Projects 1959 Galaxie Drivability upgrades

Hello Ladies and Gents,

1959 Ford Galaxie Fairlane 500 Town Sedan by 59fordyfairgalax500 posted Oct 16, 2015 at 4:55 PM

I am proud to have my 59' Ford back on the road. I am considering some simple upgrades for reliability and safety. I'd like to take about a 800 mile trip next spring to bring the car out to the east coast. I put 450 miles on the car a couple weekends ago, so I am confident it will make the trip. The only thing I worry about is the drum brakes coming down the mountains in PA.

1. Points Eliminator kit. I've found these two so far. Any thoughts or suggestions in general about points eliminators kits?
http://www.hot-spark.com/1-3FOR8U1.htm
http://www.macsautoparts.com/ford_m...ual-point-distributor-ford-and-mercury-1.html

2. Seat belts (Lap). I found a set of six red aircraft style buckle belts (5x~60"/1x74"). I think I need 74" all the way around or extensions. I don't see any anchor points. Can anyone give suggestions on anchors? I see typical anchor kits with two thick plates or washers to sandwich the sheet metal. The proper way would be to weld a plate, but I am not sure I want to go that far at this point.

3. Front Disk brakes. Eventually I want to make the upgrade but I don't want to lose the stock hub caps. From what I have read, the older wheels won't fit the disk brakes (either caliper clearance and/or center hole size). Some have suggested newer granada or Ford Ranger 14" steel wheels The car has stock power brakes. I found this blog that goes through an upgrade. I would prefer to go this way so I don't have the pull off the spindle since I just replaced the entire front suspension.
http://home.comcast.net/~simplyconnected/projects/59BrakeDisks/default.htm

Suggestions are appreciated!

 

I would just update to 15 inch rims along with your disc brake swap. Much easier finding 15 inch wheels and tires.

 

Are there 15" rims that will allow mounting of 14" hubcaps?

 

Back when your car was new they frequently made coast to coast trips on the new interstates with no trouble. If everything is in top shape, it can do so today.

There are later model cars and minivans with disc brakes and 14" wheels, that weigh as much as your car. No reason not to use them.

Seat belts are a good idea. But be sure to put good anchor plates behind the bolts, 6" square or the equivalent, to be sure they don't pull thru the floor. While you are at it, replace the seat bolts with grade 8 and put big washers behind them. You don't want the seat tearing loose either.

Points eliminator not strictly necessary but a lot of people prefer them. They seldom break but if they do, can leave you stranded. So a lot of guys keep the old points and some tools in the car, just in case.

 

I put a pertronix 1 on my 62 390 in 2007.hasnt failed me yet.Im still using the single bowl master and drum brakes though.

 

If there the dog dish style, they'll fit. Full wheel covers won't work.

 

Nope. If you want to run the OEM wheelcovers, you'll need 14" wheels. Your '59 wheels won't clear any disc brake set-up, so if you convert you'll need disc brake wheels. Might as well get 5 so you don't have to keep track and so your spare will fit in any position. Now, whether an aftermarket brake kit will clear 14" wheels or not you'll have to ask the vendor. Ford built tons of cars with discs and 14" wheels, so it shouldn't be a big deal finding a OEM set. If you can't find an aftermarket kit that works, look at '72-76 Torino/Montego front discs. The geometry on these spindles is closer to your OEM parts than the commonly used Granada bits, and standard wheels were 14". There are two hub sizes (center holes), in most cases you can have the larger hubs turned to the smaller size at any competent machine shop.

 

when going down a hill use your gears to assist your brakes.

 

hey nice car. Should make any trip alright if you the regular maintenance has been done. You should look up malcoms post on the wagon

 

Keen to see what you do for your seat belts, I need to do the same to mine. Shame they dont have factory anchor points.

 

I have Wesco 3-point belts up front in my Ford, haven't done the rears yet which are just lap belts. The kits come with big washers which look too thin to me. I may double them up.

For the brakes, you could just change the master and keep the drum brakes, if they're in good shape they'll stop fine.

I would be tempted to keep the points too, splurge on a reconditioned distributor if you go that route.

 

I'm with Rusty. People drove theses cars coast to coast, up & down mountains, thru deserts and frozen tundras and seemed to make it. If everything's up to snuff I don't see why it wouldn't make it. Nice car!

 

I spoke with Dave over at Drop-N-Stop, he seemed very confident that the kit they make would work with the factory 59' wheels. Which is contrary to everything I've read. He did mention that if all else fails I can get a set of later model 14" rims.

At this point I still have to go through the brakes and check the drums and pads. It still has the original rubber hoses to the wheel cylinders. When we replaced the ball joints we found the fitting seized to the line going under the motor.

Everything seems to work just fine at this point, I would rather be proactive from a reliability and safety standpoint.

I would definitely will have a chase car on the trip out there...

 

I put a center lap belt in so I could take some baby carriers with. It fits some car seats but not others unfortunately.

 

I did. 1650 Miles. I just hope my rear end doesn't start tossing roller bearings!

