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1965 Ford Galaxie Street Machine


beeRS

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A little more progress in the form of a scratch built cage. I don't want a full cage in this as it is supposed to be just a hot street car, so I'll be keeping it quite simple. Here are the bolt-down feet which I have cut from flat styrene sheet...

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I made a template of the main hoop from cardboard and used this as a guide to bend styrene rod. The bends were achieved with gentle heating over a candle flame. I haven't used this method for years and forgot how easy it is to over-heat the rod. After several practice runs I got a hoop that looked OK.

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I found the trickiest part to get the ends of the tube cut with a correctly profiled and angled 'fish-mouth' to fit onto a rod. There was quite a few scrapped attempts before I got this far.


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In the end I have not used all four bolt-down feet. The ones on the main hoop will show, but the two at the front will be under the floor carpet so will not show.

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I've never done a scratch built frame before, but if I can get to grips with the bending method a bit better I wouldn't mind doing a complete space frame for a future project (another ideas for my already over-ambitious list!).

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Thanks for all your positive comments. It can be easy to lose interest or get side tracked with long projects like this, but all your comments help keep me focused.

Bruce: Those clamps were purchased from a local hobby shop about 20 years ago. To be honest they are not very good and I should invest in some better ones!

Rob: I was seriously considering a Ross Gibson Mountain motor. So much so that I ordered one from Meggahobby. It took weeks to get here (I'm in the UK) and by the time it did, I had already invested quite a bit of effort into the Boss 429 engine. I will use the Ross Gibson engine for something else real soon.

Edited by beeRS
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  • 2 weeks later...

Time for a little progress update! I've removed the rear cross member - it was not working out as I had hoped. After the moulded-in exhaust was removed this part never quite looked right. I will scratch a new chassis cross member later on - probably in round section styrene.

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The floor does not quite meet the inner body panels flush, leaving a slight gap in areas - particularly around the rear wheel arches. This seems to be the way with a lot of older kits. I'm pleased to see that this small issue is not a problem with most of the latest kit releases. I'm using some scrap styrene off-cuts to fill the gap...

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Now the floor panels make a nice tight fit with no gaps. I think it looks a little more realistic.

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My first major re-think on this project has had me up nights thinking about a new hood. Can you believe it - a rummage through my parts box reveals a Thunderbolt style hood. I think this is from AMT's 1966 Galaxie (below middle) - but I might be wrong. I also found the hood from the first 1965 Galaxie that I built, nearly 30 years ago (below right). Yes - I know - it's pink! I must have had some crazy ideas when I was a kid.

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The 1966 Galaxie hood almost fits the 1965 body. Overall it is a little too long and the front lip seems to be too curvaceous. I put a lot of work into the white hood with 'square scoop', but the Thunderbolt one really appeals. I'm not sure if this style hood was ever used on the 65 Galaxie, but the style seems to be correct for that period of Ford.

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Despite the work put in to the first hood - I will give this a shot. I have combined the '66 hood with the old pink hood to get a good fit into the 65 body shell. This way I have the old hood to fall back on if this idea does not work out. I've cut-n-shut the two hoods and added a little styrene strip to either side.

I really hope this pays off!

Edited by beeRS
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  • 7 months later...

Time for a little progress update! I've removed the rear cross member - it was not working out as I had hoped. After the moulded-in exhaust was removed this part never quite looked right. I will scratch a new chassis cross member later on - probably in round section styrene.

wfl5.jpg

The floor does not quite meet the inner body panels flush, leaving a slight gap in areas - particularly around the rear wheel arches. This seems to be the way with a lot of older kits. I'm pleased to see that this small issue is not a problem with most of the latest kit releases. I'm using some scrap styrene off-cuts to fill the gap...

78is.jpg

t7lz.jpg

a4fl.jpg

hv3j.jpg

8vgk.jpg

Now the floor panels make a nice tight fit with no gaps. I think it looks a little more realistic.

thanks so much for doing this. too many builds with nice opening trunks and you look right down to the ground in this area. great job and great build.

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