My 62 Galaxie Q Code Project

Yeah, but at least you actually HAVE an "R" code Galaxie.

Hey, a solid-lifter FE of any stripe is nothing to sneeze at. Cop motors qualify.

According to the 62 Galaxie Registery 62 Ford Galaxie Registry - Home The Q Code 390 HiPo was phased out in late 62 or early 63 to make way for the 406 options.

I will take a look at the casting code on the block and also the heads, will post the results later on today.
Who knows it could have a 352 with solid lifters in place of the 390!

Ok here we go, went out to the garage checked the casting numbers on the heads, they match and the number is C1AE-A.

According to George Reid"s book "High Performance Ford Engine Parts Interchange - 221-CID TO 460 CID"
ISBN 1-884089-33-X

These are 352-390 High performance heads which were available 1961-1963, which would be the correct for the year and in all probabilty came down the production line in the car.

The block is a another story, it is not a 352! whew!!
The casting number is C2AE-J, Mr jimmife you were right! You correctly identified what it could be. Guess the original block was probably taken home in a bucket after some heavy competition on a street or strip somewhere.

Don't know whether to keep trying to find more information, or just get on with getting the old car back to its former glory and just enjoy this piece of American automotive history.

I really appreciate the interest, comments and suggestions you all have shown and will keep you posted.

Yep, my book tells me the block is a solid lifter 406, and the heads are 352-390 71.2-74.2 combustion chamber.

Sounds like you can get back to normal now and enjoy the car!

The deconstruction has begun with the removal of the side trim and there were no surprises, that is not quite correct. I was stunned when I removed the stainless at the bottom of the quarter panels, there is no sign of rust!
The scale that you see in the first pic is in fact some goop that had been applied at some stage. It rubbed off really easily and so getting it ready to the paint stage will relatively quick.

No panel work will be required, no yards of bondo like you see on American Hot Rod, Overhaulin' or that other show Wrecks to Riches.

I am stunned at the amount of filler that is used on some of the cars that I seen on the shows, the size of some of the sanding boards puts most skateboards to shame.

Any updates?

Have nearly completed the teardown process, the bumpers will going to the platers this week, orders have been sent off to the vendors for a bunch of parts. Had a good look underside of the car, the frame and the floors are clean, almost factory fresh.

The mufflers and their hanger brackets were held in place by bailing wire to the bumper brackets. I could not find any holes the muffler hanger brackets should have been fastened to. Curious!

Yesterday the weather was really lousy, it rained most of the day, we need the rain real bad as we have been in drought for nearly 10 years. Would not mind at all if it rained all during the week and in working hours. Tried sanding the top of the rear quarter panel with and orbital sander, which did little, then decided to use something more agressive.

Had a look at the Josco Brumby StripIt disc,
Josco* |* Brumby Strip-it Discs
Found that it was too agressive and could develop too much heat.
So it was off to the local Repco store
Repco Limited - Shop Internet site
Bought 5 litres of paint stripper and going to apply it to the whole car.
Did contemplate getting it media blasted, the price which some folks are asking is just ridiculous and would rather put that money towards the parts that the car will need.

Went to the paint store and stocked up etch primer filler, thinners, sand paper, masking tape etc. Will pick up the paint during the week, just need to get the paint codes for the Oxford Blue and light blue metallic for the dash and window surrounds.

So the full monty paint strip will commence at the end of the week!
The fair Mrs Wreckingball has offered to lend some of her elbow grease to strip the old Gal back.
Mrs WB has also offered to tackle the refurb of the steering wheel, it will be her first time, she has seen a couple of wheels being done and opines that it should not present too much of a challenge! So now she is getting intimate with a Dremel, a 3 sided file and has used 2 part epoxies in her craft making days.

Mrs WB's generosity has also extended to making the suggestion that we should save a number of weeks and airfreight all the parts that we need, including, carpet, seat trims, headliner, full rubber kit, emblems etc etc.
Me thinks Mrs WB has seen too many episodes watching Overhaulin and wants the car done much sooner than later!

Just now we are waiting on on the vendors to come back to us with weights and dimensions of the packs.

As promised some more shots. Some of the underside of the car and the pitiful start on removing the paint. The hood, roof, trunk and the tops of the rear quarters are the only areas where the paint has crazed.
Will post MRs WB's handiwork as she is doing the steering wheel.
That's all for now.

Great to see another rare Galaxie found a good home in Melbourne!
Will be keeping an eye out over summer..

Thanks xlford, we met earlier this year at the American Car Show and you had your R Code there.

There has been progress made all be it a little slow in the paint removal, hope to have it naked on the weekend and then in etch primer sealer.
The bumpers went to the platers a couple of weeks ago and will back sometime in a couple of weeks.

The polishing of the shiney bits has started, the headlight rings are done, as is the rear window molding and some of the emblem bezels. Have started to do the long spears. Been spending a couple of hours at night in the workshop buffing, thats just real dirty job.

I have been waiting on confirmation on the availability of the on the big list of parts that I ordered.
Got confirmation today that the shipment will leave the States in 4 weeks as there is a few items that have to be made up. I ordered new seat trim, carpet, mats, headliner, interior door handles, window winder handles, shift boot, shift ring, emblems, full rubber kit including the fuzzies and a bunch of other items. Also got a quote on the air freight, for the price I would have paid locally for the rubber kit alone worked out at the same for the as the US price of the full kit plus airfreight. The carpet and all the other stuff will ride free!

Do have some pics of in the early stages of the paint stripping, the car is further advanced than in the pics.

You can see on the hood that the metal has been etched and why it has go to bare metal to get a good base.