[DesertXL]

Need to express a little frustration. I'm not naming the machine shop who did the work.

Car hasnt moved since Sunday. I still don't trust that all the leaks are solved so I poke my head under it every day on my way in or out of the garage. Last night, 4 days after last being driven, there was a small new puddle on the floor. Coolant. Damnit. Dripping from the access cover between the engine and trans. Double damnit.

Checked the previous culprits, water pump connections, thermostat, heater hose. All dry. Friend says maybe its the core plugs, I blow him off and go inside for the night. Jump on the FE Forum and read about core plugs this morning. Ah crap, I bet the machine shop who did the block work, who i asked if they were familiar with FEs(theyve been around since the 1950s) put 3/4" plugs in instead of the 49/64".

Call machine shop because my receipt just says "Brass core plugs" no part number, no other information.
'Sir we used melling part number MPE-110BR'.
Me: " Thats a 3/4" core plug, too small for an FE"
'This is what comes up when we search for core plugs for a Ford FE"
Me: "Well that sucks, because its the wrong size"
'Let us go do some research and we'll call you back'

I'm still waiting for a call back. but it seems ive got 2 options:

1) Band Aid fix with stop leak and cross my fingers, toes, and anything else that a plug never pops out while I'm driving
2) Pull the engine and replace all 6 plugs

I'd love some feedback from this group on what you recommend. I really dont want to go down the path of stop leak but am not looking forward to pulling the engine.

Hello segeorge982,

I went through the same thing with core plugs on an FE. I used an engine builder who raced these engines back in the late 60's and naturally I thought, well he must know what he's doing. I couldn't have been more wrong if I was the captain of the Titanic and thought, well it's just a little water and it'll be fine.

Not only did I have to educate him on the correct core plug size, but on the second block I asked about one of the core plug holes in the block and being really pitted and if it needed to over sized. He said nah. Well the damn thing leaked in the car. Not only did I have to pull the engine again, but I had to completely dis-assemble it and take the block back down to have the one core plug hole over sized to clean up the pitting.

That's when I quickly learned to never trust anyone else doing the work and double check everything. It doesn't matter if they or anyone else says they are king and have been doing this for decades.

If your car isn't meant to be a trailer queen and actually driven, then just do yourself a favour for peace of mind and change the core plugs. Do not use radiator stop leak as it just has a propensity to gum up expensive and or hard to replace heater cores and radiators. It's like using stop leak in a transmission or power steering system. It's a temporary stop gap measure that just causes more expensive work later on.

Cheers

 

[segeorge982]

Agreed @DesertXL . Engine is coming back out weekend of 4/30. Gonna continue to rumble around town until then and keep an eye on it.

 

[segeorge982]

Pressure tested and the core plugs werent the culprit. Added 3 crushed up bars stop leak tabs after crawling all over the car without finding a coolant leak on sunday and then put 60 miles on the car without any major issues. I've got to figure out how to ground the fuel sender better so it stops swinging wildly. Was able to cross reference the part number @635Rangoon427 provided for the sender to confirm the one in the tank is correct, based on receipts. More and more confidence in the car, which means itll get driven further and further away from the house.

Some other little progress items were the trunk filler boards and the passenger door weatherstripping. Hope to knock out the driver's door after work and then move on to other finishing items. Almost trust it enough to drop it off to get the hood painted, almost.

 

[ShotRod64]

I added an extra ground to the frame, you might do the same with yours. I think i even added a ground to the corner somewhere on the tank too.

I haven't read through the water or overheating problem to see what you have but could the leak be back of intake if it's a leak? I'll go back and read now!

 

[ShotRod64]

Went back and caught up a little bit. Everyone has mentioned a leak location i would of thought of also. I had the one for who knows how long on the back of my intake until it really started leaking good. The thermostat housing isn't leaking like mentioned about water pump and running back on lip of oil pan? No water anywhere on the intake? What about maybe a heater hose leaking where it mounts at firewall?

On the heating, i didn't see if you were still running the mechanical fan or not. If so, how far is it from the radiator? When i first got the car the clutch fan quit so i changed to mechanical and it was even worse. I then discovered that the fan was too far back so had to add an extra spacer. Back then I tried no thermostat at all and that definitely didn't work! Water went through too quickly and didn't cool down enough i guess. I have no idea what my temp runs, i have the idiot gauge with a needle and just know where too hot is and what's normal for mine. I have the regular fan and then squeezed an electric fan on the outside of the radiator. I can idle up and down the streets all day long and never gets hot. Mine is pretty much stock other than bored and RV cam. But it has always been an overheating monster, just look at it too long and it would overheat so the fan addition worked miracles. I have all kinds of air past radiator as rubber is missing on the one side and I have no shroud.

