Hello all, I do believe Wes is right about filling a void. My name is Len Zielinski, I'm 57 going on 18 (or so I've been told
. I would be the first to agree that life can get in the way of fun, reading the other intro's shows a common thread. Grew up on a farm, learned to build what I needed there. My first car was a '64 Fairlane model kit manufactured by AMT which I quickly optioned out as far as the plastic would take me. I brush painted it with half-dried Testor's green, made a God-awful mess of it. Pretty sure I literally cried, at least my older brother said I did.
My first real car was a '69 390 LTD, beat the snot out of it but never broke it. I then went over to the dark side. Had a string of Chevys, a 70 SS 396 Chevelle, a '57 coupe, '56 210 post and a '61 Impala Conv. Shortly after I got the '61 life moved in on me and set up shop. I worked days, built engines and painted cars in my garage nights. Ever since I was 20 I've driven Ford trucks because I could convince everyone they were practical. My favorite was my '74 F250 390 4 x 4 4 speed. Rolled that over and rebuilt it too. If you hit a tree just right while rolling the hood will crush down across the core support and hold your FE in place even if you've ripped out both motor mounts. As a bonus, if the truck lands on it's right side the back glass is long gone and you can just walk right out
I bought the '57 Custom Tudor I sold through this forum from Texas through my brother in 2005. Figured I'd do like I always did, build my own. I got nowhere as I found out I had less time than before (5 grandkids will slow ya down a might
). It was my brother who reminded me about what I really wanted, the '64 Fairlane without a hand brushed paint job and a 427 between the trimmed shock towers. I set out to find one to build and found my '64 Galaxie instead. Always liked the '64's and it reminded me of one I saw in a wheels up photo in Hot-Rod once a few years back. Seeing the FE under the hood sealed it, I was going back to where I belonged all along, rod knock and all.
My wife sideswiped the car in our driveway last September, did $3,600 to her Escape. The Galaxie only needs some left front fender work and a piece of stainless trim which I've already purchased. I advised her that since I have to pull the fender I might as well contact Barry at Survival Motorsports to pick up a few critical components to address that pesky knock
.
That brings me to date, I enjoy the forum and the expertise of the contributors is evident. Look for me to chime in when I have something to say and to ask advice when I need it. I intend to end up with a 447 thumper, can't think of an engine (or even another car for street fun) that I'd rather have. Sorry this is so wordy, guess that's just me.
