johnwitzke

Hi Mike, Yes, I see the #824 car is up for auction. I have decals for that one too. It would be a future build. A lot of great reference photos.

Impressive work!

In addition to Les Ritchey's '63 lightweight Super Stock Galaxie, I will be building this one along side. Dearborn Steel Tubing (DST) built this really cool truck for B/FX competition. It was powered by the same Super Stock 427 cu.in. 425 HP engine that powered the lightweight Galaxie's. This is the only one know to exist. This build will be somewhat challenging as it will require some scratch building and kit bashing to get the details as accurate as possible. Challenging - yes, doable - you bet! This one is going to be fun! This will not be a fast build and will update as I get areas completed. Stay Tuned.

In addition to Les Ritchey's '63 lightweight Super Stock Galaxie, I will be building this one along side. Dearborn Steel Tubing (DST) built this really cool truck for B/FX competition. It was powered by the same Super Stock 427 cu.in. 425 HP engine that powered the lightweight Galaxie's. This is the only one know to exist. This build will be somewhat challenging as it will require some scratch building and kit bashing to get the details as accurate as possible. Challenging - yes, doable - you bet! This one is going to be fun!

Since building my first '63 lightweight Galaxie, Brannan's car, I learned a lot about how I would improve upon my next build. With that said, I have started another 1963 lightweight Galaxie. This one will be Les Ritchey's Viking Blue/Beige interior car. I figured this time I would put more detail into the engine, specifically the intake and carb areas. So I ordered resin carburetors, Holley 4160 from Fireball Modelworks. These carburetors have excellent detail and really make the engine look real. I highly recommend them. I have added addition detail making the intake and carb as close to factory correct as I can. Here is a photo of the 427 425HP engine as I am prepping the ignition wires per correct firing order. A sharp eye will see the correct red oil filter with accurate Rotunda decal. Thanks Alan! They are the finishing touches on the engine detail. Additionally, the under hood detail shows a rough surface to simulate the unfinished fiberglass look I will be adding to this topic as the build goes along. Enjoy and thanks for looking.....John

Been away from working on this one for awhile. Prepping the engine for the ignition wires which will be routed per correct firing order for the 427 engine. A second engine identical to this one will be built for the 1963 Ford F-100 XL.

WOW! Exceptional build!!

Exceptional build!!!

very nice build

Outstanding build!

Thanks all. For 2018, I have two planned, another 1963 lightweight Galaxie, this time Les Ritchey's Viking Blue car and the 1963 Ford F100-XL 427 drag pick up

Only able to get one done for 2017. I hope to double that number in 2018.

Dick Brannan sent me this photo of the three original Ford Drag Team members. Dick, Gas, and Les.

Any photo's from the show?

Very sorry to hear of your loss Alan. My sincere condolences to you and your family

Council Bluffs

Thanks Tom

Sad to learn of Mr. Ronda's passing. A true gentlemen racer. He along with Les Ritchey and Dick Brannan were the original three Ford Drag Team members. Mr. Ritchey lost his life in 1966 from a racing accident.

I have built Dick Brannan's 63 lightweight. See attached photo. My build was approved by Mr. Brannan as I consulted with him during my build. His pre-production lightweight #823 with beige interior was the first Ford with set a NHRA National record. He accumulated 65 wins and set 22 track records in this car. The red interior car #824 was one of the 200 lightweights built that year and was his backup car. Only the first five pre-production lightweights had beige interior.

Hi Ron, the hood is from MCW. I have MCW's kit in addition to the Motor City kit.

Thanks Tom. I used Tamyia TS-84 Metallic Gold Spray

1963 saw the birth of Ford's Total Performance. Using their 427 cu.in. 425 HP engine during 1963, Ford created some of the most competitive Super Stock cars on the drag strip. These cars also make great modeling subject. What I have planned for 2018 in addition to the two pre-production 63 lightweight Galaxies's, Gas Ronda and Les Ritchey, will be Tasca's 1963 427 Fairlane (test bed for the 1964 Thunderbolt) and the 1963 F100 XL 427. At some point I will build all five of the pre-production lightweight Galaxie's These will make a great collection of Ford's 1963 Total Performance

Oops, sorry about the F-100 XL 427 photo. Not sure how that got in there. Could this be a future project? Stay tune, you just never know.

Update on body work. All door and trunk seams have been scribed a little deeper, imperfections, mold lines, etc., have been removed and is now in primer status. Tamyia white prime lays down a flawless finish. Simply the best primer. Moving closer to exterior finish. I will be using MCW # 6233 Viking Blue lacquer.

Rangoon Red with Red interior. It was a 406, with 2-4bbls. This is one of the 10 or 11 lightweights