 

[ShotRod64]

Don't know what you found answers for and what you didn't, still reading!

They didn't come equipped with rear seat belts.

I just picked up some hella headlights and relays with an adaptor plug so I don't have to cut my wires. Inline blade fuses also. Not sure you would have any use for these but I'm going to use 2 of them for the LEDs around the outside of my tail light lenses. I would think there would be some other uses for them also. For the headlights I bought almost the same but just single at each end. I am not doing them per say, a friend has them on his '63 wagon and saw them and thought I needed the same! So trading parts for helping do it to mine. The headlights fit right in place with no cutting or altering.
14AWG SAE DC Power Automotive Connector Cable Y Splitter 1 to 2 SAE Extension Cable, Fit for Suitable for Solar Battery Connection and Transfer 12inch/30cm - with Protective Cover : Patio, Lawn & Garden (amazon.com)

Question on air shocks. Any issues with the shock hitting the exhaust hangers on yours? I need to move mine as I have to have a spacer at the top to push the top out further or they hit the hanger and it cocks then sideways and makes them leak.

I had nowhere to put speakers so 6x9 just sit under the front edge of the bucket seats. There is somewhere here, which you don't need now, a guy that made enclosers on the kickpanels using fiberglass I think it was. They looked nice. I wonder if they have real narrow ones that look like maybe air/heat vent things that could be boxed in under the front of seats and the seat still clear them when adjusting? That would be perfect for mine and probably others also. Hmmm, maybe I'll do some looking!

Could there be too little air flow with everything so closed off possibly so causes it to run warmer?

Didn't see a thing i had an answer for, which wasn't much! lol But loved seeing it all come together! Sounds great also!

 

[segeorge982]

Hey @ShotRod64 Thanks for the feedback. I learned about Rhino Fabrication's kick panels a couple weeks ago but have not ordered them yet. 1963 Ford Galaxie Kick Panels With Speaker Pods Archives - Rhino Fabrication | Custom Classic Auto Parts and Fabrication. Eventually I'll add those plus 2 more speakers and a subwoofer in the center of the package tray(along with an amp somewhere). I've got to quiet the efi fuel pump first, damn thing is loud.

The airshock on the driver's side has a couple millimeters of space away from the exhaust. It looks like it makes slight contact/rubs while driving. I've talked to the exhaust shop and they'll move it inward for me when I drop it off to add a crossover between the two banks. I might go X pipe as it makes plenty of low end grunt currently.

The closeout panels between the grille and rad support dropped temps about 10 degrees(from ~200 to ~188-193 depending on outside temp) when sitting at a light and keep the car around 182 while moving. I'm working on closing a few more of the gaps around the rad support; bottom left, top right and fabricating some diverters to sit under the closeout panels, behind the grille to encourage more air to go through the radiator, whether sitting or cruising.

I went with a 4 core radiator(honestly 3 would have worked) so there isn't a ton of room between the nose of the W/P pulley and radiator for a full shroud. I'm playing with some partial fan shroud ideas as well. Its got 2 5" and one 16"electric fan on it. The sniper system controls fans on and off and im still playing with the right temperatures. All 3 come on at 182 degrees right now and off at 175. its got a 165 degree tstat in it.

 

[ShotRod64]

I had a huge sub in the trunk and mounted the amp to the sub. Now I got two smaller enclosures to go where the spare tire goes and have to figure out what to do with the amp yet! Convertible I have no pkg tray. The amp is big or I could mount it between and below two of the bars maybe that are where a package tray would be. I'll get it figured out. I have an 8 track that needs to run on it's own amp and my husband is the electrical person so rather than a whole different set up for it he's going to use 2 A/B switches so I can switch. He doesn't know why i want all those radios in the car and I really can't say either. But using just the cell phone and if hating the songs playing and want to change it's not very easy to switch for me, especially when out in the sun where I can't even view the screen. Not to mention he doesn't get the 8 track period but I loved them back in the day and hoping this one sounds like one I used to have in a van. Probably not but I'm old, it will be fine for me.

As big as these cars are there sure isn't a lot of room for electric fans! I managed to squeeze one on the outside and keep the mechanical. I use a toggle switch so i can turn it on when i want to and not rely on the automatic.

