[segeorge982]

@Touring919

Yep, the screen is used for setup and tuning, but you can also set up "dashboards" to monitor other vitals. Its a bit repetitive for me since I've got oil pressure, coolant temp and a voltage gauge below the dash. However I installed the sniper temp sending unit in the main sender location on the edelbrock intake and drilled another hole for the gauge below the dash. While the readouts are close the autometer gauge consistently reads ~4 degrees cooler. You can also keep an eye on AFR, fuel pressure, vacuum, and a bunch of other parameters. Really easy to start a data log in case the engine does something odd as well.

I do expect it to become more or less a party trick after engine break in is completed and the car is being driven more frequently.

 

[Touring919]

Thanks. Everyone likes a good party trick. Keep up the good work.

 

[segeorge982]

Is someone able to post a picture of their weatherstripping at the rear of the hood on the cowl. I'm not having much luck finding a clear image of that piece of weather stripping. Thanks!

 

[635Rangoon427]

Is someone able to post a picture of their weatherstripping at the rear of the hood on the cowl. I'm not having much luck finding a clear image of that piece of weather stripping. Thanks!

Will this help you?

 

[segeorge982]

@635Rangoon427. Yep, Thanks!

 

[segeorge982]

I was able to knock out several items on the ever dwindling list between other engagements throughout the weekend. I didn't take as many pictures as I should have.

• Hood is on the car, but I need to keep working on the alignment.The friend helping me suggested drilling pilot holes through the hinges into the hood so it can be realigned easily after paint.
• The actuator for the sniper screen is complete. Video here
• Wet sanded, polished and ceramic glazed the front bumper and then installed it and resintalled the running light/turn signal assemblies.(forgot pictures)
• Installed the refinished steering wheel. The process of filling, priming sanding took several weeks before final paint.
• Replace the original headlight dimmer switch.
• Worked on pulling the carpet tighter under the front passengers. added some industrial strength velcro to secure it in place.(forgot pictures).

Left to finish is a lot of detail work:

• Hood Alignment
• Hood Pins
• door weatherstripping
• Make a mount for the fire extinguisher.
• Polish sill plates
• Polish side trim (40+ ft?!?) and add the black stripe.
• Wet sand, polish and reinstall rear bumper, license plate bracket, lights and license plate
• Finish wiring the pinswitch for underhood lights
• Clean the trunk and install the side panels and trunk mat.
• Take bent wheels to local shop to get the tires swapped to new wheels.
• Set a rough alignment.

 

[Touring919]

That steering wheel is sexy!

 

[segeorge982]

Thanks! Almost painted it black just to break up all the red but it came out really well and compliments the rest of the interior.

Installed the cowl weatherstripping (thanks again @635Rangoon427) and aligned the hood last night. The exterior of the crites hood matches the lines on the cowl very well and I highly recommend spending the extra $35 for the Crites team to drill & tap for hinges and latches. I'm not sure if the old hinges were tweaked(highly likely) or if the location of the bolt holes on the hood were off a little bit, or both, but aligning the hood required some massaging of the hinges, including opening up the bolt slots the width of a dremel cutting disk, and trimming the rivets on the hinges to prevent interference on the hood structure.

We also removed the front hood bumpers and drilled out the holes slightly to accept the Quik Latch hood pins. Should be able to finish installing those this evening after I pick up the correct size hole saw. The plan is to put the rubber bumpers on the hood pins to keep everything tidy on the radiator support, one less thing to snag a shirt on when I'll have to do anything in the engine bay is the idea.

 

[segeorge982]

Continuing to knock things off the list:

• wetsanded, polished and glazed the rear bumper. reinstalled the license plate bracket and added the plate I'll be running until I find one in a little better shape.
• Hood pins are completed and set to correct height. Ended up putting a jam nut and a washer inside the factory rubber hood bumper with another washer and a locknut directly under the bumper to keep it all in place.
• 13lb 8 1/2" door spring from Lowe's works well for the fiberglass hood. Thanks to the group of people on here that figured that one out. I really didnt want to add a prop rod to the car. They will be painted to match the hinge today or tomorrow.

New column shift lever gets here today, along with a replacement horn spring for the steering wheel. Lots of detail work left but I've got a 3 day weekend ahead. Assuming it doesnt take me too long at the DMV in the morning the Gal should be back on the road this weekend.

 

[galaxiex]

Very nice work and cool hood pins.
I had never heard of those before, so I looked them up.
Slick design!

 

[segeorge982]

@galaxiex - They were really easy to install and work well. Status as of last night. Still have a list of things to knock out today detail wise but it idled in the driveway for 10 minutes as we did another check for leaks. Its should be ready to drive. Stickers add horsepower, right?

 

[segeorge982]

Still working on things here. Completed the fire extinguisher mount tonight. Locates the extinguisher directly under driver's leg so its easier to get to and not in the way. None of the relatively crude mount to the seat is visible once the extinguisher bracket is bolted on. Doesnt interfere with seat movement either.

 

[Foxbody817]

Looking great!! I'm jealous

 

[segeorge982]

Another update, Turns out I didnt read the listing for the column shift lever. It was for a 61-63 tbird and wasnt gonna come close to fitting. I sanded and polished the original one as best I could. Also had to add a diode(resistor) to the Alternator light so it would go off after the car was running. I set a rough alignment last night, amongst other things and test drive # 2 will happen after work this evening.

