65 ford ranch wagon - advice and resources needed

nice, yeah 289s dont put much down in a big ol car like that,it does pretty good in my fairlane of course the 4 speed stick i added didnt hurt that process. my pops gotta a 351c in his 67 fastback with a tunnel ram and 2 600s to top it off and yeah it lays a patch down for about a mile itself... that motors what got me started into all this madness as a child

 

I used to buy the crap out of Galaxie wagons & even in the seventies and eighties I saw frames rotting. Always a good thing to check

 

My experience from HS was that nobody knew Jack SHIT about older cars. Teach 'em. Don't modernize it a bit.

Rebuild the carb, new plugs, wires, cap, rotor, points, condenser, hoses and belts and i bet it runs fine. You should pull front cover and replace timing chain, water pump, and ALL brake parts excepting perhapse the metal lines.

The 289 in my Galaxie (soon to be replaced anyway) starts great. Its tuned up w/ correct dwell and it starts as good as EFI motors after you pump it a couple times and set the choke. Gets approx. 20 mpg hiway w/ T-10 and 3.00 rear. I drove it all seasons until it got paint.

Pull out the gas tank and clean the hell out of it, Go out into the parking lot or nearest gravel road and pick up some sharp, nickle sized and smaller rocks. Dump them into the tank, w/ water, and slosh back and forth. Dump and re-rinse until water coming out looks clean. Blow gas lines out.

If school can't be convinced to spray car, don't laugh, could you brush paint it? Could be a fun saturday parking lot project. If you thin out the paint and use nice brushes the lines flow out and it would look 1000% better.

If not, get a small time guy to paint the car. Probably cheaper and he might let the kids help a little bit. Wouldn't go overboard on expensive paint. As long as they're proud of it its good enough.


edit:

on a long stretch w/ 3.00 rear and a stock 289 is good for about 120 mph.

Adam

 

2 Words

Tiki Custom!

Get some boards on that thing!

 

disc brakes and dual master cylinder setup can be sourced by buying a set of spindles off any full size ford up to '79... power steering off any full size ford. anything from a 240 6-cyl to a 460 will slip right in the engine bay; any trans will fit right into the frame. the 9" you already have.
DSII ignition, dual exhausts, 4v carb... the rest is gravy.

here's what i'd do: find a 2 door sedan; lose the back doors off the wagon and graft in the 2 door sedan b-pillars, doors, and quarters, and fill in the side windows. make the wagon a sedan delivery. then again, i'm crazy.

and take the advice given a dozen times here; check every inch of that frame, ESPECIALLY right behind the front wheels and in front of the back wheels. for some reason they love to dissolve away right there.

 

thanks guys. keep 'em coming!

 

i had an 65 galaxie could not find a dash pad,so i looked at dash assy in a salavage yard and found a great dash which i installed in my galaxie which is a dash assy from a 65-66 mercury full size a much better looking dash than the ford.the only thing that is interchange between body parts is the hoods.

 

well, the frame is solid - did a hammer and screwdriver test.

engine turned over freely by hand, so changed the oil and filter, installed a battery and tuned the key on - no smoke or burning wires - so we cranked it for a while to circulate oil... tomorrow we try to start it...

cleaned the years of pine needles and trash out of the car. tomorrow we wash the interior down to get rid of the mildew and dirt...

working on getting a sandblast company lined up to blast the frame and body - but i don't know any local to winder. any suggestions from the locals?

 

This is 65 Fairlane Ranch Wagon...my new project.