I've about had it with my '68. I must say after hitting that deer I was just about ready to call it quits and sell the car for a while. After a few hours I got my head on straight and bought waht I needed to get it running again. I figured it's not too bad, even though it'll probably never be exactly the same as it was before I hit the deer. Heck, it's my great grandma's car, she bought it new... So I couldn't get rid of it. I have memories of when I was a little kid and I'd stay over her house. In the morning she's take me out in the Galaxie and she'd buy me a toy at the 5 and 10, then we'd get some food and sit by the railroad tracks in the car to watch the trains.
Lately though, it just seems like one thing after another. At one point I had the motor running decently on 93 octane, only minor pinging under heavy load at part throttle. Now on 94 it gives me hell and only gets 12 MPG.... I re-greased my wheel bearings and tightened them appropriately, but now a couple weeks later they are making a little noise again, so I gotta get new ones... I need a new heater core (old one leaks profusely as of last week) and heater control valve, I have to remove the fender to replace that... Of course the damage from the deer needs to be fixed... It leaks from the oil pan gasket and timing cover, not much, but enough to 'mark it's territory'. Fixing properly involves removing the engine so I can do a decent job... #8 intake valve ticks/clicks after it's warmed up... The front end could use a rebuild, at the very least a new idler arm and an alignment... also 4 new tires... I'm sure there's a bunch of other little things that I'm not thinking of at the moment too.
I'm at the point where it's getting too expensive, too time consuming, and too cold out to deal with it all. It wouldn't be so bad if it didn't burn 94 octane at 12 MPG, because that's eating up a good chunk of the money I
would be spending on the parts I need to fix all the little things it needs.
To fix the engine I would be best off getting a pair of heads with larger chambers to lower the compression. That would let me run a good timing curve and get good mileage as well as run either 87 or 89 octane. For the cost of a new set of iron heads that would take a good bite into a 460 swap with a mild or stock 460 (could probably find one used with a transmission and freshen it up with new bearings and rings for cheap). Then I still have all the little things, and the deer damage to worry about.
I'm about at my wits end. It's too expensive. I would like to not spend all the money I make on my car. I want to be able to save money, not just maintain a low balance in my account. I'm about ready to call it quits and put the Galaxie in the garage and forget about it until it gets warm again and I've saved up a bit of money to be able to do all that it needs before taking it out again.
It would be nice to be able to go through the car and take my time, to do it all right and not be rushed into doing a lesser quality job than I am capable of.
If I'm to do that though, I need something to drive in the mean-time. Which brings me to the pink boat...
http://adcache.collectorcartraderonl...7/73745727.htm
What do you think? I think it's just quaint enough to be cool. With that 6 banger it'll hardly be able to get out of its own way, but the three on the tree will make it fun anyway. It's cheap, priced right for a daily driver car that probably needs a little work. And the #1 thing, the holy grail for me, would be an engine that runs on 87 octane with no protest or pinging, and gets good mileage. Hell, the 6 banger and 3 on the tree would be kinda lame by itself, but the fact that it's pink makes it cool. What do you guys think? Is it me? Or have I just gone queer?
Maybe something like this would be cool. I've always wanted a Ranchero...
http://adcache.collectorcartraderonl...7/75836347.htm
That would be a little out of reach for the diet my wallet has been on lately though.
I doubt if I'd get either of those cars, but it gets me thinking about the type of car I might find for a reasonable price that would suit me for a while while I take a break from the '68.
I just want a cheap classic Ford to drive for a while. So I can save up some money and have the time to do my '68 right. I'm running out of steam to do all the work the car needs. Really the worst of it is the fact that the damned engine won't stop pinging, and the damage from the deer is very disheartening. That lousy intake valve doesn't help matters either. I've got a few more tricks up my sleeve as for getting the 11.1:1 compression on the iron 289 heads to work. I think I can make it manageable on pump gas, but that still won't help mileage, and either way I'll still need to pull the motor to fix the leaks, and take care of that noisy intake valve.
I don't know. I need time to figure out what I want to do. I mentioned to my girlfriend that I was getting frustrated with the '68 and may want to take a break from it for a while, at least for the cold months, and I've been informed that if I do that (which she doesn't want me to), I at least have to get a classic car to drive in the mean time. Apparently she can't imagine me driving anything but a classic car. That's alright though, I don't want to drive anything but a classic Ford.
Sorry for being so long winded. I'm just thinking out loud and venting my frustrations. Not sure what I want to do so maybe this will help me decide. Any input or advice is welcome. Also, thoughts on the pink boat are welcome. I really want a manual transmission in my next car, and 3 on the tree would be so cool. Oh well, I'm getting tired. Time to sleep on it...
Today
