My 62 Galaxie Q Code Project

Here is my 62 Q code (Hi Po 390 375 HP) 4 speed that I bought earlier this year. The car did have the 406/427 style headers, but they were replaced by lighter Jardine headers. The cast headers were in the trunk of the car as part of the deal. The 3x2 setup looks as though they were a dealer install, but can't be real sure, judging by the pitting on top of the air cleaner it would be very likely they were.

The brakes, transmission and the electrics had to be sorted out.
The seals in the wheel cylinders were shot, the master cyclinder needed to be replaced. The tranny had issues with synchros and jumping out of second gear. It is very likely that the car saw some serious action on either on the street or strip, given that the car as a vintage Ansen scattershield installed. Most of the electrics did not work and had to be sorted out.
The fuel pump also leaked and I decided to replace it with a new one and will rebuild the old one.

All these issues have now been addressed and its now onto getting the paintwork seen too. The car had spent 40years in storage under carports or lean to's either in Upland or Fontana California. The paint is badly cracked on the trunk, parts of the roof, rear fenders and hood. The interior has some sun damage on the corner of the front passenger seatback and on top of the rear seat back.

The spare tire looks as though it is the original and has never been on the car, it probably still has the original air!LOL

The car has never been in a wreck, there are no signs parking dings either in the paint or stainless. Every panel on the car is straight and the panel gaps reflect this. The bumpers will need to be rechromed and some of the diecast shows evidence of pitting. The underside of the car is unmarked, no signs of scraps, rust, grease or road grime for that matter

Still trying to decide on what wheels are going to replace the currently fitted Centrelines. Either Torq Thrusts or Cragar S/S fill fit the bill

The engine is real strong and has more than enough torque to pin ya back in the seat when the secondaries open up!

Look forward to cruising the streets of Melbourne Australia with my wife in the summer, the windows wound down, the rup rup of the exhaust on a warm summers night!

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that is one cool car--

what did you do with the cast exhaust manifolds -- wana give them to a really poor galaxie lover

Friend of mine died three years ago. At the time, he was working on 1962 about 15 minutes south of Fontana. It was fire engine red, came from the Long Beach Fire Dept. (One of seven ordered) but had a three speed with O.D. tranny. He found some of the parts via a place in Denver Colorado. The whole front suspension was different than normal, and they were only ones who had something similar.

I think the widow sold it to someone in Pomona area. But she (and I ) still have a lot of the parts which new owner did not have room for.

Wm.

Originally Posted by wreckingball

Here is my 62 Q code (Hi Po 390 375 HP) 4 speed that I bought earlier this year.

Hey Mr. WB,
What a GORGEOUS Galaxie! Are you sure that your Gal isn't a 1963? Check on that, and then I'll tell you why I asked.

The car did have the 406/427 style headers, but they were replaced by lighter Jardine headers. The cast headers were in the trunk of the car as part of the deal.

They don't appear to be the "shorty" headers.

The 3x2 setup looks as though they were a dealer install, but can't be real sure, judging by the pitting on top of the air cleaner it would be very likely they were.

I didn't notice that any of the 62 Galaxie engines came with 3X2, though they were available on Thunderbirds.

The brakes, transmission and the electrics had to be sorted out.
The seals in the wheel cylinders were shot, the master cyclinder needed to be replaced. The tranny had issues with synchros and jumping out of second gear. It is very likely that the car saw some serious action on either on the street or strip, given that the car as a vintage Ansen scattershield installed. Most of the electrics did not work and had to be sorted out.
The fuel pump also leaked and I decided to replace it with a new one and will rebuild the old one.

All these issues have now been addressed and its now onto getting the paintwork seen too. The car had spent 40years in storage under carports or lean to's either in Upland or Fontana California.

Fontana is Ms. American 3.14159's Home Town (she was bought by my father from Fontana Motors).

1964 FORD GALAXIE 500 PI

And Upland is the town immediately North of where I was raised in Ontario, California. How did you find a Galaxie in Upland or Fontana from Melbourne?

The paint is badly cracked on the trunk, parts of the roof, rear fenders and hood. The interior has some sun damage on the corner of the front passenger seatback and on top of the rear seat back.