You mention going to X pipe, is yours individual all way back or does yours have the H pipe? Mine is straight back but that might be because of the convertible frame. Thanks for the shock info. Guess they thought these cars didn't need those and of course they didn't think of it anyway or could care less. lol I'll be getting my hangers moved one day!

I forgot to add to previous post, if you didn't find it, try here for the shop manual if you haven't already! Hopefully the link to download still works.

Using Dropbox to share manuals

As a lot of you know I use Dropbox to share many pdf's of manuals and how to's that I have, I am happily going to put links here and if anyone else has some feel free to do the same and we can have a collection that anyone can use with no cost to themselves as this hobby is expensive enough...

www.fordmuscleforums.com

 

[segeorge982]

The exhaust is currently 2 separate pipes that dump out right behind each rear tire at a down and out angle. Thanks for the info on the shop manual as well!

Put another 30 miles on the car Wednesday running errands. 5 Stops and the car did pretty well. One new issue decided to pop up. The header gasket around cylinder #3 blew out right below and behind the "ear" of the head at somepoint during the evening. I've got FPA long tubes attached to the factory 2 bolt heads and used fel pro gaskets. The machine shop surfaced the manifold flanges for me. New Felpro gaskets arrived this morning and, though it might be a fools errand, i'm going to replace it with basically the same gasket with some thicker washers on the bolts. Hopefully doesnt take too long this evening as I'm starting to really trust this thing.

I did manage to stripe the driver's side exterior trim last night. Having that black highlight stripe improves the look of the car more than I thought it would!

 

[segeorge982]

Knocked out replacing the passenger side header gasket last friday night. Gasket failed around #3, and was close to failing on #2. Bottom bolts from FPA were bottoming out in the head. added washers to each to provide a little more room. I've only had the opportunity to drive it once since the repair but it was almost 90 degrees and the engine was the hottest its been so far at about 200 degrees. I'm hoping the gasket holds and back to designing some air diverters behind the grill.

 

[segeorge982]

Loaded a couple bikes on the rack on the back of the galaxie and drove to an evening bike race roughly 10 miles from the house last night. It was 86 degrees when I left the house, by far the hottest trip thus far and the car did not like the heat. It was at 205 degrees by the time I got to my destination, which is too hot with a 160 degree thermostat thats fully opened by 180. The fans would hold temps or maybe drop it a degree or 2 when I came to a stop at a light but overall the temps crept up.

I noticed the temps would climb more quickly if I was going uphill at speed/under load(45-50 mph). The plan is to check timing, base and advance, as soon as I get/find time and I'm likely going to order a flow-kooler water pump to replace the 65 & later WP currently on the car. That WP is an advance auto special from when the car was acquired in 2013.

quick edit: there are no bubbles in the coolant when starting the car cold with the radiator cap off and no signs of coolant in the oil either.

 

[ShotRod64]

@segeorge982 That stripe did make a big difference. Who would think one little change would change the look so much. I haven't had any issues with my car over heating since adding the one pusher fan on the outside of the radiator and my mechanical fan. Are both fans pushing for sure. I forgot the details of your motor now but assuming 390 at least. I don't have anything but an upper level RV cam and bored 30. But no matter which 390 i had in the car of 5, they were all over heaters sitting and idling too long until i changed radiators and added the fan. I run a 180 thermostat in mine now, it seems better to me than when i ran the 160. But also I can't tell you what the actual temps are as I don't have anything but the stock idiot gauge. I just know where hot is beginning and I turn on the fan. But I can idle all day unless probably, the temp is 90* and can still sit and idle a while compared to the past.

This is the engine in the car when you bought it correct? If so, something someone mentioned to me years ago during one of my engine swaps. When replacing the freeze plugs, once all out, run a hose up in there best I could in each one to rinse things out as a lot of stuff settles down in there over the years and the engine doesn't get the amount of water nor flow it should get to cool it. That's just what i was told. They said they had that issue with one of theirs. Sounds logical, just as a radiator gets filled with rust etc.

Timing adjustment could be your issue like you said too.

I have nowhere to run a cross-over under mine for exhaust. But there won't be confusion on which side smoke may be coming from! lol

Btw, first time ever seeing that style of bike rack.

 

[segeorge982]

Its the original but completely rebuilt. The block was magnafluxed, decked, honed etc. before reassembly. Brand new everything except the water pump because I replaced it when I put the car back on the road in 2013 before the headgasket failed. FlowKooler pump arrived last night. I cracked the back open to reseal it and hope to paint it this afternoon after it warms up a bit. It was 44 degrees in central NC this morning, a bit unusual for early May.