 

My son and I have been driving our 59 for 14 years, thru 3 states.
Everything stock

 

Well I have Granada brakes on my 57 because I went with dropped spindles. That's the ONLY reason I went through the trouble and cost. Here is a photo of my 59 (It's For Sale) that's bone stock but fresh almost everything. I wouldn't even consider making the same change on it. There is no point when everything is in proper condition. Just be smart about driving your Car and don't run up anyone's Ass. Enjoy the drive and you'll be fine.
The Wizzard

 

..................What an excellent point! I see so many of these kids today come flying up to stopped cars, of course they've never lived in a world without 4-wheel, anti-lock disc brakes, r&p steering, radial tires.......and thankfully, crumple zones.

 

Several years ago I took my '29 Chevy on a 900 mile jog through VT, upstate NY, up and down some very steep PA coalmining mountains, NJ and back to Boston. All with mechanical brakes. Yes, there was some fade on the steeper hills, but I kept within the limits of the car, drove defensively and had a blast. I think if you plan on staying off the highways as much as possible, you'd be fine with the stock brakes. Have fun!

 

...............You are a brave soul.

 

I would probably make a stop off in Detroit to see a friend, it would break the trip up substantially over two days. I would have to do some planning to stay off the interstate.

 

Great to hear you do driving it!

Are you running bias-ply or radials? I sometimes have a pretty significant vibration that shakes the dash around 50-55 mph. I can't tell if it's the road, the new tires, or something else.

 

D2, D1 or L? I won't have my hands on the car until late December when it goes in the shop. I won't be doing much driving due to the how they salt the roads in Illinois.

 

I'll second Mikhett's suggestion as to the Petronix points eliminator. That work very well, but be cognizant of which Pertronix you're using. The new Pertronix Igniter III has come out recently and I just retrofit one into a friend's '66 Mustang. It works very well but they are finicky about what coil you use. I wound up swapping to the matching coil to eliminate any possible headaches.

I'll also agree that stock brakes, if they're in good working order, will be more than up to the task for your trip. I've never upgraded the brakes in my '57 Ford, and I've driven that car tens of thousands of miles through NJ and the adjoining states without issue. Do they stop like discs? No. But if you know the car and drive within it's limits, you'll have no issues. Regular traffic and highway speeds are a non-issue on a proper set of drums. The upgrade to a dual master is a good idea though. Things can happen and having a dual master is an important safety feature. A master out of a 67 Mustang is your ticket. It should bolt in place, and you'll simply have to split the front and rear lines.

As for running 15s, I think it's a good idea to run 15s simply for the fact that they look better. You can also stuff a set of discs under there too. However, if you didn't upgrade the brakes themselves to discs, that wouldn't be a reason to not take the trip.

Most seatbelt kits come with large, thick, flat washers to help spread the load on the floor. If you get into an accident where a 2" washer pulls through a sturdy floor pan, believe me, you have much larger issues.

 

I put seat belts in my 58 wagon using a kit from Speedway that came with large washers and drilled holes in the floors for the bolts. When driving my car, I am cognizant of the fact that I have a large steering wheel and steel dash to stop me if I get in a collision. There is also the torpedo of a steering column that can go through me if I am in a bad enough head on collision.

This doesn't stop me from driving my car on a near daily basis to and from work, taking my family on 3 hour road trips and generally just having fun with the car.

I run radial 14" tires with stock drum brakes and single master cylinder.

You mentioned car seats, there are a few car seat manufactures that don't require a top tether. I use Britax and Radian car seats for the older kids, and a Chicco pumpkin seat because they can all be fastened safely with just a lap belt. My 6 and 4 year old also are forced to ride in 5 point harness seats since it is the only way to have them ride safely. The toddler rides in the Chicco pumpkin seat since it is rate to 30 lbs. There are models of Radian car seats that can forward face in a 5 point harness up to 85 pounds. These are also some of the narrowest you can buy and work great for bench seats.

 

Thanks for the advice. I think I will do the points replacement in December. When I drove the car in September, missing progressively got worse over the 450 miles. I had to re-adjust the points gap and timing and found it was depositing on one of the electrodes. I had to kick up the idle to make it home. I did stop and grab two sets of points but I had to leave for the airport in a few hours so I parked it and stuck the points and condenser in the ash tray as a reminder. I had new plugs, coil, wires, and almost new points, condenser, rotor, and cap.

I have PS/PB on my Galaxie. The bellows are under the dash. The 67 MC appears to be a 2 hole design vs 4 hole. If the booster is in the engine bay, that might be a different story. I am also picking through the Squarebirds website for information.

 

I hear you all on driving within the limits. I would prefer to keep it all original and not spend any more money than I have too.

I don't have kids myself yet, but have a few friends and family members that do. The belts need to be long enough to accommodate any of the seats they have. I already had one instance where the belts weren't long enough.

Something like this?: http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Lift-Latch-Lap-Belt,7344.html

 

Those are the belts I used. I honestly can't remember the length I ended up with, but if I recall they were $25 before shipping.

 

I went with the 3-point belts due to the '59 having that spear of a steering column. They're not quite finished but the B pillar end is done. Had to get fancy with a bolt that would permit me to use the stock tin on the inside. I made up a bushing that mimicked the shoulder on the bolt (too short) that came with the kit.

 

The rule is "use the same gear to go down a hill as you would use to go up."