64 Galaxie Crown Vicky Front Suspension Conversion?

Has anyone ever done or thought of using the front suspention, disc brakes, power steering from a newer Crown Vicky on a '64 Galaxie?

I'me sure it would be alot of work but I think the bennefit would be worth the effort.

Any thought out there?

 

Why not set the Galaxie body over onto the Crown Vic running chassis using the complete drivetrain as well? tnrotter

 

WHY??? Whats wrong with the galaxie front end?

 

My first thought is "WHY" ? All the ware parts are on the shelf and Disc Brakes are just nuts and bolts.
You say "I think the bennefit would be worth the effort." Tell me what you think the benefit is going to be. Personally I don't see it.
The Wizzard

 

The first thing is the $1325.00 price for the rebuild parts, I bout crapped when I got the bill.

 

The '64 Ford front end is about as basic as it gets. Outside of aging bushings, they tend to eat only idler arms and tierod ends. I've priced quality individual components vs "all in one" kits and always did better with parts I've ordered OTC at my parts store. And I get Moog or McQuay Norris parts. I tend to do parts changing as needed for a daily driver.

But if you throw in power steering assembly parts, it can get pricey. I'm sure that you could do a disc brake conversion and general front end rebuild yourself for less than that.

Bob

 

It sounds like you also were paying shop labor. That will eat a Hole in your Wallet pretty fast. It sounds like galixyguy is going to do his frame work Himself. If he's capable of doing that he should also be able to change a few ware pieces on his own.
The Wizzard

 

Well, the steering is another issue. I'm not a big fan of the ram and control valve setup. My car is bagged, and the steering setup is very close to the ground. Also, those parts are expensive. Plus you would have struts, and that makes coilovers/air bags easier. I know that on 2003 and up Crown Vics, the subframe assembly is bolt on aluminum. If you got the frame width right on a new stub, it would be a very simple setup.

 

It's not a CV frontend in a Galaxie but into a Ford truck.
Maybe you can use some of the info.
Click here

 

The downside to the 2003 up CV frontend is the very wide hub to hub, which requires using deep negative offset wheels, sort of like C4 Corvette front ends. If you don't like any of the factory 2003 up Ford/Merc wheels there is not much you can do with aftermarket stuff without SERIOUSLY upsetting frontend geometry.....unless said aftermarket wheels are ALSO deep offset negative.

 

Some great replies... Thanks all for you input! The one problem with the Galaxie front suspention is the front lower control arm which is off-set. Ford's idea from what I've read was to create a floating front control-arm to improve ride quality. The problem however is at the cost of eating tires. There are remanufactured straight control arm bolts in the area of $400. However, I'm looking to improve overall handling and thus, curious whether any one's tried a Crown Vicky front end conversion?

Ya, I can do all the welding and fab myself as I'm a week-end mechanic / tie jockey during the week...

 

I've personally owned three '64 Fords, 2 with power steering and one without. None of them ate tires on me and the one with manual steering had the original front end components in it at over 100K miles.

Its up to you to want to over-complicate a simple design that works for many '64 Ford owners, so be my guest.

Bob

 

Currently getting ready to do a 64 for my daughter, What did you finally do with your suspension?

 

I'd like to know, also. Sounds interesting.

 

P-S-T.com

You can get a whole front end kit for $250ish. . . . . . . rebuild it in a weekend, they are a good company

L

 

I acquired a '61 Mercury convertible that someone swapped a '90 Marquis chassis and drivetrain under. Trust me, don't ever do this, it's no bueno.

 

I rebuilt the front suspension on my 62 galaxie xl with a kit from KANTERS.Rides good 2 me.

 

There is no comparison between the front end he is talking about, and a '90 model...the '03-up models are completely different (aluminum cpmponents, rack and pinion, better brakes, modular design, etc), and handle/steer/stop better than any American RWD full size car I have ever driven. IF you can make it work with a suitable wheel/tire combo, you will be way ahead in the way the car drives.

 

with a torch and a welder anything will fit anything............

 

The 03-up crown vic is a great set up, But the way the spring pockets are on the galaxie it wont fit well unless you modify those. Or just tube frame the front section and use the crown vic crossmember. I'm planning on getting busy with a tape measure over the next week or two until I find a subframe that will work.

 

Thought about it for the Merc but too much frame chopping. The F-100 guys use them often to ditch the twin I beams.( There is a good thread on here)

 

I meant "90s". Either way though, Barf-o-rama. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the stock chassis/suspension under these older Fords.

 

how much wider is the newer vic front end?

 

Its not so much that anything is "wrong" with a stock galaxie front end, it's just that it has weak points. The galaxie was famous for floating down the highway due to the geometry and the unusual angle ford used on the lower control arm front bolt. It is simple enough to do a disc brake setup on but just happened to measure a late 70's firebird subframe and it is perfect width do fit in my 64. So we just cut it up this morning and used the subframe from the firebird. Now it'll drive better and have disc brakes. Only took about 3 hours. Pics to come

 

Sorry for the cell phone pics being crappy. And I'm not good with resizing them. But anyway, here's a quick look at yesterday morning.

Well, after some measuring and marking we decided to hack the original frame just in front of the body mounts cause it seemed to be just the right spot.


And the donor



Then made some "plugs" to fit inside the original frame and slide the new one over.


Then just slid it all into place after welding in the plugs

[/IMG]

Then just kinda wiggled it around till we were happy with how it looks. Which actually only took a few seconds because the frame widths were perfect.


Then just welded it up


We even put the front clip back on and made some brackets for the core support.
It should sit just about right with the engine in it. But if it's high I can get spindles easy enough or just cut a half coil.

Here's what it looks like sitting dry

 

Rare Parts sells a bolt-kit that changes out that offset shaft that stops the lower control arm from losing alignment. Some guys just put a little tack weld in that kidney part of the offset shaft.

Also - someone from the So Cal Galaxie club makes a kit

 

63 & 64 Ford front ends was one of the better front ends Ford had.

 

First of all, great idea. I did the same clip on our '60 El Camino. A couple comments though. Not sure of the picture below is where you finished, but I have a couple of recommendations for safety.

1. *Drill a substantial sized hole fore & aft of the joint on the new and old frame (top, bottom, and sides), and burn some really hot plug welds into the insert you installed to tie everything together.
   
   
2. **Another option (or an additional safety measure) would be welding fish plates over the joints to spread the joint stresses.
   

In my opinion, the steel plug you inserted does very little unless it's tied to the new and old sections of the frame. I don't feel that a butt weld is enough to safely join a stub frame, regardless of how heavy a car is. And this one is heavy.

It does look like a surprisingly good fit though, and I hope you take my suggestions as constructive advice rather than an attack, as I know first-hand the amount of work involved in doing what you did here.

 

I guess I should have stated that I'm not finished yet. Gonna move it over onto a lift and some more welding. Will probably do some plug welds and plate it. I didn't put that in but it will definitely be plated. Particularly the bottom of the frame rail.

 

Sounds good...I figured it wouldn't be left like that, but I had to say something...

Keep the updates coming!

Todd