If its ~75 degrees or cooler out, the car has no problem cooling itself. Over that and the temps steadily creep up while driving around and might fall a degree or 2 while idling at a light. I believe this to be a flow issue but could be totally wrong. We'll see.

 

[segeorge982]

Flowkooler water pump showed up sunday and I can confirm all the bolts on the backing plate need to be checked before install. 2 were loose and the others barely tight, with minimal thread sealer. The paper gasket basically fell off the body of the pump when I removed the backing plate. Goal is to finish the install after work today.

 

[segeorge982]

Finished replacing the waterpump and reassembly Tuesday night after work and let the air bleed out of the coolant system via gravity overnight. Cranked the car yesterday after work with the radiator cap off to bleed any remaining air out. I was pleasantly surprised at how much longer it took for the car to reach 160 degrees and the thermostat to open up. I left the cap off until coolant was about to bubble out of the expansion tank, capped it and let the fans cycle the temps from 182 to 175 a couple times before shutting it down and confirming there were no coolant leaks. Took the dogs for a long walk and then repeated the process this time with the nose of the car in the air on jack stands with the rear wheels on the ground. Pretty hard to tell if any additional bubbles escaped but it was quick and easy.

Drove the car to Wed night trivia with friends. Ambient temperatures were about 10 degrees cooler than last wednesday at 75 on the way there. The sniper screened showed a max of 182 degrees(fans on at 181) but it quickly dropped to 174(and fans cycled off) while idling at a couple lights. Crusing at 45-50mph and it was hovering right around 177. By the time trivia ended at ~930 the ambient temperature was mid 60s and the car loved the cool air. The fans only cycled on while waiting at a railroad crossing. Cruising at 45-50mph the temps dropped as low as 168, possibly a little too cool.

It is definitely much better/happier than before but another 85+ degree day is needed to really get an idea of it's behavior and to dial in the fan on/off temperature a bit more. I dont think the 8 degree range Ive set currently is broad enough. Bottom line is I need to drive it more!

 

[segeorge982]

The Gal goes for an alignment first thing tomorrow morning now that ive got new, not 10 year old tires on the front. I dropped the size from a 235 to a 215 on a 7" wide wheel to square up the sidewall and improve how it tracks down the road.

I like the current cold air intake setup on the car but i'm not good at leaving well enough alone. I stumbled across some pictures of old Holman Moody galaxies for Nascar and BTCC and the cowl intake setup caught my attention. I'm assuming these aircleaner assemblies are unobtanium. What I can't find is more information or pictures on how the punch through to the cowl was done. The picture below is clearly not my galaxie but serving as inspiration.

Anyone kicking around on these forums know anything about this setup? I'm sure a unwanted sideaffect would be more noise inside the car, but maybe there is a way around that too with some well placed diverters to separate the intake from the cowl cabin air inlets. Thanks everyone.

 

[SuperDave390]

The Gal goes for an alignment first thing tomorrow morning now that ive got new, not 10 year old tires on the front. I dropped the size from a 235 to a 215 on a 7" wide wheel to square up the sidewall and improve how it tracks down the road.

I like the current cold air intake setup on the car but i'm not good at leaving well enough alone. I stumbled across some pictures of old Holman Moody galaxies for Nascar and BTCC and the cowl intake setup caught my attention. I'm assuming these aircleaner assemblies are unobtanium. What I can't find is more information or pictures on how the punch through to the cowl was done. The picture below is clearly not my galaxie but serving as inspiration.

View attachment 172341

Anyone kicking around on these forums know anything about this setup? I'm sure a unwanted sideaffect would be more noise inside the car, but maybe there is a way around that too with some well placed diverters to separate the intake from the cowl cabin air inlets. Thanks everyone.

Lots of good pictures, and information in this article.

This 1964 NASCAR Galaxie Rises From the Dead

This 1964 NASCAR Galaxie Rises from the Dead.

www.motortrend.com

 

[segeorge982]

Thanks @SuperDave390. I stumbled across that article as well, actually borrowed the photo above from it. The other good photo is the one of just the aircleaner. I've reached out to Holman Moody(their shop isnt too far from me, but only 11 miles away from family in Charlotte) and will share anything I learn.

Galaxie was aligned by a professional yesterday morning, finally! The tape measure alignment served its purpose and shockingly the shop owner said he couldnt do much better on camber. The toe was out a bit and it goes down the road much better now.