As we age we think about what we missed in our lives and wonder what we could do to make up for it. I’ve had a lot of cars but there have been a couple that I missed. One was the 62 Ford Galaxie 406 4spd. I tried to order one back in 62 but was too late in the year and I was talked into a 63 427 R Code car that I blew up a few months after I bought it. I had been looking for a good part of 2024 but lack of car funds stood in the way. In the spring of 2025 I sold my boat and decided to use the money to purchase a Galaxie and turn it into a G code car. I missed a car that I just couldn’t get to in time before it sold. I found a black hardtop in Denver that I thought could be brought around fairly quickly but after getting it home and working on it I decided to give up and look for something that had a better life. I finally stumbled across a survivor with 65000 miles up in Montana. The paint and interior is original and in good shape. The chrome and stainless is all good. It is an automatic 352 that isn’t impressive when it comes to performance. I was originally going to fly into Great Falls and drive it home but the previous owner thought that was a bad idea and I’m glad he talked me out of that plan. Annie and I drove up right before we started the Strawberry Fields ride. I still wanted to drive it back and see if it would be ready for a long trip this summer. I made it just short of 200 miles when it overheated. I had been running it between 80 and 90 through the hills of Montana and it ran great till the heating problem. Time was of the essence so we quickly loaded it on the trailer and decided to drive all the way back to Lewis. We ended up driving 2275 miles in 3 days pulling a trailer. Used to do that all the time when I was younger but not so much now. Good news (I think) was the radiator cap was not on securely so that may have been the problem. We got to Lewis, filled the radiator with water and went for a drive where it seemed to run fine with no problem and no overheating.
Future plans: First will be to run a compression check and a tune up, then enough miles to regain some confidence. The only cosmetics planned are to remove the cracked padded dash and replace the front seat cover. The upholstery is good but the original owner didn’t like the vinyl and had installed cloth inserts in the front seat. A good detailing is all that it will take for a start so I will just drive it till I get the upgraded driveline and engine ready. Along the way I purchased an old Oakland jalopy with a rebuilt 406 tri power. I also picked up an original T10 out of a 62 along with the factory clutch and brake pedals. That will hopefully be a short project for the fall and winter.
A change of plans. The 406 was more radical that I need or want and I decided I would be better served by swapping the 390 out of the black Galaxie. I pulled the engine in the fall of 25 and was in the process of cleaning it up when I discovered a slight erosion in a cylinder wall so it was off to the machine shop. The decision was made to go through the engine and do a complete rebuild. New 10.5 pistons, Howard roller cam, and an original aluminum Ford OEM intake from a 375 HP 390. Along with the cast iron headers of a HiPo engine I should have close to the HP of the 406 and be able to run pump gas. Along the way I picked up all the original clutch and shifter linkage to fit the T10 transmission. Its now the middle of May 2026 and the old 352 is out of the car, the rebuilt 390 and T10 are ready to install. We might be rolling by the end of July.
7/22/26 Update: Thanks to Dwight and Roger the Galaxie is now running with the 390. We put the hood on this afternoon and have an appointment tomorrow morning for a new exhaust system. The Leeds power brake booster is in the car, the power steering has been switched from the black car and there is light at the end of the tunnel. While installing some under the dash Stewart Warner gauges we put in an aftermarket radio that fits the original hole in the dash and is a more modern system.
9/30/26 Update: Around the 4th of July we pulled the engine, fired up the Hotsy and cleaned the engine bay as good as possible. Since this is built to be a driver and with no expectation of ever entering a show I decided to clean up everything and touch up a few places where the original paint was wearing thin. For power steering we decided to keep things original and use the factory set up that I picked up out of the early Ford wrecking yard in Byers, CO. While the engine was out it was also a good time to at least install the booster and dual master cylinder so I made a call to Leeds and ordered a kit. By the end of July I was almost ready to stick the 390 and trans in the car but I needed to get back to Alaska and I put the project back on hold. However a couple of good friends and my son decided to surprise me and when I returned in mid August the engine and trans were bolted in. It’s good to have friends like that. The hardest part of the automatic to manual switch was the insert nuts in the frame. We damaged the steering box when pulling the pitman arm and the clutch linkage installation was much easier with that steering box out of the way. By the end of August we had the time consuming little details done and we were ready to fire it up for the first time. All of that went well but we had a minor vacuum leak due to the poor fitting Felpro gaskets between the carb and new manifold. Also had a new problem, there was no vacuum source for the PCV now that we were using power brakes. Finally found a correct one for the Ford aluminum manifold and picked up some better fitting gaskets from Mikes. Once all the vacuum leaks were addressed we installed a manual choke and closed the hood. Overall it’s running well but needs some smaller jets to be happier at our altitude of 6600 feet. I’ll get around to the jetting and fine tuning in the not too distant future.
10/1/2026: Once the engine was in and running we finished installing the front disc brakes. That went better than expected and took way less time than we figured. Thats quite unusual in my world. The Leeds kit fit together well and looks to be a quality product with the exception of the cheap Chinese bearings. I was tempted to leave the car blocked up and wait for the internet to ship some Timkin or other quality bearings, but I decided to go ahead and use the Chineseum junk for a few months while waiting for the better ones to arrive. I’ve always used Wilwood for other projects but thought I would save a few bucks but I sorry I did. For now I’m just glad to be able to make two quick stops in a row. It’ s a wonder we lived through the old drum brakes back in the day. Now that it’s running and driving its time to get the Stewart Warner gauges and the Sun tach installed. The gauges were easy once I had all the senders which I had forgotten to order with the gauges. Finding a vintage tach became a problem. I have used a couple of the reproduction tachs that looked like the old Sun but those don’t seem to be available anymore. I found a Stewart Warner that looked good but couldn’t find a bucket to mount it in. I finally bought a two piece Sun tach off eBay and shipped it to Williamson for new internals. While there the range was lowered to 7000 and a new face, similar to the 63 409 Chevy ones was installed. Only thing left on the interior is to either replace the dash pad or remove it completely and then replace the upholstery on the front seat to match the back.
Pictures of Big Red, the Chestnut Galaxie after a trip to the detail shop.
The Bluebird of Happiness: Probably a twenty’s era Oakland that is an absolute death trap but has a rebuit 406 engine that will go into the chestnut Galaxie along with an original T10 4 speed. This will turn the car into a G code clone. After getting it running I’ll be pulling it apart and making sure its a good engine before moving on. The more I work on the Bluebird the less confidence I have in anything the Mouseketeer did.
The black Galaxie: This was the original car I thought I would make into a G code clone but it is just too much of a project. It does have a decent running 390 so when the 352 comes out of the Chestnut car I will clean it up and put it in Blackie to resell. If the 406 is still questionable and the 390 turns out to be a relatively low mileage good engine I very well upgrade the 390 with some more efficient upgrades and put it in the chestnut car. As I’m getting old maybe I can get by with a little less power. ;<) The car looks better in the pictures than real life, much like those blind dates back in high school. I did pull the chrome wheels off and they now live on Big Red.
