New: 1969 Galaxie 500

The Interior looks nice. You said it was a two speed in the original post. I don't believe there was a two speed tranny in '69, so if you only have two gears then you may have transmission issues. I'd say it is a good chance there is a FMX behind that 302.

Here are some links that may be useful in finding stuff for your car.

Ford Ranchero, Ford Falcon, Ford Fairlane, Ford Torino, Mercury Comet, and Mercury Montego Parts Online
Classic Ford & Thunderbird Parts Supplier - Concours Parts
Dennis Carpenter Ford Car, F-100 Pickup Truck, Tractor and Cushman Scooter Restoration Parts
Largest Selection of Cloth, Vinyl & Leather Automobile Upholstery - SMS Auto Fabrics
Ford Galaxie/Galaxy Parts, Mercury Grand Marquis, Sunliner & FE Engine Parts: MAC’s Antique Auto Ford Parts
http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb.dll?userwatch~dynamicSearchPage~cadefeiA
http://www.autokrafters.com/
Home of Original Auto Interiors

Thanks for the info!
Luckily our frame is nice and solid. I have just the AM radio. The last owner put in a radio between the underside of the dash and the floor hump. It's a pain to get to. I'm going out to but a new stereo today with a remote. My Grand Am and my Dakota both have aftermarket stereos with remotes - I love it.

Yeah, I had a question. It's tough to find rims for this car. Not like newer cars where you can just hop on a wheel site and put in the year/make/model. Does anyone know the backspacing/bolt pattern on this car? I haven't been able to find that info yet.

I may take the bumpers and front grill off before winter and work on buffing them up over winter. Then wrap them and store them in my basement until next spring. The rear bumper I thought was dented, but it was just a crazy mark on it. It is a little rusty (not bad/not rotted) - like finish is just missing. Is it cheaper to just find a good replacement or just have the original refinished?

Thanks again for the feed back!

Originally Posted by drkrvnchld

Is it cheaper to just find a good replacement or just have the original refinished?

Thanks again for the feed back!

Born Again Classics - Restoring Your Precious Chrome and Metal Parts

Nice info on that bumper rechrome. Good to know.

So I'm getting kind of nervous about the rust under the vinyl top. I know there's rust bumps under it. I reached my hand under the head liner of the car and don't feel any rust on the interior of the car roof. Would it be ok to just rip off the vinyl top, do a quick sand on it and prime it? I dont Have to have it on the car right? It's just an option. I'm really worried about any of the bumps that are near to the window frames.

my wheels are 17x9.5 rears with 5.5 backspace, 17x8 fronts with 4" backspace... were on my 69 and are now on my 68 never an issue.

5x4.5 bolt pattern

Nice. Thanks for the wheel info. Just made it easier on me!

Welcome to the nut house! Congrats on the 69. You'll have a blast with it. I own a 70, which is near identical, with some exceptions. From the doors forward, they're pretty well interchangable. I think the trunk lids are differnt..maybe someone can verify. I have a 70 parts car if you need stuff. Shoot me a PM or e-mail with what you need. I do have an extra dash cap that came with the parts car I'd let go as well. They do fit pretty well,but you'll need to do some trimming here and there to get it to lay down right. Dry test fitting is a must.

Originally Posted by drkrvnchld

So I'm getting kind of nervous about the rust under the vinyl top. I know there's rust bumps under it. I reached my hand under the head liner of the car and don't feel any rust on the interior of the car roof. Would it be ok to just rip off the vinyl top, do a quick sand on it and prime it? I dont Have to have it on the car right? It's just an option. I'm really worried about any of the bumps that are near to the window frames.

Id get that vinyl off sooner rather than later- whatevers going on aint gonna get any easier to fix later... If your just going to get it in primer, be sure to treat the metal- wire wheel it off and use Ospho or Naval Jelly to stop the rust where it is, clean rinse/rinse/rinse that off and put some epoxy primer over it and it wont return...if theres any holes, of course there may be a little patching needed, just be sure before painting to treat any bare metal.
my 85 camaro(first atempt at a paintjob) had surface rust/pits all over it, treated everything and instead of filler used PPG K36 epoxy primer...couple coats/block, if any pits, repeat...that was in 95 and none of the surface rust ever returned yet. self etching primers do ok, but you cant beat etching it with the phosphoric acid treatment first...
all the above is just a opinion of someone who aint painted much...but I did get all the suggestions I could from some folks that knew what they were doing

on the roof again- I wish you luck, but gotta wonder if theres anything going on under the lower/rear glass trim- seems on every old car Ive messed with, that was a common spot for dirt to start causing issues...if theres any rust under there, suggest getting a glass guy to cut out the window for you...I need to redo the tint on my mustang, and its such a PITA, I asked the local guy- 75 bucks in and out aint bad...would be a heck of a lot easier to strip/reapply, think thats not bad...wouldnt want to do it myself as I found out the hard way on the 65 that old glass may not like being messed with by a beginner...I chipped it (tiny chip) removing the trim, next day the whole thing had exploded sometime overnight, and finding a replacement wasnt fun...

Tim

You're lucky having a black vinyl top, because you can get replacements in black and white from many of the resto supply houses for cheap. I'm going to replace the dark blue vinyl on my car and will get it from SMS, but it will cost considerably more.

The body looks good, but if you need you can get patch panels for the lower portion of the quarter panels and fenders. The trunk lids look different from 69 - 70. There is a moulded dash cover available, but they are hard plastic instead of the padded vinyl.

I'm taking the top off and going to patch/fill where I need to and paint it. I am going to do a light sand on the green, then spray flat black, then try to light sand the black and make it look like the green is bleeding through. As for the roof, we're thinking paining it solid silver or like a shimmery purple.

I found a good donor car parked in a barn here if I need a roof. The owner says I can take it if I need to.

The car has potential to be pristine, but I'm just looking for a good rat rod. I'm not going to chop it up though. THis way if I ever really want to restore it to original - I can. Or if the right person wants to buy it, they can restore it.