The spare tire looks as though it is the original and has never been on the car, it probably still has the original air!LOL

The car has never been in a wreck, there are no signs parking dings either in the paint or stainless. Every panel on the car is straight and the panel gaps reflect this. The bumpers will need to be rechromed and some of the diecast shows evidence of pitting. The underside of the car is unmarked, no signs of scraps, rust, grease or road grime for that matter

Still trying to decide on what wheels are going to replace the currently fitted Centrelines. Either Torq Thrusts or Cragar S/S fill fit the bill

The engine is real strong and has more than enough torque to pin ya back in the seat when the secondaries open up!

Look forward to cruising the streets of Melbourne Australia with my wife in the summer, the windows wound down, the rup rup of the exhaust on a warm summers night!

Great looking Galaxie. Congratulations on your acquisition. Welcome to the group here. Hope this finds you doing well.

JC

Yay! What a great Galaxie. I do enjoy seeing a black sedan roof with a solid lifter motor. I'm a bit lost about your Q-code and engine. A Q-code in 1962 would be a 390 4V solid lifter at 375 hp, as you describe; also that would be a HiPo car with all the heavy duty components. But your motor has the 3X2 intake, plus a 406 decal on the valve cover. Could this be a 406 6V 405hp dropped into an original Q-code 390 HiPo car? Maybe the 390 blew up? Man, the interior is really nice, too. You've got a lot of right parts in right places.

Originally Posted by JCAllison

Hey Mr. WB,
What a GORGEOUS Galaxie! Are you sure that your Gal isn't a 1963? Check on that, and then I'll tell you why I asked.



JC

Im super interested in this question! Whats up?

Thanks for the welcome it is very much appreciated.
According to the buildsheet which I found behind the passanger side doortrim. The Schedule Build Date is "22M" which translates to December 22 1961. As far as it being a "406" as per the decals on the valve covers, I think it was for show.

3X2 were available on HiPo solidlifter 390s and the 406s for 62s, however, they were not a production line fitment, they were installed by the dealers, thats according to some of the books they I have.

As far as the headers are concerned, they are real mystery, the 390s I believe had the "shorty style" headers. the ones that came with my car are the long 406 style. So who knows whether this car had 406 in it or not.

How did I come to find this car from Melbourne Australia?
Received an email from a friend in Queensland asking would I be interested in a couple of Galaxies. A 63 4 door with a 352 and this 62 Q Code Galaxie with a 4 speed. I immediately passed on the the 63 and requested a bit more info on the 62. I got a reply with a about 15 pics and the VIN Code.
Further checking on the 62 Galaxie registery, found that the car was not all that too common, (as far as the registery is concerned). I quickly replied to the friend and said to him to close the deal and take care of all the paperwork for the car to be imported into Australia.
So the deal was done!
Did further checking on the net, typed in the VIN code and found a link to Ebay. The Ebay page contained some interesting , incredible if not an unbelievably fanciful story about the car's history. I will post a copy of the Ebay page later on today Aus time as I am supposed to be working.

I am still not sure how my friend got onto this car as he was unaware that it had been on Ebay! Anyway the friend has no knowledge of Fords and is a Chev nut, so much so that he imports Chevs for a living.

You have a sweet car. That car is in exceptional condition for a 62.

Originally Posted by wreckingball

Thanks for the welcome it is very much appreciated.

Hey Mr. WB,

According to the buildsheet which I found behind the passanger side doortrim. The Schedule Build Date is "22M" which translates to December 22 1961. As far as it being a "406" as per the decals on the valve covers, I think it was for show.

3X2 were available on HiPo solidlifter 390s and the 406s for 62s, however, they were not a production line fitment, they were installed by the dealers, thats according to some of the books they I have.

In the SA Design book "Super 60's Fords" by John Smith (which BTW, while nicely done, DOES have some inaccuracies), it lists the following Ford Galaxies:

"Thunderbird 406 High Performance (6V) V8 featured 405 horsepower at 5800rpm and 448 lbs-ft of torque at 3500rpm, carried an 11.4:1 compression ratio, solid valve lifters, and three holly 2-barrel carburetors with a total capacity of 920cfm, mounted on an aluminum intake manifold. The engine block and cylinder heads were black in color with gold valve covers and used a single oval aluminum air cleaner. Galaxies originally with this engine carried the "G" engine code on the data tag."


"Thunderbird Special 406 V8 featured 385 horsepower at 5800rpm and 444 lbs-ft of torque at 3400rpm, with an 11.4:1 compression ratio, solid valve lifters, and a single 600cfm, Holley 4-barrel carburetor mounted on an aluminum intake manifold. The engine block and cylinder heads were black in color with gold valve covers and used a single oval aluminum air cleaner. Galaxies originally with this engine carried the "B" engine code on the data tag."

