This last week i was in northern Cali. And i came up on a 2 door 1964 Galaxie 500 for $500. No motor or tranny So what motor do i use? And Whare do i go for parts??? Thanks.
the one I am working on now has a 302 and a c-5. looks to all bolt in with factory parts. meaning- plentiful and cheap parts...motor and trans wise, anyway. I am bagging this car, and know that all of the stuff to lower it was purchased off the shelf. (it's for sale) suspension parts have been easy to track down. interior...couldn't tell ya. Ours has a full Fat Lucky interior, and wasn't completely fucked to begin with. Weatherstripping was avalible, too...but as I recall, the "full meal deal" for seals ran around a grand. 64 (from what I know- I could be completely WRONG) is a 1 year only body style. meaning tin could be a tough find...or mabey not. it's still a pretty popular body style. Dunno. Ours was straight. Ish. Wiring...again...everything we added was custom, and we were dealing with a pretty unmolested car. everything I can see looks suspiciously like Mustang. all in all...If I was nearer to it, for 500 bucks, I would own it. After building this car, I really started to like them. My only bitch was filling all 146 trim holes.
there was a 390 and c6 on here the other day in so-cal just looking for a home like that !! $500 sounds like a nice score.
It was behind a barn in New Pine Creek C.A. My wifes cousin lives there and we were there for a 50 year aneversry, I told my wife that i'm going car hunting, I also found a old 60ish datsun unibody, A 53 ford f100, A 50 henery J, And a 50-51 stude. The one with the bullit nose...
http://www.mercurystuff.com/ This site has a VIN decoder under the 1964 link. It will tell you what motore was originally in your car which will help. Most had FE's ( 390's and 352's) but 289's were available in the US. Parts aren't too hard to find as these are quite a popular car. Dennis Carpenter sells a lot of resto parts for them also and a lot of '63 mechanicals will interchange as well as similar year Mercury parts too.
I just finished up a `64 Galaxie 500 a few weeks ago. Mine was originally a 6 cyl / 3 speed car. I installed a 390 / Toploader 4 speed. The original frame mounts worked fine. I just bought some 390 rubber motor mounts at the parts store and all worked out great. I couldn`t locate an "affordable" 390 radiator for a `64, but bought a 390 radiator for a 68 Galaxie for $185. It fit ok and mounted up fine after I drilled a couple holes in the core support. All the small parts I needed were pretty easy to find.
The 64 is a 1 year body style, it came with a few different engine options - FE - 352, 390 and a few others [ i think ] , it also came with a SBF option, mine has a 289 its the same block as a falcon, but it pulls pretty good. i have the small 5 bolt cruiso tranny. Which sucks because if i wanna upgrade to a AOD i have to go to a later 6 bolt block. If its a small block car you can do a 302 / AOD swap pretty easy. There are alot of dealers and parts are easy to find. I love em, was it the 500 or the 500XL [bucket,console] ?
Great score. When I was a 7 year old kid, the 64 Fords came out, and I went to the dealer and got all the brochures, as I thought it was the prettiest thing I'd ever seen.
390 stroked shortblock and a C6. A Bill Coon SOHC kit will set you back about $10k and you'll have a Cammer Galaxie, how cool is that?
http://www.galaxieclub.com http://www.fordforums.com http://www.fordmuscle.com/forums/galaxie http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=195703 Part are everywhere for this car. http://www.dearbornclassics.com/galaxie.html http://www.kanter.com/ http://www.macsautoparts.com/pass2.html there are a lot of parts that are interchangeable for your car. I would suggest you go to ebay and buy a 1964 ford parts interchange book "about $30.00". I own a '63 fairlane .In the interchange book, I have found parts that fit my car from other fords & mercurys that were built well into the 70's. I would also suggest that you cruise ebay for BOTH for 64 ford & mercury parts.........Galaxies, Fairlanes, Merc Meteors all have cross matched parts Let me know what else you need .........
Depends on your budget. As mentioned already, the 302/AOD swap is rather economical and 390/C6 combos aren't too hard to find. Either combo is good and parts are readily available. I agree with LUX BLUE, if you want to re-seal the whole car, which it might need if it has sat for some time, plan on spending about $1,000. This should include the front and rear glass, doors, window felt, etc. Be sure to check the frame, about mid-way down the car, for rust. I know you are in CA, but it's still worth checking. I've seen a couple of the '64s have frame rot issues in that area and I owned an XL that was that way. The '65 and later models were much worse for rusty frames. As far as switching to an XL interior, that could be a little spendy, also. Most of the XL interior parts are rather desireable. Keep your eyes peeled, there are still deals out there on this stuff, just like the car you found! Power steering - If the car you found is equipped with power steering, that's another area that will cost some $$ to get back into shape. All of the parts are available though - pump rebuild kit (or complete rebuilt pump), hoses, rebuilt slave cylinder, rebuilt control valve (or kit). Is the rear bumper rusted through? Another problem area on the '64s. Here are some parts sources for you: http://www.autokrafters.com/ http://www.dennis-carpenter.com/pdf/60-64galaxie.pdf http://www.classicautoparts.com/ http://www.macsautoparts.com/ I've also found some Galaxie parts cheaper (than the above sources) through Napa, Autozone, and http://www.rockauto.com/ It's usually chassis and engine parts that I can find through the places listed above. Hope this info helps you a little! Let us know if you end up with the car and post some pics. Malcolm (edit: looks like I duplicated some info from INTRUDER)
Also, there's alot of info here on the HAMB about switching the front to disc brakes. There's the Granada spindle swap, '70s Tbird spindle swap, and aftermarket options. Malcolm
Rock Auto rules. They have found stuff for me people said "simply don't exist" for example- rear E-Brake cables for a freaky rare late 70's Barracuda...with 4 wheel disc brakes. (no shit.) The Mopar Gurus told me I was full of it. Rock Auto had Calipers and Cables. for CHEAP.
Rock Auto example from just last week: Rear brake drums for my '62 Galaxie. $25 apiece from Rock Auto and shipped to my house within a few days. $12 shipping. The drums are priced at $50-$60 apiece through Autokrafters and other "obsolete" catalogs listed above. I agree. Rock Auto DOES rule. Their website is pretty easy to work with, also. Malcolm
My Galaxie was a standard shift, 3 on the tree. I found a toploader 4 speed on Craigslist for cheap. 3 speeds and 4 speeds were available in the 64 Galaxie.
I dont the vin#, Its 7 hundred and 50 miles away right now. I can call and get it. As far as driving up and getting it, That isint gonna happen untell April or May. But i am going to start collecting parts now...
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