get that "blower whine". When the blower is operating on the engine it is extremely responsive, and aggrerssive. It will chirp the tires, each time I increase the gas pedal level position. Even the exhausts are louder as the engine idles with the blower operating. The transmission is a top-loader 4 speed connected through a 11" racing pressure plate and disc. It does require considerable force to disengage the clutch, because of the high spring rate. The transmission has the proper long tail shaft for this model year, but the internal gears were changed to that of a big-block Mustang because the Mustangs had a 2.78:1 first gear, rather than the 2.32:1 that was in the original transmission. This 2.78:1 first gear gives better take off from a standing stop, and works very well with the 3.50:1 differential gear. With this combination, the engine tachs at about 3,000 RPM at 60 MPH. It has a late model flywheel and bell housing with a late model nearly new starter. The wheels are American Racing chromed steel with Firestone white lettered tires. The tires have less than 1000 miles on them since purchased in 2004. The wheels have spots of rust on them that will need some steel wool and wax to brighten them back up. This car hasn't been driven in bad weather, but the moisture condensation during the cold has caused the spots of rust. The interior has vinyl bucket seats from a wrecked 1976 Ford Granada that we once had, and are excellent shape. The console is vintage 1964, but was not orginal to this car, it originally had a bench seat. The rear seat base is original, and seat back is replacement. I put a new head-liner in it in 2004-05. The carpet is original and is showing some wear. There is no mat in the trunk, and the spare doesn't match the four tires on the ground. It does not have power steering or power brakes - that's the way dad wanted it when bought new. It has an after-market radio of 1980's version. I'm not sure that it still works. The heater seeped some water, so sometime in the past I by-passed the heater, because this was a "summer" car and the heater wasn't really needed. This car did have significant rust in the lower parts of the body, and over the headlights at the time of restoration in 1983/84. All the body work was done back in 1983/84, including the black paint (Dupont Imron), and has withstood the years very well. Since restoring this car in 1983/84, restoration parts have gotten easier to buy. There are some rubber pieces that could stand being replaced, and I've used Dennis Carpenter in Charlotte, NC. In fact, the headliner and rear window seal was purchased back in 2003/04 from him, but they weren't available back in the 1980's when I restored the car. Here is his link: http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb.dll?userwatch~dynamicSearchPage~cadefffO This car flies! I've taken it to 6,000 RPM a few times, and it still was gaining. Ordinarily, I shift at 5,000, and it's still strongly grabbing for more RPM. The intent of this car's restoration was to be a "driver"- and not a show car. I wanted to enjoy it as much as possible while driving without worring about gravel nicks. If it would have been a "show car" it would have been difficult to enjoy to drive. It was great to get a "thumbs up" from passing motorists. I've stored the car under covers and tarps in a garage during the winters since restoration. It does need a good cleaning inside and out. In the past, I've used soap a few times, but usually I washed with clear water and dried it off with a towel. I just got it out of the garage, and from its covers just a few weeks ago, and drove it a few miles before putting it back in the garage. All I can say is: Wow! She still flies! The car has a clear title, of course, and will be presented to the buyer after full payment is made. She won't leave the farm until she's paid for, with cash in hand. If you go through PayPal, I'll hold the car until cash is withdrawn from the account, and is in hand. Shipping/Transporation is entirely the buyer's responsibility. If you have questions, please ask through the Ebay system. There is a modest reserve. To find out, continue bidding, I won't divulge it. I'm located about 15 miles south of Dayton, Ohio. I'm selling my 1951 Ford pickup too. It's on a 1984 F-350 chassis, with a 460 big block and C-6 auto. Look for it too on Ebay. You will see it in the background of one of the pictures. xOn May-15-12 at 18:28:39 PDT, seller added the following information: Dear fellow Ebayers, I write this on Tuesday evening before the last day of the auction. I've certainly gone through a full range of emotions this week since putting my car and, also, what was once my dad's car on Ebay. This car has been in our family for 48 years this month (May). I've been tempted to cancel the auction, and put my emotions at rest, but our lives change, and what seemed to be a high priority 30-40 years ago don't seem to be so important now. In those years during the restoration, I spent many hours under it and around it replacing parts, sandblasting, running fuel and brake lines, etc. - but now, the desire is gone. Even the thrill of driving it, and getting the "thumbs up" that other mostorist would give me no longer have the appeal that it once had. I can remember the day when dad brought it over to the gas station where I worked as a teenager in my junior year of high school. It was so sleek and shiney - and quiet! It didn't even compare to the noisey old clunker that I was driving at the time. Then he asked me if I want to take it for a spin. I was nervous, and my leg shook as I pushed down on the clutch pedal. I let it out jerkingly, and we were going down the street, so quietly, but so powerfully with that 390 under the hood. I've often sat in that car, and thought to myself: that's the windshield that dad looked out of; that's the steering wheel he touched, and so forth. I remember when we drove her on vacation in 1972 to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, then down to Colorado Springs to Pikes Peak. Afterwards eastward across I-70 back to Ohio. We pulled a full height camper the entire distance with no trouble at all. The kids at the time were ages 7 & 5. I had to leave the trailer at the parking lot at the bottom of Pikes Peak, because I wasn't permitted to take it up the mountain. As we climed the mountain, it was done with ease, and I mostly used 2nd gear to keep the engine speed up to circulate water through the water pump. That August day, we saw many cars on the way up that had over heated, but we passed them by, continuing without any problems to the top. On the way down, I used second gear to hold back the car and mid-way down there was a ranger inspecting for hot brakes. He reached around and felt the brake drums and motioned us forward down the mountain while others had to park and let their brakes cool down. Ahh! What memories. As I sit here and look over the Ebay summary, I can see there have been over 3300 hits, with 154 "watchers." Wow! I never expected it to get that much attention! I can only venture a guess that there will be a bidding frenzy at the end. I have, likewise, done the same on items that I've been interested in the past here on Ebay, and thought I would bid the very last second and surprise others by substantially bidding very much higher than what the current bid was at the time. Then, to my surprise as I refreshed the item's Ebay page, I find that up to a dozen others had the same idea, and they greatly out bid me. I don't want to misrepresent this car to you. It was restored almost 30 years ago, and the objective was to have a street driver that looked good from several feet away - not as a show car that almost comes under a microscopic inspection in the details. If you're looking for a show car - don't bid. The rust in the fenders and floors were sandblasted back to new metal, patch metal was added where needed, some fiberglass mat was used in places, and finished off with body filler. The work has held up very well, but it has, also, been stored winters and when not being driven kept in a garage out of the weather. In the early days after the restoration, I drove it to work on nice weather days, but I did get caught in the rain a few times. I've seen other people buy a nice restored classic car, and drive it every day, but those cars didn't last long under that kind of abuse - they're just too old to be used for that purpose. The "American Racing" steel wheels and the Firestone white letter tires have about 500 miles on them. I'm somewhat disappointed with the wheels, because they have rusted from moisture condensation while the car sat in storage. I've tested with polish and steelwool in some areas, and the chrome brightens back up, but there is considerable pitting remaining in the chrome. The wheels were beautiful a few years ago, however, when I bought them new. My heart says that if you won't love her as I did, then don't bid. Yet, it's time I have to emotionally release her to someone else. This is the last night that she's mine. Tomorrow night, she'll have another owner with a different set of expectations and hopes. I do hope that she pleases you as she did our family for so many years. Ken McWilliams KMcWilliams001@woh.rr.com .