Does anyone know how the trunk filler boards from Autokrafters/Repop are folded to go in place on the sides of the trunk? No instructions and i've got nothing to reference how they should sit.

Anyone know what the ohm range is for the factory temp gauge. Clearly i've got the wrong sender in the heater hose as it barely moves above the cold line when the car is at 170 degrees. I've got other methods of keeping tabs on coolant temp but i dont want a dead gauge! Gauge works and is properly grounded, so i'm pretty confident the replacement napa sender is the wrong one.

Thanks folks!

 

[segeorge982]

Shakedown drive #2 went well overall. A few things to take care of

• The radiator shroud is preventing airflow while moving. Temps would climb to 190 while going down the road and then fall back to high 170s at idle(its got a 160* tstat). There is not a lot of room between the back of the radiator(4 core) and the WP pulley. Tonight i'll spend time removing the shroud and hopefully get a chance to test again.
• Oil leak on the back of the intake is much much smaller. Added a little more RTV after it cooled off, problem solved?
• Finally identified the source of the small dribble of coolant on the front of the engine. The little hose between the top of the WP and intake. Tightened the clamps, problem solved.
• The big quickor front sway bar is rubbing control arms. Need to cut down the endlinks a bit to make the swaybar ends parallel to the control arms. It corners very flat though!
• Shouldve replaced the headlight adjusters when it was all apart. Easy enough to fix.
• It needs a real alignment!

 

[segeorge982]

Life was busy the last week, preventing me from making much progress on the Gal after last week's shakedown drive. We were able to get back in the garage last night and knock out some new and remaining items on the Galaxie last night after fixing some minor things on the friend's truck.

• Headlight adjusters - didnt have any luck finding a cage nut the same size as the OE headlight adjusters. Created a temporary solution with a plastic square expansion nut and the factory piece. Re-aimed the headlights as best we could on the garage wall. Need to complete a final adjustment.
• Removed the radiator shroud and added two(2) 5 inch Spal fans to the passenger side of the radiator. Each 5" fan is rated at 340cfm in addition to the 16" fan that was previously connected to the shroud. Wired the new fans to the same relay as the 16".
• Thanks to NumberDummy on the ford-trucks forum, I was able to find the correct temp sender for the factory gauge. RockAuto is useful when it comes to cross referencing OEM part numbers; OEM Temp sender. Either the sender I got at advance was bad or was the wrong ohm range. The factory gauge works and sits dead center when the engine temp is roughly 175 degrees.
• Before the engine was reinstalled, a 1" front sway bar was installed. After last weeks drive and the new coils settling a bit the clearances over the front control arms were tight to non-existent. Shortened the endlinks a bit to roll the bar back towards control arms and prevent contact with the front of the control arms. Hopefully this removes the intemittant clunk heard from the front of the car.
• For anyone re-wiring the car with a KwikWire harness, beware the instructions suck. We noticed the front running lights would go off when the headlights were turned on. Turns out there is a small note at the bottom of the instructions(corrections?) informing users to connect the front running lights to the same blade on the headlight switch as the rear running lights if OEM operation is desired. Problem corrected.

We let the car idle in the garage up to temp last night with an ambient temperature of ~60, all 3 fans kicked on as intended, and it took roughly 2 minutes for the temperature to drop from 176 back to 169 and the fans went off. I'll need to dial in the Fan ON/OFF temps via the Holley after driving it a bit more. Hopefully this means itll have a chance staying cool during hot NC summer evenings. The plan is to drive it this afternoon for errands to confirm the shroud was preventing airflow during the last test and continue to flush out any other issues. For now, pictures!


The lack of room between the W/P pulley and 4 core radiator makes it difficult to run a shroud with the proper depth. The little 5" fans pull ~2.5amps, no noticeable impact on electrical system when running based on the voltage gauge.

Factory"dummy" temp gauge works with the new sender! The sender is located in the return heater core hose because the holley temp sender is in the main intake bung. The engine wasn't quite to full temp yet, which is why its below center in the picture.

 

[segeorge982]

Got out and put another 15 miles on the car without issue yesterday afternoon. Temps are much better without the shroud going down the road, peaking at ~192 according to the sniper handheld, but I'm not convinced this is as good as it gets yet. The large gap between the hood and radiator support when the hood is closed provides an alternate path for air. After a little searching last night i came across detroit speed and the closeout panels they offer for a few Fords and lots of Chevys. So the plan is to fabricate a closeout panel between the top of the grill and the radiator support to direct more air through the radiator while driving. I may add some angled panels on either side of the radiator opening, below the closeout panel, to encourage air towards and thru the radiator as well.

 

[segeorge982]

Short video from yesterday evening. 1963 Galaxie 032222

 

[m in sc]

I ran into similar issues on my 66 in regards to cooling. tried a shroud, had same issue. wound up going to 2 12" spals that come on at 190 at top of radiator probe, (right under the hose fitting) and it seems happy there. Also the flow kooler pump made a huge difference in cool down speed. with ac in the summer in the south, I understand. your car looks awesome BTW, very nicely done.

 

[segeorge982]

@m in sc Good to know on the flow cooler pump. I do have a stock W/P which could certainly be part of the problem. I was exploring electric options but the flow cooler pump looks like a nice middle ground.

Last night I made a couple of quick filler panels to help direct air behind the grille. I need to finish trimming them to fit, drill holes and paint them. The leading edge will be mounted until the grille using same grill bolts.