"The Thunderbird Special 390 (6V) was still available hower the horsepower rating had been dropped to 340 at 5000rpm and 430 lbs-ft of torque at 3200rpm with a 10.5:1 compression ration and solid lifters. The 390 (6V) engine used the same induction system as the 406 (6V) engine with three Holley 2-barrel carburetors mounted on an aluminum intake manifold. The engine block and cylinder heads were black in color with gold valve covers and used a single oval aluminum air cleaner. Galaxies originally with this engine carried the "M" engine code on the data tag."

There was then the "P" code 390 engine at 330 horsepower, and "Z" code 390 at 300 horsepower.

The book doesn't list a "Q" code engine till 1963. And it was:

"...a 427 (4V) rated at 410 horsepower at 5600rpm with a torque rating of 476 lbs-ft at 3400rpm. It also featured an 11.5:1 compression ratio, a single 780cfm Holley 4-barrel carburetor on an aluminum intake manifold and a mechanical camshaft. The engine block and cylinder heads were black in color with chrome valve covers and air cleaner. Also available in all full size fords, except station wagons, cars originally equipped witht he 4-barrel version of the 427 carry the "Q" engine code on the data tag."

As far as the headers are concerned, they are real mystery, the 390s I believe had the "shorty style" headers. the ones that came with my car are the long 406 style. So who knows whether this car had 406 in it or not.

Are you sure it's a 390? You MIGHT actually have a 427 "Q" code engine masquerading as a 406, because in the Fontana/Upland area in the late 50s and early 60s, there were some serious SuperStock drag racers who would do almost ANYTHING to win at the Pomona, Colton, and Riverside dragstrips (the Fontana and Ontario raceways hadn't yet been built). I mean they would do stuff like take out the Heater/Defroster units (among other things) to lighten the cars. It wouldn't surprise me a bit if one of the racers in the area put (or ordered) a 427 in a 62. That would explain the "Q" code on the data tag.

How did I come to find this car from Melbourne Australia?
Received an email from a friend in Queensland asking would I be interested in a couple of Galaxies. A 63 4 door with a 352 and this 62 Q Code Galaxie with a 4 speed. I immediately passed on the the 63 and requested a bit more info on the 62. I got a reply with a about 15 pics and the VIN Code.
Further checking on the 62 Galaxie registery, found that the car was not all that too common, (as far as the registery is concerned). I quickly replied to the friend and said to him to close the deal and take care of all the paperwork for the car to be imported into Australia. So the deal was done!
Did further checking on the net, typed in the VIN code and found a link to Ebay. The Ebay page contained some interesting , incredible if not an unbelievably fanciful story about the car's history. I will post a copy of the Ebay page later on today Aus time as I am supposed to be working.

Some of what was happening in the Pomona/Ontario/Upland/Fontana area at that time was pretty incredible. As I mentioned, I was raised in Ontario, graduated highschool in 1957, and in 1959 I bought a new 1959 Studebaker Hawk, into which was put a 402 cid Packard with 4 2-barrels, Giovanne roller cam, a 4.55:1 rear end, and a 4-speed Pont a Moisson transmission. The engine had been built by Lanny Monroe for a Fiat Topolino G-Gas Coupe, and he wrecked the car, then traded me the engine, trans, and differential for the stock 259.2 cid Studebaker engine and drive train to put into a 53 Studebaker Starlight coupe for his wife.

I am still not sure how my friend got onto this car as he was unaware that it had been on Ebay! Anyway the friend has no knowledge of Fords and is a Chev nut, so much so that he imports Chevs for a living.

From the looks of your Gal, he done good!

Anyway, hope this finds you doing well, and I'm looking forward to the "fanciful" tale of your Gal's history.

JC

As far as it being a "406" as per the decals on the valve covers, I think it was for show.

I was going to tell you to shove a stick down a spark plug hole and measure the stroke, but the 390 and 406 have the same stroke. Maybe there are some date codes you can find on the block or heads somewhere. Really, there are three facts that suggest it could be a 406:
long headers, albeit in the trunk
the decal
the 3X2 intake, which of course could have dealer-bought and installed on many FE motors.
I agree with Domino--despite some exterior wear, bad paint, etc. you have a really solid car there. Just a paint job would really lift it up...the interior is so nice already.