This has been kind of a crazy year with lots of setbacks and issues that have crept up, so I'm just now getting started on the Galaxie for this years Drag Week. I was thinking it was going to be a quick and easy project, but you know how that goes. I had already replaced all the brakes, brake lines and wheel cylinders when I bought the car about 10 years ago, but the single pot master cylinder went bad one day and it got parked until I could switch it over to the safer dual pot style. I purchased that long ago but never got around to putting it on. Just when I parked it, the original tranny (an *cough* autermatic thingy) started making strange noises and didn't want to go into gear right away, so that was added to the list of things to address.
I finally got started on it yesterday. It took me over 2 hours just to remove all the junk that had somehow accumulated on top of the car.
After throwing a battery in it, I turned the engine over for about 10 seconds to get some oil flowing into the engine and to draw some gas back up to the carb. Then I gave it a shot of starting fluid and hit the key. Remarkably, after sitting for 8 years, and with the gas smelling like turpentine
bad, it fired right up and ran perfect!!....for about 5 seconds. Then the foul gas hit the carb and it would barely run. No problem, at least I knew it was going to run again, and run good. It didn't even make a sound when it started. No lifter noise or anything. Sometimes you just can't beat the old points ignition!!
The bad news was the carb was peeing out every gasket and orifice. In the short time it was running, the top of the intake was full of gas, and I do mean FULL. Again, not a biggie. It's the original Autolite 4 barrel, so rebuilding it will not present any problems, I hope. I went ahead and sucked the remaining bad gas out of the tank and started preparing to pull the engine and trans. I wanted to re-gasket the engine while it was out, replace the block core plugs, clean it up a bit and probably throw some paint on it while it's out. The trans will get rebuilt by a friend of mine, and probably a get new convertor while it's out.
I don't know anything about this engine except it idled perfect and ran perfect when I was driving it. The car is about as original as you'll ever find. Never repainted, never hit or hurt, not even a single dent anywhere on it. Even the grille looks perfect and isn't stone pitted. The interior doesn't even have a ripped stitch, and it's 100% original, including the carpet. Except for a small amount of rust on the drivers rear quarter, the car is 100% rust free. The rear quarter rust is odd because even the underneath of the car is rust free with only a hint of surface rust in a few small spots, not even any pitting on the floorpans. This is the nicest 'original, untouched' car I've ever started with, or personally seen, for that matter. While the engine bay is all original and in very good shape, I could tell the valve covers and air cleaner had been repainted, so I'm not sure if the engine is untouched. Here's what I started with...
After soaking up all the gas on top of the intake, I started the removal process by taking as much off the engine as I could so I could check things over as I removed them. The heater hose that ran to the carb spacer was practically falling apart with rust and it still had the original tower clamps on it.
When I took off the original fuel pump, I found something that I was happy to see, and something that I wasn't so happy to see. The timing chain didn't have the nylon gear, so that was a relief, but I saw a little more gunk in the engine than I had hoped to see.
It appears that the engine has had at least some work done to it in the past, but I don't know how much or what was done. Since I've owned the car, I haven't even removed a valve cover because the engine ran so perfect, but I think I'm going to remove everything and give the internals a good look before I decide that it's good enough to get through Drag Week. My intentions are to just drive the car to Georgia, participate in Drag Week, then drive it back home. Hauling my truck and trailering the car that far will kill me in gas money, and I just can't really afford that at the moment.
The heat factor is going to be a big one this year. According to my Son, who lives in N. Carolina and will be meeting up with me to go on the event again this year, the temps, heat index and humidity are pretty brutal in that part of the country, even in late September. So I'm thinking about throwing an Edelbrock water pump on that I have laying around, and possibly getting a new radiator. Even though there's nothing wrong with the original one, there is a bit of calcium buildup in the tubes, and I'd just feel better with a new, more efficient radiator. It also needs a fan shroud, so I'll be getting one of those. The car never got hot when I drove it, but I think that could change down south with a fully loaded car driving through mountains and traffic.
So my plan is:
Rebuild the trans and a new torque convertor
Replace the original damper with an aftermarket one I have here (the rubber is deteriorated bad)
Check internals of engine and timing chain for looseness
Regasket the engine
Paint engine
Replace water pump and fuel pump
Rebuild the carb
Check and/or replace U-joints
Replace ALL rubber hoses on the car and flush fuel system
Replace radiator and get a fan shroud, and possibly a different fan with more blades than the original style with 4
New tires
For you guys that are used to dealing with the heat down south, I'm open to suggestions as to how to combat it. My Son suggested putting an electric fan on it. I don't want to spend the money on that, but it's something I may have to consider. The engine is stock, so extra heat buildup from a performance engine is not an issue. I am considering headers while the engine is out though, and that probably wouldn't help any. I may wait until I get back to do that, just to avoid adding more heat to the engine compartment.
I've got to get my butt in gear!