1966 Ford Galaxie 500

[mrmike]

Friday night, I was looking around Jay Leno's Garage ( http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/ ) and discovered his current project, a '66 Galaxie 500 similar to the one his father bought back in 1966. The story I heard many years ago was Jay had pestered his father into letting him pick the motor for the car his father was ordering. 4 weeks later, his father discovered what his son had done, a 7 Litre V8 with muffler delete package. Jay's father was not happy with his son. Jay's project car started as a blue '66 Galaxie found in Canada, repainted maroon, shod with American Racing Torque Thrusts, and stuffed with a Roush 427 big block with 6 speed trans.

My build is a little different, starting with an AMT '66 Galaxie 500 kit, the kit 427 CI big block, 4 speed trans, and Cragar SS mags.

The paint is Tamiya TS-54 Light Blue Metallic.

More to come.....

[oldscool]

Man, that's a great old kit and still has a very well molded body in spite of its age. Can't wait to see what you do with it.

oldscool

[mrmike]

Thanks Gerald! The mold is very crisp, but there are some issues.

I have started bodywork by removing any mold lines and the bracing that AMT uses. I also removed the scripting on the C-pillars since they are faint and non-existant in some spots.

The hood is a tight fit and I started sanding the sides to open it up. I still have more sanding to do since a couple coats of paint and primer will tighten it up too much.

More to come.....

Edited October 20, 2010 by mrmike

[Greg Cullinan]

I want to see this blue on her bad,looking forward to it. Going to look good I think.

[mrmike]

Me too! I ended up having to do other things today and I really wanted to get at least one coat of paint on. Maybe tomorrow!

Edited October 22, 2010 by mrmike

[MyBradKeselowski]

Great kit, can't wait to see it wearing that color

[mrmike]

It's pretty good kit, Steve, considering how old it is!

Today, paint was flowing! After all the priming and sanding and priming and sanding again and again, the body and hood were painted with Tamiya TS-54 Light Blue Metallic.

Other bits and pieces were painted matt and semigloss black.

Engine parts are out of the purple pond and need a little scrubbing. Then I can start on the motor!

More to come.....

[MyBradKeselowski]

Beautiful color Micheal, thumbs up ! ! !

Nicely painted

[Modlbldr]

Wow! What a beautiful color. Is that over a gray primer? it's gonna look good.

Later-

[FordWagonNut]

OOOOHHHH, that is such a good looking color! Shes gona look sharp.

[davyou5]

Wow! I really like that Color . I forgot about this year model, I do like the Style on this car too.

[tuffone20]

Yep that blue looks great on that old Ford!! Looking forward to seeing more of it.

[mrmike]

Thanks guys for the nice comments!

Wow! What a beautiful color. Is that over a gray primer? it's gonna look good.

Later-

No gray primer here! I used Tamiya White Fine Surface Primer, a quick and clean sanding, and then 3 coats of paint.

[charlie8575]

Very sharp car, Mike. A 7-Litre package Galaxie is something I wouldn't be too inclined to turn away, myself.

Charlie Larkin

[mrmike]

Thanks Charlie! And now for my favorite part of the build...BMF!

[W-409]

Ooh, that paint job looks perfect. This is very interesting project too, it's nice to see you building older stuff.

[mrmike]

Thanks Nico! I do like to build a variety of subjects and I know of your dislike of newer subjects and their plastic engine covers. I also like to build trucks-old and new, boats, planes, and even starships! My taste in cars run from hot rods, street machines, sports and muscle cars! Like I said, I like to build a variety of subjects.

[mrmike]

A little more progress this afternoon. I have finished the interior, but I think I need to add a tachometer.

The motor is nearing completion. I still have to add the fan, oil filter, coil, and wire the distributor and route the wires. This is going to be a tight fit under the stock hood.

More to come.....

[mrmike]

Thanks Dave! It is a great color and you should give it a try! The motor should be finished tomorrow.

I spent several hours foiling this afternoon. Have a look!

More to come.....

[mrmike]

The motor is complete! Wired and plumbed with fuel lines. The carbs are so badly molded that I glued the air cleaner on top. I hope the hood closes!

And it's installed in the chassis...and it's a tight fit!

More to come.....

[davyou5]

Thanks Dave! It is a great color and you should give it a try! The motor should be finished tomorrow.

I spent several hours foiling this afternoon. Have a look!

More to come.....

Wow! I know how tedious of work putting on all that BMF is , Great job on that! This is going to be a great build .

Edited October 27, 2010 by davyou5

[mrmike]

Thank you Dave! Yes, it is tedious work but the end result is really great especially if you can do a good job. This appears to be one of my better efforts.

[dwc43]

Looking good.

[mrmike]

Thanks DW!

I have removed the axle retainers from the chassis.

I found a set of coil springs in my parts box that should raise the rear of the car to a better height.

I didn't want the stock skinny tires and the Grand Natinal/Custom tire were way too big, I found a set of BF Goodrich Radial T/A's in my parts box and they look great mounted on the Cragar SS mags.

More to come.....

Edited October 29, 2010 by mrmike

[beefheart22]

That looks terrific so far! TS-54 is a great color.