Need advice on rear end ratio

[Heo]

I had 275 60 15 on 8 inch AR torquethrust rims. No problem to remove them
but they where hitting somewhere on one side,  when i had two persons
in the backseat. I suspect it was a blob of undercoating that the tire hit.
Now i have 255 70 or is it 75? 15 29 inch O.D anyway. i have to jack between frame and axle
to remove the wheel.

Here it is loaded down with camping gear and stuff for two weeks vacation, A.K.A one small trunk half full with my
clothes and three big trunks with the wife's shoes and clothes Tools, water, oil and gas can. Unloaded the rear wheel opening is even
with O.D of rim

And with my 2.70-2.80 something in the rear its no rocket of the line. But cruises on a nice rpm on long trips, and here thats almost
every trip l
I should build a second pumpkin with 3.70 something, swaping it on a Ford axle is such a quick job

[gregaba]

I think I will still use a separate of wheels with the 26 inch tall Drag slicks when I go to the strip to race even if they look dorkey.
It will only take 10 minutes to swap them out and when I finish racing I can just swap on the 29 inch street tire's for the trip home.
Greg

[fryedaddy]

i have 2 sets of wheels for mine.i put 275 75s on about october, all the way around,and from april till oct i put my other set on with drag radials on the back on 8 inch rims and 6s on the front.works for me because i drive it year round except on extreme weather days

[gregaba]

I plan on useing this car year round like you do.
It was a Drag car from new and only has 22,000 miles on it.I removed the roll bar and I will have to add a vintage air unit because it has nothing now.
At least I can get a 13 inch wide tire in the wheelwells so I can run some rubber.
When I registered it the lady told me it hadn't been registered since 1969.
Well it will be fun bringing it back to life.
Greg

[cjshaker]

I always like it when Heo posts pictures of his....um, "car".

I ran 275s with 3.89 gears for years, and found it very acceptable on the street. 3.70s would be a nice compromise if you wanted to keep the 'long distance' driving option. Not the greatest for performance though, so for a heavy car, dropping to a 26" slick for track use would really help. Who cares if it looks a bit odd.

[fekbmax]

Man, the good ol street car days. I ran the old Mickey Thompson I (eye) tread tires on my 72 fastback mustang with a 428 station wagon engine that never had a piston or rod outa it. I had the ol 390 heads off a few times for back yard porting and valve job, seals and shim head gaskets, shaved um down till there was no thumb print, several different cam swaps but the ol PAW .554 lift, 292 duration cam and a set of Rhodes lifters got the job done with a port-0-sonic and 700dp . A Mallory duel point YL and Accel big yellow coil got the job done through a hays 3 leaver clutch and a big in big out top loader. 3.73's was the gear of choice and a Detroit locker after I blew apart a few limited slip units. Home made sub frame connectors, bolt on ladder bar kit with housing floaters, man I dogged that car so hard that both rear frame rails split right over the accle by the time I was done. For a while I would keep a box full of adjustable rockers in the boot cause the oldfactory ones would give up the ghost after a few 6600 rpm runs. Finally I got a set of the good ductile iron ones. Blew the doors off a 66 tri power GTO and embarrassed the hell outa the hot shot in high school with the big block 70 chevelle.
Sorry, reminiscing.....

[blu64galaxie]

I agree, nice cars everyone !  And a fun thread to follow

My '64's rear wheels & tires (275/60/15s) do take a bit to remove, even with the extra leaves I have going. Added to 3.50 gears....well,  I'm sorta 'there'  , ...at least cruise-speed wise. I did have 255s on it at one time, and before then, even smaller diameter 14s. The difference in comfortable cruising speeds was VEry noticeable going to the 275s. But alas, I then 'gained' that just as noticeable 'dog'....as in pulling away from a stop. That's another story though, one I know the answer to, just not the wallet for --yet, lol.  For the most part, lowering the interior noise and droning makes the car more enjoyable for both myself, and my wife. And you know that ole saying "Happy wife....." :p

morts051416e by 1964 Galaxie 500, on Flickr

morts111515a by 1964 Galaxie 500, on Flickr

[gregaba]

Hi ever one
I really like seeing pictures of your cars. We don't have that many old Galaxie's on the street here.
That is the reason I bought mine. I sold my 2013 Boss 302 to finance this build.
Even though it was a blast to drive it looked like every other Mustang on the road.
I had a 55 Ford 2 Dr.  Custom when I went to Vietnam. When I came back I was just starting building hot rods. It had a 292 in it.
I bought a wrecked 64 T-Bird and pulled the 390 4 speed out of it and installed it in the 55.
Before I installed the engine I took it to the Ft. Sill auto shop and had a friend of mine master sargent port the heads added a Schnider racing cam and lifters 2 4 bbl intake and a set of used headers.
I ran 15 inch drag slicks on the street and this car would haul for the time.
I beat everything around south Okla. street racing and even beat a hemi cuda a guy towed up from 90 miles away.
You won't believe how I abused that car.
The funny thing I remember was the most improvement that I made to that car was I took the dist. to the Ford garage and had it curved.
That made an instant improvement  and I all ways remember how much difference that made.
Greg

[Heo]

Norm, I see you have that same extra crome side moulding  that
i have . Suposed to be rare they say

[blu64galaxie]

Thanks Heo !   Yes, I noticed, and admired, yours as well --sure does help to make the car 'pop' doesn't it ?   

I try to look for those moldings if/when I see many '64s in one place, and you're right, they are far and few between.  The one on the driver's side quarter is a bit banged up, but I can live with it (who knows if I'd EVer find one --affordable that is), lol. 

elks052116a by 1964 Galaxie 500, on Flickr

[Heo]

Norm, Do you know where your car was sold new?
I have seen a few 64s with that moulding on pictures
from Moonshine festivals in Virginia. Mine was sold
in Roanoke Virginia

[blu64galaxie]

Heo, 

These molding kits were actually a FoMoCo parts accessory item sold over the counter at dealerships back in the day. I was a Ford dealer parts and service employee from 1975 til 2000, and I can tell ya Ford offered kits for many models throughout the years. Some were kind of goofy looking, to be honest. Sadly, these came before my time ---wouldn't it have been nice to see into the past and pick a bunch up --for all the more they probably were back then. ? lol   

If I remember right, part number on the 2dr kit would have been:  C4AZ-6221048-A

Attached is a pic I found on eBay of a 4dr kit, including original shipping tube, instructions, etc....

Ford also made nice molded door edge guard kits for our cars !

Oh, and my '64 was built right here in the Twin Cities plant (St Paul to be exact), but it spent most of it's life safely away from the rust belt down in Missouri. It's an oddly equipped car to boot, lol  ---- bumper guards, white vinyl top, am/fm radio, lower b/side moldings plus rocker mldg, but yet it is just a 500, with a bench seat, a 4-spd, and manual EVERything, lol.

Sorry Greg for hijacking your thread --thanks !     Norm

[BattlestarGalactic]

Norm, my 2 Dr is an oddball also.  Split bench, clock, and swing away wheel?   The only '64 I've ever seen with swing away.

[blu64galaxie]

Boy that sure is quite a combo, you're right !  I truly cannot remember seeing one in person, come to think of it  ....just pics.  I tend to like my car even more so, because of it's oddball status, lol.

Norm, my 2 Dr is an oddball also.  Split bench, clock, and swing away wheel?   The only '64 I've ever seen with swing away.

[BattlestarGalactic]

I didn't know it had swing away til after I got it home and tried to put a clutch pedal in it.  The Z bar and linkage from the pedal was getting caught in this support apparatus on the steering box for the column that I couldn't figure out what it was for.  My wagon didn't have it.  Then I crawled under the dash and realized what was under there.  The brake pedal arm had the zig zag in it to clear the swing of the column.  I had to do some customizing to get a clutch linkage to work, but works fine.